April 26, 2008
Pa's GOP candidates a formidable bunch.
By Kimberly Hefling
Associated Press
Pennsylvania proved to be the most fruitful state for Democrats in 2006 when the party gained control of the U.S. House, but Republicans are offering a slate of daunting candidates in the state as they try to retake the chamber.
The GOP candidates, finalized in Tuesday's primaries, include a small-town mayor who garnered national headlines for fighting illegal immigration, a father who lost his son in the Iraq war, a business owner who survived a tough primary, and a former congresswoman.
"Pennsylvania has been a keystone for Republican recruitment," said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Tom Manion, the father of a Marine killed in Iraq, is attempting to unseat freshman Rep. Patrick Murphy, the only Iraq war vet elected to Congress, in the Eighth District, which includes all of Bucks County and small sections of Montgomery County and Philadelphia.
Lou Barletta, a mayor who took on illegal immigration in Hazleton, seeks to unseat Rep. Paul Kanjorski, a Democrat who has represented his northeastern Pennsylvania district for more than 20 years.
Chris Hackett, a business owner heavily outspent by his opponent in Tuesday's GOP primary in northeastern Pennsylvania, is up against Democratic Rep. Chris Carney, a freshman in a historically Republican district who beat an incumbent in 2006 entrenched in a sex scandal.
Former Rep. Melissa Hart is fighting to win back her Pittsburgh-area seat from Rep. Jason Altmire, who pulled out an upset in 2006.
Two years ago, Republicans lost four U.S. House seats in Pennsylvania.
Among the GOP's targets here this year are the four Democratic freshmen - with Carney viewed as among the most vulnerable. Hackett spent more than $790,000 of his own money in the primary even as his opponent spent more than twice as much. He said he would continue to campaign on a message of fiscal conservatism.
Carney, a political science professor and a member of the Naval Reserve, calls himself a conservative Democrat and has accused Republicans of trying to buy the race.
Republicans actively recruited Barletta.
The party also sought the candidacy of Manion, a retired Marine Corps Reserve colonel and pharmaceutical executive whose son died last year in Iraq. Manion's position on Iraq - that U.S. forces should be given the time to develop a careful strategy to exit the country - is in direct contrast to Murphy's. The Democrat has been out front in the party's efforts to withdraw troops.
Carrie James, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the party's hundreds of thousands of new registered voters would likely hurt GOP incumbents.
Democrats hope businessman Steve O'Donnell can upset Republican Rep. Tim Murphy, who has represented a district outside Pittsburgh since 2002. In northwestern Pennsylvania, Kathy Dahlkemper, director of the Lake Erie Arboretum, is trying to beat incumbent Republican Rep. Phil English.
The state's only open congressional seat is in a sprawling rural district in central Pennsylvania long dominated by Republicans. Rep. John Peterson is retiring. His chosen successor, Centre County GOP chairman Glenn Thompson, will face Clearfield County Commissioner Mark McCracken in November.
The state's fourth freshman is Rep. Joe Sestak, a Democrat and a retired Marine vice admiral who represents most of Delaware County and parts of Chester and Montgomery Counties. He faces W. Craig Williams, a former assistant U.S. attorney who served in the Persian Gulf war.