February 26, 2008
Club For Growth PAC President Pat Toomey on the Sue Henry Show
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Roll Call: Pennsylvania: Club for Growth Says Candidate Can Hackett
The Club for Growth has endorsed businessman Chris Hackett in the Republican primary for Rep. Christopher Carney's (D) northeastern Pennsylvania seat.
Hackett, who owns and runs a staffing company, is one of two wealthy businessmen leading the race for the GOP nomination. The other is Dan Meuser, who owns and manages a motorized wheelchair company. Optometrist Davis Haire also is running.
The club's endorsement announcement made no mention of any of the other candidates, though spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik said the club also met with Meuser.
"We were just very impressed with Chris Hackett," Soloveichik said. "He's taken a real great step forward in signing the earmark pledge. He's adamant against earmarks."
Carney took the seat away from nearly three decades of Republican reign when then-Rep. Don Sherwood (R) was embroiled in a scandal surrounding allegations that he strangled his mistress.
The large, rural district has a tradition of voting Republican, but Carney won the seat with 53 percent of the vote. President Bush carried the district with 60 percent in 2004.
— Shira Toeplitz
Copyright 2008 © Roll Call Inc. All rights reserved.
The Hill
Businessman Chris Hackett notched an important endorsement in what is shaping up to be an expensive race, after the Club for Growth political action committee announced Monday that it will back him.
Hackett, who has shown some fundraising prowess, is facing wealthy businessman Dan Meuser in the GOP primary and would battle freshman Rep. Chris Carney (D), who raised $1 million last year, in the general election.
The Club, known for hard-edged primary attacks, didn’t take aim at Meuser in announcing its endorsement but does figure to give Hackett a boost in funds.
Both GOPers had about $400,000 cash on hand at the end of 2007.
— A.B.
The Politico: Club for Growth endorses Carney's GOP opponent
Businessman Chris Hackett landed a key endorsement in his bid to win the GOP nomination against freshman Rep. Chris Carney (D-Pa.)
The anti-tax Club for Growth, which has lately played a pivotal role in Republican primaries, endorsed Hackett over businessman Dan Meuser for the nomination. Both Republicans have been able to raise respectable amounts of money for the campaign, and both have partially self-funded for the primary.
"With his business background and his pro-growth campaign platform, Chris Hackett has demonstrated an intuitive understanding of the importance of limited-government, free-market policies in advancing economic growth," said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey said in a statement.
Hackett has highlighted his opposition to excessive federal spending on the campaign, recently launching a television ad last week proclaiming his opposition to wasteful earmarks. The ad attacked Carney for supporting several pork-barrel projects, including "fruit fly research in France."
Link: The Politico