Meehan, Fitzpatrick get breakfast with Boehner

House Minority John Boehner is set for a busy two-day stretch in Pennsylvania this month, with a breakfast fundraiser for two of the state’s top GOP congressional candidates added to the schedule.

Boehner will headline the morning event at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Flourtown on Aug. 13 for Pat Meehan and Mike Fitzpatrick, according to a Republican familiar with the event. Meehan, who is running in the 7th District, and Fitzpatrick, who is running…

August 2, 2010 at 12:37 pm | Comments (3)

LEFTOVERS: Corbett on Rendell, Sestak donates, headlines in the 7th

The drive to p“In the last eight years our state budget has gone from $22 billion to $28 billion,” Corbett said during an appearance in Chester County, a href="http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-corbett-unemployment-0729-20100728,0,7910314.story" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.mcall.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mcall.com%2Fnews%2Fbreaking%2Fmc-corbett-unemployment-0729-20100728%2C0%2C7910314.story','according+to+The+Morning+Call.')" target="_blank"according to emThe Morning Call/em./a “And what’s…

July 29, 2010 at 10:48 pm | Comments (10)

DCCC adds Callahan, Lentz to ad buy list

National Democrats have added two more competitive Pennsylvania House districts to the long list of races they are targeting for advertising buys in the coming months.

Politico pIn a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2010/07/dccc-ad-buys-include-four-pa-incumbents/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fdccc-ad-buys-include-four-pa-incumbents%2F','the+first+slate+of+ad+buy+reservations+disclosed+last+week')" target="_blank"the first slate of ad buy reservations disclosed last week/a, the DCCC looked to shore up vulnerable incumbents. In Pennsylvania, that meant promising airtime for Kathy Dahlkemper in the 3rd District, Chris Carney in the 10th District, Paul Kanjorski in the 11th District and Mark Critz in the 12th District./p
pThe DCCC holds a significant financial advantage over its GOP counterpart, the benefit of which is quickly becoming clear. Of the 10 House races considered competitive by empa2010.com/em, the DCCC has already signaled it will make ad buys in six districts./p
pThe 7th District is currently No. 1 on the empa2010.com/em a href="http://www.pa2010.com/congressional-power-rankings/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2Fcongressional-power-rankings%2F','Congressional+Power+Rankings')" target="_blank">Congressional Power Rankings, while the 15th District is currently No. 5.

July 28, 2010 at 10:45 am | Comments (8)

LEFTOVERS: Rendell on Obama, Gerlach gives to NRCC, vulnerable seats

President Obama is about to go on “The View”—but Gov. Ed Rendell thinks that’s not such a good idea because the president should only do “serious shows.”

“I think the president should be accessible, should answer questions that aren’t pre-screened, but I think there should be a little bit of dignity to the presidency,” Rendell said on MSNBC‘s “Morning Joe.”

We’re assuming Rendell’s rule doesn’t apply to governors, considering that the former Philadelphia mayor is…

July 27, 2010 at 3:44 pm | Comments (7)

Schneller says he’ll be on the ballot in the 7th

The competitive 7th District House race could very well end up being a three-man contest.

Jim Schneller, the self-identified Tea Party candidate who is running as an independent, said this week that he has collected enough signatures to get on the ballot. Pennsylvania election law makes it very difficult to gain ballot access as an independent or third-party candidate. Schneller needs about 4,200 signatures, equal to two percent of the total votes that incumbent Congressman…

July 27, 2010 at 10:22 am | Comments (14)

Lentz launching 25-stop economy tour (Updated)

Democratic congressional hopeful Bryan Lentz is set to spend the next few months focusing on jobs, jobs, jobs.

Lentz’s 7th District campaign said Monday that the state Representative is embarking on a 10-week, 25-stop “economic listening tour” that will take the candidate to local businesses and town-hall style forums. The tour will begin Tuesday at New Way Air Bearings, a company that manufactures parts for flat-screen televisions.

The tour comes as candidates up and down…

July 26, 2010 at 12:24 pm | Comments (2)

LEFTOVERS: Sestak on Club for Growth, Toomey on earmarks, Lentz’s haul

Summer is the season of campaign Web videos, and it continued Tuesday with a broadside from Democrat Joe Sestak’s Senate campaign, which used its latest video to go after the Club for Growth, the limited government group formerly headed by Republican opponent Pat Toomey.

The video juxtaposes Toomey talking about his tenure at the club with Republicans bashing it. The club has long been a thorn in the side of moderate Republicans, who often find…

July 20, 2010 at 8:04 pm | Comments (11)

Rudy Giuliani’s busy day in Pa.

Former New York Mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani had a busy day scheduled for Monday, with three campaign stops for Pennsylvania Republicans from Wilkes-Barre to Philadelphia.

Giuliani started his day with an afternoon appearance for Congressman Charlie Dent (R-15) in Bethlehem.

He was set to continue at a fundraiser for 11th District candidate Lou Barletta in Wilkes-Barre. And his day was scheduled to wrap up with a “late dinner and cigar smoke” on behalf…

July 19, 2010 at 2:44 pm | Comments (4)

Lentz collects another $230K; fundraising gap grows

Democrat Bryan Lentz raised another $230,000 over the two months ending June. But even as his Republican opponent Pat Meehan has burned through cash at a faster rate, Lentz’s financial disadvantage in the competitive 7th District race has steadily grown over the last several months.

Lentz’s second-quarter campaign finance report had not yet been published online early Tuesday evening, but the latest numbers were provided by his campaign. The $230,000 he raised fell short of…

July 15, 2010 at 6:38 pm | Comments (14)

Meehan makes radio buy to lambaste Pelosi visit

Republican Pat Meehan is taking to the radio to highlight House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s impending Philadelphia visit on behalf of Democratic opponent Bryan Lentz.

Meehan’s 7th District congressional campaign was set to begin airing a 60-second spot on local radio stations Thursday, including KYW and WPHT, the popular talk-radio channel. The ad, set as a circus-style announcement of Pelosi’s visit, will air for a couple days.

“The Nancy Pelosi political circus is coming to town,”…

July 15, 2010 at 9:38 am | Comments (7)