Posted on 02/22/2010 2:29:01 PM PST by fieldmarshaldj
12th District notes: Joyce Murtha out, Critz and Cernic in (Updated)
A few more 12th District pieces came into focus Monday.
The Fix reports that Joyce Murtha, the late Congressman John Murtha’s widow, won’t be running for the seat he held for decades. This clears the way for anyone who was waiting on her decision. Barbara Hafer, the former state treasurer and auditor general, had said she wouldn’t run if Murtha did.
Meanwhile, CQ Politics reports that Murtha’s district director Mark Critz will soon enter the race, adding a candidate intimately familiar with the district into the mix. Former Cambria County Controller Albert Penska also might run.
And The Tribune-Democrat reports that Cambria County Controller Ed Cernic Jr., who had been considering a run, is good to go, having announced his candidacy Monday morning.
With only a couple Republicans definitely running, the Democratic side of the ballot is shaping up to be to be a much more crowded affair—at least five Democrats have said they’re in the race.
UPDATE: In a statement Monday afternoon, Murtha’s congressional campaign says that Joyce Murtha will not be running because “she feels that it is too soon after his death to be on the campaign trail.”
February 22, 2010 at 2:30 pm
--pa2010.com Staff
*ping*
DC represents inbreeding at its epitome.
I think Murtha’s widow is about 80 years old and has health problems, so I can understand why she wouldn’t want to bother here.
“I think Murtha’s widow is about 80 years old and has health problems, so I can understand why she wouldn’t want to bother here.”
Don’t you think it was more at the dems urging her on as a sentimental favorite? They could wheel her in for any necessary votes like they would murtha or kennedy.
It’s not unusual for widows to run for their deceased husband’s seats of either party (although in the past, it was usually expected they’d hold it only until the next general election).
That eliminates one possible X factor. Now the RATs and Republicans will both run a candidate for the special election that will be facing opposition in the primary for the full term held the same day.
This news pleases me.
They better find a Democrat for that job fast or figure on closing that airport to nowhere.
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