PA-13

Congressman Bill Shuster backed out of a debate with his challenger Tony Barr on October 12th citing the financial crisis as a reason he could not attend. If today's recovery bill was passed, Shuster may have lost that argument and may have actually had to think about debating his opponent. Shuster got at least a temporary reprieve today from having to put his record on the line in a debate as the first version of the bill fell short.

Shuster, Chris Carney and Allyson Schwartz continue to duck a series of debates against their opponents.

ARDMORE-Republican Marina Kats knows she has a tough race against U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington) in an increasingly Democratic 13th Congressional District. But there's one constituency the Russian immigrant is confident she can capture: the more than 100,000 voters of Russian, Ukrainian and Polish heritage who live in the northeast Philadelphia part of the largely suburban district.

"We're going to bring that base home to the Republican Party," Kats, who speaks fluent Russian and Ukrainian, told GOP faithful here at a rally for John McCain.

As she and others waited for the arrival of McCain supporters U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Kats elaborated to PolitickerPA.com.

"I think they're going to come and support me because it's a matter of national pride; 95 percent of these people came here with the same story as me," she said.

Earlier this year two Republican candidates for Congress complained they were getting no love from Republicans.  One of the candidates, Michael Livingston, was so frustrated he dropped out of the race. Livingston was challenging entrenched Congressman Chaka Fattah in PA-2.  Livingston blamed the local, state and national parties for not supporting his effort. A similar tone was heard from PA-13 where Marina Kats is challenging Allyson Schwartz for the Montgomery County seat. Kats also announced she was not happy with the support she was receiving from the parties.

A month after telling PolitickerPA.com that local Republicans weren't doing enough for her Congressional bid, Marina Kats says that GOP support for her campaign is on the rise.

Kats, who is running against U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington) in the 13th Congressional District, told The Intelligencer that ever since the PolitickerPA.com report, help from local GOP circles has been more reliable.

"I don't know if it's a coincidence," Kats said, "but I did get better support. It has helped."

Whether that support will make a difference against the well-funded Schwartz, especially in a year when most state Republicans are focused on more competitive races, remains to be seen.

Another week, another debate challenge.

This time it's Marina Kats' turn. The Republican challenger in the 13th Congressional District on Monday called on her opponent, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington), to join her in two debates before Election Day.

"I think the people of the 13th district deserve a chance to hear their candidates on the issues without sound bytes, 30-second attack ads, or mudslinging," Kats said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Schwartz did not immediately comment.

It's been a challenging race for Kats, a political newcomer who has struggled to gain traction against the well-funded Schwartz in an increasingly Democratic district.

In August, Kats told PolitickerPA.com that she was frustrated with the lack of help from local Republicans.

DENVER--U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington) is one of a small handful of politicians whose name has been floated as a possible challenger to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in 2010.

But in a brief interview this afternoon with PolitickerPa.com, Schwartz said she was focused only on her coming reelection bid in November.

"I love the work that I'm doing," she told PolitickerPa.com as she left a luncheon for the state delegation at the Democratic convention here. "I'm honored to be thought of as someone who can represent the state.

"We'll see," added Schwartz, who represents the 13th Congressional District.

She also briefly addressed the relatively low-key campaign being run by her Republican opponent Marina Kats, who recently acknowledged feeling overwhelmed by the race. Despite any lack of visible campaigning by the Kats operation, Schwartz said she would continue to campaign hard.

"I'm out and about and reaching out to constituents all the time," she said.

For weeks, GOP political watchers in Montgomery County have expressed quiet but increasing concern that Marina Kats did not have the political acumen to take on a powerful incumbent in Congress, and that the wealthy lawyer was being left to fend for herself by a Republican Party largely resigned to letting the candidate spend her own money in what seemed to be a losing effort.

For what it's worth, Kats, who is running against U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington) in the 13th Congressional District, shares their concerns.

In a brief but candid interview Tuesday night, Kats acknowledged feeling somewhat overwhelmed, and said she was disappointed in the lack of guidance she has received from local GOP officials.

"When I got into this, I got into it because of purely idealistic reasons," Kats told PolitickerPA.com after performing a brief routing at Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky's Candidates Comedy Night. "I wanted to help the country and to help the party."

But Kats, a millionaire attorney with no political experience, wondered why she was left to campaign on her own.

"I know how to operate in the business world," she said. "It's a little different in the political world."

"I'm surprised it became Marina Kats' race without more support from the party," Kats added.

Still, she maintained the race was "very winnable."

"If the Republican Party wants to win this race, I invite everyone to help out," she said.

Montgomery County GOP chairman Bob Kerns said he hadn't spoken with Kats about her concerns, but insisted that the party was behind her.

"The Republican Party supports all of its candidates," Kerns said.

Congressional candidate Marina Kats: Campaign PhotoIt was clear even before the latest campaign finance reports were released that Marina Kats was struggling to raise money, especially when compared to the huge war chest of her opponent, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington).

Now, after a campaign staff shakeup, Kats, a wealthy attorney and the Republican challenger in the 13th Congressional District, is starting to dip into her considerable fortune to turn things around.

Kats loaned her campaign $285,000 on July 21, campaign spokesman Luke Myslinski told PolitickerPA.com Monday. The loan came only days after her second quarter campaign finance disclosure showed she had collected just over $87,000 during the period. Schwartz, meanwhile, raised almost half-a-million dollars during the same period. While Kats had about $50,000 on hand at the end of the last reporting period, Schwartz had $2.2 million.

It remains unclear how much of the loan Kats will eventually get back, or if she will eventually give her campaign money outright.

"Every option's still on the table," Myslinski said. "We're still early in the race."

While not going into the specifics of Kats' fundraising plans, he said the campaign was still aiming to raise significantly more than it has to date.

"We'd be happy with a million dollars," he said.

A Northeast Philadelphia businessman says he has filed nominating papers to join tha ballot for the 13th Congressional District, throwing his hat into a race against a strong Democratic incumbent and a Republican challenger who has so far struggled to gain traction.

John McDermott says he filed nominating papers last week containing the signatures of about 4,400 district voters, about 1,400 more than required to get on the ballot.

McDermott, a self-employed salesman of electric and natural gas power to commercial and inustrial companies, is joining the race as a Constitution Party candidate.

"Now the voters of this district can benefit from a real conservation on issues,” McDermott said in a release.

U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington) raised almost half-a-million dollars in the second quarter, far outpacing her Republican opponent, according to campaign finance reports published Tuesday.

Schwartz collected more than $491,000 during the period, bringing her total haul for the campaign cycle above $2.3 million. Opponent Marina Kats, meanwhile, raised only $87,270 in the second quarter, and the wealthy lawyer is overhauling her campaign operations.

Schwartz, whose name has been floated as a possible U.S. Senate contender in the coming years, has had little need to spend her campaign money, and had $2.26 million in cash on hand at the end of the quarter, compared with just over $50,000 for Kats.

The two are running in the 13th Congressional District.