Welch catches some heat in the conservative blogosphere

As the Republican Party grapples with whether to expand its political tent or allow only the most ideologically pure candidates to carry its banner, conservative bloggers have played an increasing role in policing party candidates’ perceived fitness for office. It is this new political dynamic that briefly made 6th District congressional candidate Steven Welch a conservative target this week.

After already full story

December 7, 2009 at 7:30 am | Comments (16)

Four steps toward job creation

President Obama is holding a jobs summit at the White House Thursday. I commend the President for recognizing that the economy is the number one domestic issue of the day.

Unfortunately, it has been the policies (and threat of policies) that have come out of Washington over the past several months and years that have driven jobs out of this country or kept companies from investing here. All businesses know that it is difficult to…

December 3, 2009 at 2:11 pm | Comments (6)

Cohen and Welch welcome Sellers in 6th District (Updated)

Two Republican candidates in the 6th District greeted their

December 1, 2009 at 11:11 am | Comments (2)

Cohen officially gets into PA-6 GOP primary

Former Thornburgh administration Revenue Secretary Howard Cohen formally entered the race for Congress in the 6th District Thursday, promising to campaign in a “civil manner and with an adherence to authentic, conservative Republican principles.”

Cohen’s candidacy makes the GOP primary to replace incumbent Jim Gerlach a four-way race, and undoubtedly one of the most interesting House primaries in the state. As a longtime worker in state and federal government who has never sought elected office,

November 12, 2009 at 12:54 pm | Comments (4)

Former Thornburgh aide poised to enter PA-6 race

A former Revenue Secretary in the Thornburgh administration with a resume deep on government service and academia is set to formally declare his candidacy in the 6th Congressional District, adding another Republican to what has quickly become one of the most crowded, competitive primaries in the state.

Howard Cohen, who runs a business consulting firm in Bala Cynwyd, told pa2010.com that he is likely to make an official announcement next week. But he has already…

November 2, 2009 at 3:05 pm | Comments (9)

Cohen vs. Welch: ‘A financial David & Goliath race’

Republican Howard Cohen harbors no illusion that he’ll be able to match Steven Welch’s spending in his bid for the 6th Congressional District. Welch is a wealthy businessman reaching deep into his own wallet to win the party’s nomination, while Cohen has a small business consulting firm run out of his house.

In a primary that also includes two other GOP candidates and involves at least one expensive media market, Cohen said Monday, he hopes…

November 2, 2009 at 1:04 pm | Comments (1)

Meehan, Welch get on NRCC’s ‘Young Guns’ list

They both might be bullets of a candidate, but only one of them is really young.

Regardless of age, Republicans Pat Meehan and Steven Welch were both recently added to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s “Young Guns” program. Their addition does not imply a formal endorsement, but rather signifies that the candidates have met a variety of organizational and fundraising benchmarks in building a strong campaign.

Welch, the wealthy young entrepreneur, is running in the…

October 27, 2009 at 4:34 pm | Comments (2)

6th and 7th districts now forecasted as tossups

Those chaotic House races in the 6th and 7th Districts are

October 26, 2009 at 2:58 pm | Comments (8)

3 lessons learned and 3 questions raised in the 3rd quarter (Updated)

The numbers are in, digested and covered to death.

So with third quarter FEC reports squarely in the rear-view mirror, pa2010.com returns to the big picture. With that in mind, we offer up the most important lessons learned from the early fundraising hauls, along with the questions still to be answered.

LESSONS LEARNED:

1. Joe Sestak has work to do. The fact that the Democratic Senate hopeful full story

October 19, 2009 at 1:53 pm | Comments (14)

Costello downplays fundraising, calls on opponents to match endorsement pledge

Chester County Recorder of Deeds Ryan Costello sought to play down the importance of early fundraising numbers this week, saying he is focused on helping local GOP candidates in next month’s election “as requested by Republican Party leaders.”

Costello, who is running for Congress in the 6th District, did say he had raised $30,000 as of the third quarter filing deadline, and that he did so without holding fundraisers or soliciting contributions from local Republican…

October 14, 2009 at 11:12 am | Comments (3)