william russell

WASHINGTON – Should he win his suddenly-competitive re-election race on Tuesday, longtime U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown) will owe a big debt of thanks to the members of the progressive-minded political action committee MoveOn.org.

Since issuing a last-minute appeal to MoveOn.org’s fundraising list on Wednesday, the organization has infused Murtha’s campaign with over $187,000 in cash, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Murtha’s ramped-up fundraising efforts comes just days after receiving heated criticism for saying in a media interview that residents in his Southeastern Pennsylvania district are “racist” and “rednecks.”

WASHINGTON – National Republicans are matching Democrats toe-to-toe in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional district air wars, where U.S. Rep. John Murtha finds himself in a surprisingly difficult race for re-election.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is paying $465,000 through its independent expenditure arm to air its TV ad, out Thursday, in the Southwestern Pennsylvania district. The figure promises saturation of the Pittsburgh media market in the five days leading up to Election Day, and puts the committee at parity with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s nearly $440,000 ad buy from earlier in the week.

The ramped-up efforts from the party committees come after Murtha was quoted in recent media reports calling his constituents “rednecks” and “racist.”

Fox News is showing Sarah Palin's speech from Latrobe on TV right now. Could a visit to Latrobe have anythign to do with the Bill Russell and John Murtha race which is quickly turning into one of the top three races in Pa.    

Has John Murtha become the number one target for Republicans in the country over the last two weeks? Amazing when you consider this race was not even on the radar 3 weeks ago.     

The latest William Russell television ad features his wife defending him against "Murtha lies."    

WASHINGTON – The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s last minute ad buy to protect U.S. Rep. John Murtha totals nearly $440,000, PolitickerPA.com has learned.

The ad buy, which one Democratic strategist said today was large enough to “saturate” the Southwestern Pennsylvania district’s airwaves over the next 6 days, dwarfs the National Republican Congressional Committee’s investment in the race. On Tuesday, the NRCC paid $84,000 to air a 30-second TV ad highlighting Murtha’s past controversial statements.

While the DCCC has been reserving ad time in the district, Democratic House members have been receiving calls asking them to cut checks in an effort to boost Murtha’s campaign.

A Virginia photographer is considering taking legal action against PA-12 challenger William Russell for use of a photograph that was posted on Flickr. The photograph in questions belongs to Matthew Bradley and was taking in Virginia.

GrassrootsPA.com is reporting on a new internal poll conducted by Dane & Associates which shows John Murtha leading William Russell by 2% in PA-12.

Vets for Freedeom, who recently started airing radio ads for Tom Manion in PA-8 is now targetting William Russell for support over John Murtha. The VFF is also going to be hitting the ground going door-to-door to help Russell with his get out the vote efforts.