Chaka Fattah

DENVER--In 18 years representing Philadelphia, U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah has never been seriously challenged in his overwhelmingly Democratic 2nd Congressional District.

This year, with a young political activist who only recently entered the race opposing him, he sees no reason why things should be any different.

"I'm going to be spending every day campaigning for Barack Obama and Joe Biden," Fattah told PolitickerPa.com this morning after the state delegation breakfast. "I'm not going to be spending any time worrying about my own election," he added.

GOP candidate for state Treasurer Tom Ellis went colonial for his turn at Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky's Comedy NightPHILADELPHIA-There were jokes about John McCain's age. Jokes about Gov. Ed Rendell's robust figure. Jokes about Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter's nerdy voice. And, oh, were there ever jokes about Vince Fumo's witness list.

And that was all before Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr made a surprise appearance.

It was one of the local political establishment's favorite nights here Tuesday night, as candidates for statewide races, Congressional races and down-ballot race joined a bevy of political insiders for Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky's annual Candidates Comedy Night. In its 18th year, the fundraiser for a children's charity put more than a dozen political candidates on stage, not to campaign, but to make people laugh.

"The candidates before me tonight are not professional comics," Bykofsky warned his audience before U.S. Rep. Bob Brady opened the show. "They will prove that in a moment."

Gov. Ed Rendell, U.S. Reps Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah, and even former 76ers coach Larry Brown are just some of the big names on state Sen. Vince Fumo's (D-Philadelphia) list of potential witnesses for his looming federal corruption trial.

The witness list, reported by The Inquirer and The Daily News, names 267 people who could potentially be called to testify at Fumo's trial, which now starts in less than a month.

Also headlining the defense witness list are Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, and Philadelphia City Council President Anna Verna.

Fumo, the 30-year incumbent and Philadelphia political icon, is accused of improperly using Senate money and money from a charity he oversaw for personal and political gain. He has denied any wrongdoing, but decided not to run for reelection in the spring because of the indictment against.

Center City attorney Larry Farnese won a three-way Democratic primary battle to replace Fumo in April. He faces underdog Republican Jack Morley in November, and is widely expected to be the next state Senator in the 1st Senatorial District.

The presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), is coordinating a statewide grand opening of its campaign field offices, now numbering 29, with prominent Democratic politicians schedule to speak on Obama's behalf throughout the state tonight.

Most of the offices have already been open for some time, but with U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) spending significantly more time in Pennsylvania than Obama has to date, Obama's campaign is looking to increase its visibility.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is among those stumping for Obama tonight. The junior Senator is scheduled to speak at office openings in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, the campaign said today.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Philadelphia) and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter will speak at different office openings in Philadelphia. U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Bristol) will speak in Doylestown, along with Bucks County Democratic Committee Chairman John Cordisco.

Other speakers across the state include Auditor General Jack Wagner in Pittsburgh and Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham in Allentown, along with numerous mayors, state Senators, county commissioners and party chairs from across the state

With party conventions approaching and the presidential campaign in Pennsylvania swinging into full gear, Pennsylvania's elected officials are getting into the action, stumping for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in a variety of locales, but usually keeping their campaign work limited to economic issues.

It seemed to start in earnest Sunday, when U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Philadelphia) stumped for Obama on the economy in front of Philadelphia City Hall. Obama endorsed Fattah in his unsuccessful mayoral primary bid last spring, and Fattah was one of the few Pennsylvania politicians who supported Obama during his primary battle against U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) in April.

A day later former U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford criticized Obama's opponent, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), for running what he said had become a "negative, nasty and dishonorable campaign," The Morning Call reports.

"... [T]he John McCain I am seeing in this campaign is not the John McCain I knew," Wofford told reporters during a campaign conference call.

The Pennsylvania surrogates continue their work today, with U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz scheduled to take part in a conference call with reporters. Joined by Allegheny County Councilman Jim Burn, Schwartz will discuss McCain's energy plan, "or lack thereof," the campaign said today.

PolitickerPA.com will continue to closely cover which local politicians are stumping for which candidates and what they're saying.

Adam Lang, a 30-year-old network engineer and ward chairman from North Philadelphia, will run against U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Philadelphia) in the fall, Lang and the city's GOP announced Wednesday.

PolitickerPa.com reported last week that Lang was being considered as a possible candidate to run against the longtime incumbent Fattah after Republican Michael Livingston dropped out of the race in June.

It remains unclear who else, if anyone, was under serious consideration to replace Livingston on the ballot. But despite the near impossibility of a Republican beating Fattah in an overwhelmingly Democratic district, the 30-year-old Lang could provide some welcome energy in a city where Republican candidates rarely make much noise.

The 2nd Congressional District is largely made up of areas in Philadelphia, but also includes small parts of Montgomery County.

"Philadelphia and Montgomery County need an effective voice in Congress," Lang said in a statement. "I'm ready to help find solutions to the problems our region will face in the 21st century."

PHILADELPHIA - Almost two months after the Republican candidate challenging U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah dropped out of the race, the city GOP here is considering a young ward chairman from North Philadelphia to run against the longtime incumbent Democrat.

Adam Lang, who chairs the city's 29th ward in the Brewerytown and Sharswood neighborhoods, is one of the people being considered to replace Michael Livingston on the ballot, party Chairman Vito Canuso confirmed Thursday. He would not identify other people under consideration. A decision is expected sometime in August, Canuso said.

"There are other people, but no one has authorized me to let that be revealed," he said. "Fortunately, we have a couple of people that are interested, and we're going to select the best qualified."

Lang would be a markedly different candidate than Livingston, in more ways than one. Most of Fattah's 2nd Congressional District is in Philadelphia, but Livingston, a 52-year-old tenured law professor at Rutgers School of Law in Camdem, lives in Cheltenham. Lang, by contrast, is a 30-year-old network engineer who is tied into both younger and older Republican circles in the city.

Still, he would likely face just as difficult a race against Fattah as Livingston, running in an overwhelmingly Democratic district where Fattah has never been seriously challenged during his 18 years in the seat.

"I think he would make a superb candidate," Livingston told PolitickerPa.com. "He's young, he's in the city, and I think he's very plugged into groups that the Republican Party needs to connect to."

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Philadelphia) collected $26,000 in contributions for his re-election during the second quarter, even as his underdog Republican opponent dropped out of the race, according to campaign finance reports released today.

The latest haul means that Fattah has collected more than $163,000 during an election cycle in which his victory was all but assured from the beginning. Democrats far outnumber Republicans in his 2nd Congressional District.

Almost all of the money raised in the most recent quarter came from political action committees and organizations, with only one individual contribution of $2,000. Major contributors included the Airline Pilots Association with $2,500, the Washington-based American Association for Justice with $3,000 and the Engineers Political Education Committee with $5,000.

Needing little, if any money for actual campaigning, Fattah's campaign has spread the money around. He gave $10,000 last month to Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown's PAC, as well as $2,500 to the Montgomery County Democratic Committee in May.

By a vote of 293-129 the U.S. Congress today passed the hotly debated FISA bill.  Four of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation voted against the bill.  Bob Brady (PA-01), Chaka Fattah (PA-02), Allyson Schwartz (PA-13) and Michael Doyle (PA-14) voted no, while John Peterson (PA-05) did not vote.