The Democratic nominee in the special election for the 12th will be former John Murtha district director Mark Critz:
The state Democratic Party’s Executive Committee on Monday selected Mark Critz to be the party’s nominee in the race to replace John Murtha, choosing the congressman’s district director over former state Treasurer Barbara Hafer, a Democratic official has told PoliticsPA….
Critz will now be placed on the May 18 special election ballot to determine who will serve out the remainder of the late congressman’s term in office. He will face Republican Tim Burns or Bill Russell, depending on whom Republican conferees select during their meeting Thursday.
This was looking pretty well sewn-up over the weekend, when delegates from around the 12th picked Critz. The state executive committee had the final say, though, and there were whispers over the weekend that they might look elsewhere than Critz, who opponents say shares some of his former boss’s ethical baggage.
Rivals Barbara Hafer and Ryan Bucchanieri still plan to contest the Democratic primary for the regular November election, meaning that Critz could still be in the Neil Abercrombie-esque position of winning a special election and losing the primary on the same day. UPDATE: The vote count’s out: it was Critz 30, Hafer 18, Bucchanieri 1.
RaceTracker Wiki: PA-12
In 2005-06, Hafer expressed interest in, and bailed on, running for PA-SEN, PA-18 and lieutenant governor. I will not at all be surprised if she quits again.
Between a pro-life, pro-gun (but pro-labor) Dem with possible ethics issues and a pro-choice moderate “Dem” who was a GOP officeholder through 2003, is it okay if I pass on having a favorite here?
bad news: Hafer running makes Critz more likely to lose the special election.
good news: I have an excuse to try getting the county results for Hafer/Luksik (along with some Specter primaries that might be relevant for the primary) out of the PA people (word if that they will scan and e-mail, eventually). Pennsylvania Primaries are fun, especially since putting the home county of the candidate leads to people just voting for the dude from their county.
Why waste our party’s money fighting with each other? that is dumb.
If the 12th wants seniority in redistricting, they need the special election winner to BE THE SAME PERSON!! duh!!
It doesn’t matter if the seniority is only by a few months, they target the least senior congressperson for redistricting. Critz can remove that bottom-spot for the 12th. The people simply HAVE to put the district first and pick Critz, or else they jeopardize the entire existence of the district.
So much for that “high-level” party insider who said Critz wouldn’t be selected. An ax to grind, indeed, Crisitunity.
(Just because).