Snyder County commish mulling a run in PA-10

Snyder County Commissioner Malcolm Derk said Tuesday that he was considering a campaign for the Republican nomination in the 10th Congressional District, raising the possibility that an area elected official would take on sophomore Congressman Chris Carney (D-10).

Republicans this year have been unable to recruit a viable challenger against Carney, who is p“It’s something I’m considering,” Derk said Tuesday in response to an inquiry from empa2010.com/em. “There are still some conversations I need to have, but I am thinking about it.”/p
pDerk, who hopes to make a decision in early or mid-December, said he has consulted with Republicans at the local, state and national levels. First elected county commissioner in 2007, Derk, 27, was a local council member in the small borough of Freeburg for six years, including two years as council president./p
pThe 10th District is massive, encompassing areas of more than a dozen counties in northeast Pennsylvania. And while Snyder County makes up only a small part of it, Derk said his base in the southwest tip of the district would make for a formidable start./p
p“The area is hungry for a candidate,” he said./p
pHe acknowledged that, especially in such a large district, fundraising would be a key obstacle to surmount./p
p“The largest challenge for any candidate in a tough economic climate is raising funds,” he said./p
pAnd while Carney has mostly been largely seen as a centrist Democrat since first winning the seat in 2006, Derk said Carney’s votes for President Obama’s stimulus package and for the recent House health care legislation had troubled him./p
p“It really hurts to see more and more debt piled onto generations to come,” Derk said./p
pa href="http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=13&ElectionID=28&OfficeID=11#10" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.electionreturns.state.pa.us%2FElectionsInformation.aspx%3FFunctionID%3D13%26amp%3BElectionID%3D28%26amp%3BOfficeID%3D11%2310','Carney+topped+Republican+Chris+Hackett+by+almost+13+points')" target="_blank"Carney topped Republican Chris Hackett by almost 13 points/a to win reelection last year. He had almost $400,000 in campaign cash on hand at the end of September, according to a href="http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00414391/435826/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://query.nictusa.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nictusa.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fdcdev%2Fforms%2FC00414391%2F435826%2F','campaign+finance+data')" target="_blank">campaign finance data.

November 17, 2009 at 3:23 pm | Comments (26)

Carney has almost $394K on hand

Congressman Chris Carney (D-10) raised about $167,000 in the third quarter, according to …

October 15, 2009 at 12:40 pm | Comments (1)

Not so suddenly, Pa. becomes ground zero for competitive House races

First, Joe Sestak left his seat open to take on Arlen Specter. Then, Jim Gerlach said goodbye to his hard-to-defend seat to pOh, and there’s still those a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/08/for-dems-in-conservative-districts-2010-could-be-a-rough-ride/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F08%2Ffor-dems-in-conservative-districts-2010-could-be-a-rough-ride%2F','freshman+and+sophomore+Democrats+who+have+to+defend+conservative+districts')" target="_blank">freshman and sophomore Democrats who have to defend conservative districts.

Day after day, the Keystone State has become the to place watch for fiercely competitive House races, a microcosm of national political trends that could very well serve as the loudest amplification of whatever does—or does not—happen on Election Day 2010.

“You …

October 6, 2009 at 9:33 am | Comments (1)

For Dems in conservative districts, 2010 could be a rough ride

CORRECTION APPENDED (see bottom)

If you’re a member of Congress, the first couple reelection fights are always the toughest. You have only the most minute record on which to run, and your fortunes often twist in the wind with the fate of your party on the national level.

But for freshmen and sophomore Democrats who represent some of the state’s historically conservative districts, the 2010 elections could shake up as some of the most politically …

August 10, 2009 at 2:33 pm | Comments (6)

Iraq vet to take on Carney

Chris Carney has an opponent.

The 10th District Congressman, considered to be …

August 9, 2009 at 8:12 pm | Comments (4)

Republicans targeting 6 Pa. House members

A list of 70 Congressional incumbents being targeted next year by the National Republican Congressional Committee includes six from the Keystone State.

The list, first reported by …

August 3, 2009 at 12:41 pm | Comments (4)

Spending lightly, Carney has about $306K on hand

Approaching what many expect to be his easiest election cycle yet, Congressman Chris Carney (D-10) raised about $164,000 over the last thre months, entering the third quarter with a little less than $306,000 in campaign cash on hand, according to campaign finance data.

After a couple competitive election cycles, Carney is increasingly seen as …

July 15, 2009 at 9:52 am | Comments (1)

Carney’s looking golden

Looks like Chris Carney’s days as a vulnerable Congressman could be near their end. Carney, a Democrat in the more conservative 10th District, had been considered vulnerable by Republicans last year, only to beat Chris Hackett more more than a dozen points.

Now, Republicans see him as a much tougher target.

“…

May 26, 2009 at 12:04 pm | Comments (0)

State GOP to bring on full-time coordinator for 2010 House races

Faced with their smallest Congressional delegation in decades, state Republicans are preparing an aggressive push to win back House seats in 2010. With the goal of being competitive in at least seven districts, the party will for the first time bring on a full-time liaison to Congressional campaigns, state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason said.

“We’re going to have a full-time, experienced person whose only job is going to be recruiting for and managing Congressional races,” Gleason told pa2010.com. “We’ve never had that before. We’ve left it up to whoever shows up to see what kind of campaign they want to run.”
Republicans have lost five Congressional seats in the Keystone State in the last two elections, four of them in 2006. The party’s best hope for picking up a Democratic seat last year was scuttled when a wave of voters for Barack Obama helped longtime Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) win what late-campaign polling had depicted as a losing campaign. The GOP now controls only seven of the state’s 19 Congressional districts, a low-point even some Democrats think can’t get any worse for the GOP.

April 19, 2009 at 6:02 pm | Comments (0)