Allegheny controller endorses Hafer

With her main opponent rolling out endorsements from major political figures in the 12th Congressional District, former state treasurer and auditor general Barbara Hafer announced her first formal backer in the race Tuesday.

Hafer was endorsed by Allegheny County Controller Mark Flaherty.

“I know Barbara Hafer, and more importantly the voters of our district know her,” Flaherty said in a statement. “She has been through the process already and she has been vetted and approved …

March 2, 2010 at 10:18 am | Comments (6)

Singel drops out of 12th District race (Updated)

Less than a week after …

February 25, 2010 at 6:08 pm | Comments (9)

Musings on Murtha—and the political etiquette of death

As a constituent of the long-serving Congressman John Murtha (D-12), I was both shocked and saddened by his recent death.

My colleague here at pa2010.com, Michael Livingston, was probably right when he pThat being said, and with the understanding that the arena of politics can be a cruel environment where the familiar mantra of “the show must go on” takes on a whole new meaning, I was a bit surprised, and put off, by the behavior of some of those considering or announcing a run to fill Murtha’s office./p
pBarbara Hafer a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2010/02/exclusive-hafer-running-to-succeed-murtha/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fexclusive-hafer-running-to-succeed-murtha%2F','announced+her+candidacy')" target="_blank"announced her candidacy /athe day embefore/em Murtha’s funeral. And two days later brought a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10049/1036855-100.stm" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.post-gazette.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.post-gazette.com%2Fpg%2F10049%2F1036855-100.stm','news')" target="_blank">news that Mark Singel had already scheduled a press conference to announce his. Ryan Bucchianeri responded to news of Murtha’s death with a …

February 24, 2010 at 10:34 am | Comments (6)

12th District notes: A Singel annoucement, Cernic interested, Bucchianeri still in

Two more Democrats appear to be leaning toward a run in the 12th Congressional District.

The Post-Gazette pMeanwhile emThe Tribune-Democrat/em a href="http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_048231528.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.tribune-democrat.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tribune-democrat.com%2Flocal%2Flocal_story_048231528.html','reports')" target="_blank">reports that Cambria County Controller Ed Cernic Jr. is also considering a run.

“I’m doing my due diligence right now,” Cernic said.

And Ryan Bucchianeri, the Democrat who was running before Murtha’s death, reaffirmed his intention to stay in the race.

“I remain committed to this race and to the people of western Pennsylvania,” he said in a …

February 18, 2010 at 2:12 pm | Comments (6)

12th District notes: Potential candidates galore

CORRECTION APPENDED (See bottom)

Barely a week after the passing of longtime Congressman John Murtha, there are so many names for potential replacements swirling in the political ether that  keeping track of them all is dizzying. Our friends at CQ Politics have pHere’s the latest on what we’re hearing, both about candidates already in the race and about those who may or may not run. Log-on to empa2010.com/em all week for to track who’s in, who’s out and who’s still on the fence.strong /strong/p
pstrongJoyce Murtha (D)/strong: emThe Inquirer/em a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20100214_Murtha_s_death_creates_a_heated_race.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.philly.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Finquirer%2Fworld_us%2F20100214_Murtha_s_death_creates_a_heated_race.html','reports')" target="_blank"reports/a that there’s a growing sentiment for Murtha’s widow to campaign for the seat her husband held for decades. There’s no indication yet if she harbors any interest at all in this./p
pstrongTim Burns (R)/strong: Burns was already in the race before Murtha died, and while he hadn’t raised much money, he’s personally wealthy from selling his pharmacy technology company in 2003. We’re hearing that the prospect of a self-funder for the race has some Republicans drooling.strong /strong/p
pstrongBarbara Hafer (D)/strong: Along with former Lieutenant Governor Mark Singel and state Senator John Wozniak, both of whom we a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2010/02/sizing-up-special-election-contenders-in-the-12th/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fsizing-up-special-election-contenders-in-the-12th%2F','wrote+about+earlier')">wrote about earlier, we’re told that the former state treasurer is one of the candidates being courted by Democratic leaders.

Bill Russell (R): After running against Murtha in 2008, the former …

February 14, 2010 at 9:01 pm | Comments (8)

12th District primer: Get ready for a mad dash

This could get complicated—and maybe a little confusing.

Because of a confluence of state law and party politics, it’s likely a special election to replace …

February 8, 2010 at 4:16 pm | Comments (11)

Burning Murtha in fundraising, and burning through cash (Updated)

Trying to unseat Pennsylvania’s most entrenched congressman, the King of Pork, is an effective rallying cry.

That’s the lesson taken from Republican Bill Russell’s recent fundraising haul. In his second bid against Congressman John Murtha (D-12), Russell has been raising money at a frenetic pace. He’s brought in about $2.8 million since losing to Murtha in 2008, more than three times the amount raised by the nearly 36-year incumbent, who pHolding onto that money, though, is a different story. Russell has sent almost every dollar back out the door, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on direct mail and voter outreach, a href="http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00460048/447088/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://query.nictusa.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nictusa.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fdcdev%2Fforms%2FC00460048%2F447088%2F','according+to+campaign+finance+data')" target="_blank"according to campaign finance data/a. All signs point to a concerted effort to build a fundraising base that could eventually allow Russell to make money without spending so much of it—a tipping point he clearly has yet to reach. Despite his fundraising advantage, he finished the year with about $211,000 left in the bank—$177,00 less than Murtha had./p
pConsidering his skill as a fundraiser, observers could be excused for casting a skeptical eye at Murtha’s relatively small fourth-quarter haul. a href="http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00019075/446927/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://query.nictusa.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nictusa.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fdcdev%2Fforms%2FC00019075%2F446927%2F','He+raised+less+than+%24100%2C000+in+the+last+three+months+of+2009')" target="_blank">He raised less than $100,000 …

February 2, 2010 at 12:15 pm | Comments (3)

Memory lane: Bucchianeri’s football glory days

In looking up John Murtha’s …

May 29, 2009 at 10:19 am | Comments (0)

Post-Obama world holds dangers for Democrats, too

Three more notes on the rapidly shifting, post-Obama political world and how it makes predictions so difficult:

First, very interesting …

May 29, 2009 at 8:39 am | Comments (0)

Murtha’s latest opponent is from his own party

Congressman John Murtha (D-12) has yet another political opponent to face, nothing new for a man who finds himself embroiled in a lobbying scandal and consistently under fire from the right.

The twist: This time it’s a Democrat preparing to go up against the longtime incumbent.

The Post-Gazette reports that Navy veteran Ryan Bucchianeri p“I’m running for Congress to further my lifelong commitment to public service and responsibly address the unprecedented policy challenges we face today, here and abroad,” he told emThe Post-Gazette/em./p
pRepublican Bill Russell, who ran against Murtha last year, is already planning another campaign against him, and Washington County businessman Tim Burns has also said he’ll a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/04/a-primary-challenger-for-russell/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F04%2Fa-primary-challenger-for-russell%2F','run+for+the+GOP+nomination')" target="_blank"run for the GOP nomination/a./p
pEven with Murtha under continued scrutiny, a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/04/even-under-scruity-few-see-murtha-as-vulnerable/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F04%2Feven-under-scruity-few-see-murtha-as-vulnerable%2F','Even+under+scrutiny%2C+few+see+Murtha+as+vulnerable')" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F04%2Feven-under-scruity-few-see-murtha-as-vulnerable%2F','few+consider+him+politically+vulnerable')" target="_blank"few consider him politically vulnerable/a in 2010. He is deeply entrenched in the district, and Republicans in recent years have mostly avoided putting up serious challengers against him./p
p“The problem is he’s done personal favors for just about every man, woman and child over the years, and that makes him tough to beat,” GOP political consultant Charlie Gerow said recently./p
p•Earlier on empa2010.com/em: a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/04/even-under-scruity-few-see-murtha-as-vulnerable/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F04%2Feven-under-scruity-few-see-murtha-as-vulnerable%2F','Even+under+scrutiny%2C+few+see+Murtha+as+vulnerable')" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F04%2Feven-under-scruity-few-see-murtha-as-vulnerable%2F','few+consider+him+politically+vulnerable')" target="_blank">Even under scrutiny, few see Murtha as vulnerable

May 28, 2009 at 8:36 am | Comments (0)