Paige: Thinking Barletta can win is the ‘definition of insanity’

Shortly after he was

December 9, 2009 at 4:51 pm | Comments (1)

Barletta downplays campaign debt; aide notes earlier start

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta said Wednesday that he won’t seek to pay back about $250,000 in campaign debt before again faces voters in the 11th District next year and that he welcomes having a primary opponent.

During a conference call with reporters after he

December 9, 2009 at 12:29 pm | Comments (0)

Barletta: Washington is ‘ignoring us’

Just over a year after narrowly losing in his bid to unseat Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11), Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta on Wednesday announced that he would seek Kanjorski’s job for the third time this decade, raising the stakes in an 11th District race that Republicans remain convinced they can win.

After weeks of speculation, Barletta made his announcement on a full story

December 9, 2009 at 12:17 pm | Comments (1)

Barletta to decide on congressional run next week

By this time next week, we should know whether or not Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta will make a third run in the 11th Congressional District.

Responding to a flurry of inquiries, Barletta’s senior political adviser e-mailed reporters to say an announcement would come next Wednesday. He did not hint at which way Barletta, who narrowly lost to incumbent Democrat Paul Kanjorski last year, is leaning.

“This is an [important] decision and Mayor Barletta is giving…

December 2, 2009 at 9:00 pm | Comments (4)

In deciding whether to run again, Barletta has campaign debt to retire

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta may very well run for Congress a third time next year. But first, he’s got a little $250,000-problem to take care of.

That’s about how much campaign debt Barletta has on the books, according to campaign finance data. And with his top political adviser saying a final decision on whether or not to run should be coming before Christmas, Barletta is turning his attention to retiring the debt from his previous…

November 25, 2009 at 9:00 am | Comments (4)

Kanjorski raised another $237K

With a primary challenge looming, Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) is well on his way to building up a formidable war chest for next year’s reelection bid.

Kanjorski raised more than $237,000 during the third quarter, finishing the period with about $808,000 in cash on hand, according to

October 14, 2009 at 9:04 pm | Comments (2)

Two more GOPers eyeing Dem House seats

In yet another sign that pChris Paige, an attorney and hedge fund manager in Skytop, has decided to run in the 11th Congressional District, where incumbent Paul Kanjorski faces a primary challenge from Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien. And U.S. Attorney Mary Buchanan is said to be seriously considering a challenge to incumbent sophomore Jason Altmire in the 4th District./p
pThis comes after Altmire and fellow Democratic incumbent Patrick Murphy a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/09/altmire-murphy-get-republican-opponents/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F09%2Faltmire-murphy-get-republican-opponents%2F','recently+got+their+first+Republican+opponents')" target="_blank"recently got their first Republican opponents/a for next year./p
pPaige, the first Republican to formally challenge Kanjorski, said the financial bailouts had spurred his candidacy./p
p“The bailouts are outrageous,” he said in an interview. “I think they’re unconstitutional and they’re bad policy.”/p
pHazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, who has lost to Kanjorski twice, including last year, is still considering a run, according to Republican insiders. But Paige said he would be a better candidate./p
p“I think the public has decided to get rid of Kanjorski, they just saw Barletta as an unacceptable alternative,” Paige said. “Had it been someone else, we would have won last year.”/p
pBuchanan, who emThe Post-Gazette/em a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09282/1004170-454.stm" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.post-gazette.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.post-gazette.com%2Fpg%2F09282%2F1004170-454.stm','reported')" target="_blank">reported was mulling a run against Altmire last week, would seem to be the first politically potent challenger to Altmire this cycle if she ultimately decides to run.

October 11, 2009 at 9:25 pm | Comments (6)