Dent up 11 points in new poll

Congressman Charlie Dent (R-15) is entering the height of campaign season with a plurality of support and a dwindling number of Lehigh Valley voters who are still undecided as to whether he deserves a fourth term, according to a new poll.

The Morning Call/Muhlenberg College survey published over the weekend found Dent garnering 49 percent of the vote in the 15th District, compared to 38 percent for Democratic challenger John Callahan. Independent candidate Jake Towne…

September 20, 2010 at 8:00 am | Comments (3)

3rd-party hopefuls file for House races

Third-party candidates filed nominating petitions to get on the ballot in a trio of competitive House races Monday, setting up potentially troublesome dynamics for Republican nominees who could lose votes in close contests to conservative alternatives.

Jim Schneller filed nominating petitions to run on the American Congress Party Ticket in the 7th District. Tom Lingenfelter filed signatures to run as an independent in the 8th District, but also sought to get on the ballot in…

August 2, 2010 at 10:32 pm | Comments (16)

Towne blames 9/11 on American foreign policy

Grilled by a conservative talk show host Wednesday morning, the independent candidate in the 15th Congressional District blamed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on American foreign policy in the Middle East.

“They’re not attacking us because we’re free or we wear blue jeans or we listen to rock music,” Jake Towne said. “They’re attacking us because we’ve been over there. We’ve had troops in Saudi Arabia for many years before that. We were engaged with…

July 28, 2010 at 3:35 pm | Comments (19)

In debate flap, Dent shifts focus to rock band playing for Towne

A rock band set to perform at a campaign event for Jake Towne have given Congressman Charlie Dent (R-15) an opening to make a less overtly political argument for excluding the independent candidate from campaign debates.

Dent has taken some flak on the blogosphere ever since pa2010.com reported last week that

July 27, 2010 at 12:03 pm | Comments (11)

Story on Dent’s debate stance ends up having some legs

It’s hardly what we saw from the Shirley Sherrod controversy. But the comments from Republican Charlie Dent’s campaign about debates got a lot of play on the blogosphere in recent days, and even earned some mainstream media TV time.

In case you missed, pa2010.com‘s Donald Hoegg first reported that story that Dent, the 15th District incumbent, here and

July 26, 2010 at 10:30 am | Comments (4)

Dent wants debates to be 1-on-1, without Towne

Jake Towne says he’s collected enough signatures to gain ballot access in the 15th Congressional District as an independent. But incumbent Republican Charlie Dent’s campaign sees the race as a two-man contest, and doesn’t want Towne muddying the political waters by participating in the coming campaign debates.

Dent campaign manager Shawn Millan told pa2010.com that the campaign would prefer Towne be kept out of the debates, so that voters can focus on the contrast between…

July 22, 2010 at 1:11 pm | Comments (39)

Towne says he’s got the signatures

Jake Towne, the independent candidate in the 15th Congressional District announced Wednesday that he and his volunteers have collected enough signatures to place him on the ballot alongside Congressman Charlie Dent (R-15) and Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan.

“We still have some work to do verifying and notarizing some of the signatures,” Towne told pa2010.com. “We have over 6,000 now, and will probably between 7,000 and 8,000 by the time we file.”

As an independent, Towne…

July 14, 2010 at 11:16 am | Comments (7)

Towne to be included in October debate

The third-party little guy will get his moment on stage with the main players in the 15th Congressional District.

Jake Towne, the libertarian-leaning independent candidate in the race, is set to participate in an October debate with incumbent Republican Charlie Dent and Democratic challenger John Callahan. The appearance in the debate, sponsored by The Morning Call, will offer the political outsider and super-underdog some much needed publicity just a few weeks before the general election…

June 29, 2010 at 8:00 am | Comments (3)

A potential spoiler needs signatures first

In the closely-watched 15th District House race, Democrats hope they finally have a serious challenger for incumbent Republican Charlie Dent in Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan. And if the race ends up being a close one on Election Day, there could be a spoiler in the works—independent Jake Towne.

Towne, an engineer, has a political identity rooted in Tea Party activism, appearing on Fox News‘ “Freedom Watch.” Unlike most candidates identified with the Tea Party in…

February 22, 2010 at 8:15 am | Comments (5)