Posted on 03/11/2010 8:25:01 PM PST by Crichton
LATROBE — Tim Burns will represent the Republican Party for the special election to pick John Murtha’s successor after a group of GOP conferees Thursday night voted for him over his chief rival, former Army officer Bill Russell.
The vote total was 85 votes for Burns, 46 for Russell.
Burns will now face Murtha’s former district director, Mark Critz, in the May 18 special election...
...Although some Republicans thought Russell had an outside chance to win Thursday’s nomination, Burns was the solid favorite for the nod.
Although Burns defeated Russell Thursday night, he will face him again on the May 18 primary ballot. Russell made it clear in an interview after the vote that he still plans to run.
“We have open primaries for a reason,” he said. “This is the republican party of pa not the communist party of North Korea.”
Burns, a political neophyte, is an independently wealthy businessman from Eighty Four, which is in Washington County. Critz hails from Murtha’s hometown of Johnstown, in Cambria County.
The 132 conferees present at the meeting came from the nine counties spread across the southwest 12th Congressional District...
Each candidate gave a five-minute speech ... before answering questions from the conferees.
Burns ... used his opportunity to frame the conferees’ choice as one of the most important decisions in the 12th District’s history because of the impact it would have on Washington. His comments were in line with what seems like a clear strategy by his campaign and Republicans to make the election a national referendum on President Obama and the Democratic controlled Congress.
...
The candidate said he wants to eliminate the federal deficit and vociferously opposes the Democrats’ health care bill.
(Excerpt) Read more at politicspa.com ...
Russell still has the opportunity to win the primary nomination, which will hopefully help drive turnout and help Burns defeat Critz in the special election. Then the winner of the Republican primary would run for the seat in November.
Let me guess. Burns is the maaaaahhhhhhhhderite
Good guess, but not in this case.
Both Burns and Russell are conservative: Burns a businessman, Russell a veteran.
The key is that Burns is a local, and the local establishment has never really warmed up to Russell, who moved into the district to run against Murtha and challenge his recent anti-military streak.
The first thread:
Well, someone had to challenge the fat blob. He was crushing stiff after stiff every two years.
A very awkward situation to have the special election and the primary election on the same day, with the same candidate running in each.
Now he’s the stiff.
Another Scozoffava deal eh.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.