Rothfus sets sights on Altmire, big spending

When it comes to congressional campaigns, all publicity is not good publicity.

That is the lesson Republicans are taking from the results of last week’s 4th District Republican primary, in which underdog lawyer Keith Rothfus comfortably beat the well-known former U.S. attorney Mary Beth Buchanan. Rothfus secured almost two-thirds of the vote, despite Buchanan’s high level of name recognition in the District.

In that contest, Buchanan’s campaign stayed on the defensive for weeks and committed…

May 24, 2010 at 4:46 pm | Comments (0)

Rothfus: ‘I’m not worthy’

WEXFORD—Before the polls closed Tuesday night, Republican Keith Rothfus said that win or lose, he was feeling one thing: Not worthy.

“I am humbled by the support I’ve received,” the Edgeworth lawyer and 4th District candidate said with a smile here. “I know it sounds cliché, but—I’m not worthy. The people I have met on this campaign—they are just people who believe in this country and believe in what this country can be. And I…

May 19, 2010 at 2:17 pm | Comments (0)

Rothfus beats Buchanan by wide margin

WEXFORD—Keith Rothfus said he just might be able to sleep Tuesday night.

“Relieved is how I feel right now,” he said about an hour after he was declared the winner of the 4th District Republican primary. “But now we have even more work to do.”

After keeping former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan on the defensive for weeks, Rothfus easily sent her packing Tuesday. He won two-thirds of the vote, topping a party-favored candidate with…

May 19, 2010 at 5:15 am | Comments (2)

Buchanan sounds a confident note against Rothfus

PITTSBURGH—Mary Beth Buchanan looked confident from behind the podium. She smiled at the small group of supporters gathered outside the Allegheny County Building here Friday, and began a speech in which she laced into her Republican primary opponent in the 4th District.

“I don’t think this is a close election,” Buchanan, a former U.S. Attorney, said later. “If you go out in the district, you’ll see that many people have no idea why Keith Rothfus…

May 15, 2010 at 8:17 pm | Comments (7)

Buchanan strikes back at Rothfus, but errs on the facts

PITTSBURGH—After being on the defensive for weeks, Republican Mary Beth Buchanan tried to go on offense Friday by claiming her primary opponent was a registered Democrat for 13 years. But the effort was quickly struck back when it became clear that the information distributed by the former U.S. Attorney’s campaign about Keith Rothfus was unsubstantiated.

The latest slip-up for what has been a campaign struggling to control the political message came during a morning news…

May 14, 2010 at 8:21 pm | Comments (22)

Rothfus calls Buchanan campaign mailer ‘deceitful’

Republican congressional candidate Keith Rothfus continued what has become a fierce campaign against 4th District primary opponent Mary Beth Buchanan Thursday, criticizing the former U.S. Attorney for using the National Rifle Association’s logo on a piece of campaign literature.

In a statement, the Edgeworth attorney’s campaign called Buchanan “desperate and deceitful” for using the prominent gun lobby’s logo on full story

May 13, 2010 at 5:30 pm | Comments (3)

Altmire weighs in on GOP contest to face him

Let it be known that Congressman Jason Altmire (D-4) is impressed by Republican Keith Rothfus. Or maybe he’s just not impressed with Rothfus’ primary opponent, Mary Beth Buchanan.

Altmire this week briefly weighed on the GOP primary that will yield his November opponent. And like many other political watchers, he thinks Buchanan won’t just walk into the nomination like she may have hoped. For two reporting periods, the former U.S. Attorney has been bested in…

May 9, 2010 at 12:36 pm | Comments (3)

LEFTOVERS: Citizen stripping, Tommy Chong in the 4th, DFA for Sestak

The policy subject of the day Thursday was undoubtedly proposed legislation to revoke U.S. citizenship from those with terrorist ties, and a couple Pennsylvania pols were in the mix. Congressmen Jason Altmire (D-4) and Charlie Dent (R-15) joined Senator Joe Liberman (I-Conn.) and others in putting forward the measure, which they had apparently been working on for weeks but felt renewed momentum to push after the failed Times Square car-bombing this week. There was some…

May 6, 2010 at 10:45 pm | Comments (1)

Rothfus outraises Buchanan again, has loaned campaign $125K

Republican congressional hopeful Keith Rothfus has surpassed 4th District primary opponent Mary Beth Buchanan for the second consecutive period, raking in about $30,000 during April, more than twice what Buchanan raised, according to campaign finance data.

Rothfus, an Edgeworth lawyer, had about $157,000 in cash on hand as of April 28, thanks in large part to the $125,000 he has now loaned his campaign, according to full story

May 6, 2010 at 3:32 pm | Comments (2)

Buchanan raises little in March, spends more

After a first fundraising quarter that failed to turn heads, Republican Mary Beth Buchanan didn’t pick up much steam in April.

The former U.S. Attorney at 3rd District hopeful raised about $14,000 through April 28, according to

May 6, 2010 at 9:00 am | Comments (2)