Murphy’s first ad hits Fitzpatrick on jobs

Facing a rematch with the man he bounced out of Congress four years ago, Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8) is using his first TV ad to argue that Republican Mike Fitzpatrick never looked out for working-class voters in the first place.

“As a congressman, Mike Fitzpatrick took care of everyone but you,” Murphy says in the 30-second spot unveiled by his campaign Tuesday.

Political insiders and forecaster increasingly see a tight race in the Bucks County…

September 14, 2010 at 10:52 am | Comments (26)

Fitzpatrick’s first ad recalls cancer survival

Shortly after he was bounced out of office in 2006, Republican Mike Fitzpatrick was diagnosed with colon cancer. As he seeks to recapture the seat he lost in the 8th Congressional District, Fitzpatrick is using his first TV ad to share his story of surviving that cancer.

“You get a new perspective on life, when you almost lose it,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot. “A cancer survivor, Mike Fitzpatrick gives thanks for every…

September 13, 2010 at 10:18 am | Comments (20)

Murphy pollster sees tight race

Just weeks before he goes up against the man he bounced out of Congress in 2006, Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8) is locked in a dead-heat contest. That’s according to his campaign pollsters, who see Murphy holding on a narrow, four-point lead over Republican Mike Fitzpatrick that sits within the margin of error.

Pollsters Jefrey Pollock & Joe Hickerson of the Global Strategy Group described the results of a mid-August survey in a poll memo authored…

September 10, 2010 at 12:14 pm | Comments (9)

GOP adds Murphy to target list

The National Republican Congressional Committee has added Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8) to the list of Democratic incumbents it’s targeting this fall.

Politico

September 8, 2010 at 9:26 am | Comments (3)

GOP memo claims 7-point edge for Fitzpatrick

A GOP-commissioned survey has found Republican Mike Fitzpatrick enjoying a seven-point lead ahead of his rematch against Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8), according to a new poll memo.

full story

August 26, 2010 at 10:00 am | Comments (11)

Murphy, Fitzpatrick spar on debates

When it comes to scheduling debates in the 8th Congressional District, the candidates and their campaigns are, well, debating.

On primary night back in May, Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8) sent a letter to his newly-nominated Republican opponent Mike Fitzpatrick, challenging to him to a series of eight debates. Fitzpatrick accepted the challenge and the some, offering to show up for as many as 15.

So it came as a surprise to some, especially those in…

August 25, 2010 at 8:17 am | Comments (8)

Pols chime in on Iraq

With Thursday marking the official withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq, Pennsylvania’s political candidates were issuing the expected stream of statements.

“I think people will look back at this war as an unnecessary one,” Democrat Joe Sestak, the former Navy Admiral and current Senate candidate, said on MSNBC. “One that we unfortunately harmed our national security fabric as we have lost our focus where the real challenge was and that was in Afghanistan where we…

August 20, 2010 at 9:20 am | Comments (16)

Lingenfelter’s off the ballot in the 8th

Tom Lingenfelter’s latest campaign to represent the 8th Congressional District has ended before it really even began.

Lingenfelter, who was running as an independent, called it quits Thursday in the face of a ballot challenge. Lawyers involved in the case said his withdrawal came after a marathon, all-day court hearing in Harrisburg.

“It was very close, but the progression of numbers didn’t go our way,” said Larry Otter, Lingenfelter’s lawyer. Otter said an early-morning ruling…

August 19, 2010 at 9:30 pm | Comments (16)

LEFTOVERS: A Senate poll, Onorato’s cash, small biz for Fitz, CQ on Dent

The public polls say pA Democratic operative somewhere must have been peeved by all the coverage these polls get, because a href="http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/08/19/4929082-first-thoughts-cruel-summer" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Ffirstread.msnbc.msn.com%2F_news%2F2010%2F08%2F19%2F4929082-first-thoughts-cruel-summer','MSNBC+got+its+hands+on+an+internal+poll')" target="_blank"emMSNBC/em got its hands on an internal poll/a. The results? Toomey’s leading Joe Sestak by two points, 46 percent to 44 percent. We weren’t able to get our hands on…

August 19, 2010 at 9:20 pm | Comments (21)

Lingenfelter hires prominent attorney for ballot challenge

When Tom Lingenfelter goes to Harrisburg Thursday to defend his right to be on the 8th Congressional District ballot, he’ll have the help of veteran election lawyer Larry Otter.

Otter, a Bucks County attorney who has been involved in a plethora of ballot cases, is representing Lingenfelter.

“I know we should win,” Linenfelter told pa2010.com. “If the law is based on fairness and logic, we should win.”

Otter declined to comment on the case in…

August 19, 2010 at 8:54 am | Comments (2)