House

Congressman Jason Altmire (PA-04) held a telephone town hall meeting with constituents to discuss the energy crisis in America.  According Altmire, more than 10,700 constituents joined him on the call. 

Politico.com has an article that lists the five democrats most likely to lose their seats in November. Paul Kanjorski PA-11, is on the list.

"There is a whole host of factors, but it goes back to former House Speaker Tip O’Neill’s maxim that “all politics is local.” Some local officials believe that Kanjorski hasn’t spent as much time in the district meeting with voters and that a string of easy wins has made him soft. And when he has met with constituents, the encounters haven’t helped him much."

Politico does point one Kanjorski’s one great advantage, his huge edge with cash in the bank compared to Lou Barletta.

U.S. Rep. Charles DentU.S. Rep. Charles Dent (R-Allentown) is drawing attention to his opponent's fundraising numbers, specifically her struggles in securing donations from within the 15th Congressional District.

Dent raised about $230,000 in the second fundraising quarter, barely more than the $226,000 raised by Democrat Sam Bennett. Dent did finish the reporting period with significantly more cash on hand, boasting about $686,000 compared with $353,000 for Bennett.

But in a statement last week, Dent's campaign said a closer look at Bennett's campaign finance reports revealed her lack of support within the district, which stretches across Lehigh, Northampton, Berks and Montgomery counties.

Saying Bennet was "miserably failing at raising financial support from people in our community," Dent's campaign said that 87 percent of Bennett's itemized, non-PAC donations came from outside the district. Of the $154,000 in itemized contributions above $200 Bennett collected, only $19,820 came from donors in the district, the campaign said.

"It's ridiculous," Dent Campaign Manager Shawn Millan said in the statement, which also said that Bennett had raised more money from out of state than from district residents. "You go through her reports and you see street addresses for California but nothing from Catasauqua."

The attacks by Dent's campaign came less than a week after Bennett called for a "clean campaign pledge" and said she would not engage in "negative personal attacks."

Bill Russell's campaign has spent the summer buying media, packing the schedule with county fairs and raising money -- everything expected of a congressional candidate laying a foundation for fall.

Now it just needs Bill Russell.

The Republican challenger to political giant U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown) has been absent from his own campaign the past 90 days while serving in the U.S. Army. On-duty members of the armed services are forbidden from any politicking, including even brief phone calls between themselves and their campaigns.

It's his campaign, but for the past three months, he's had nothing to do with it -- even as important decisions were made.

U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach: Campaign photoWASHINGTON - In 2004, U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Upper Uwchlan Township) campaigned with George W. Bush in a difficult re-election race for his 6th Congressional District seat.

In the end, Bush lost the district to John Kerry (D-Mass.) by almost 11,000 votes. But Gerlach would go on to defeat his Democratic opponent, attorney Lois Murphy, by a more-than 6,000 vote margin. By the time the dust settled, Murphy had spent almost $2 million, accusing Gerlach of misleading of fiscal issues and tying the incumbent to then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

Two years later, Murphy was back for a rematch. In a favorable Democratic environment, Murphy doubled her expenditures and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and liberal-aligned women’s group EMILY’s List engaged. Democrats would go on to win 31 seats and the House majority in 2006, but Gerlach proved hard to beat. The Republican dispatched of Murphy by a margin of more than 3,000 votes.

Hazleton mayor Lou Barletta, the Republican candidate in the 11th Congressional District, was named Pennsylvania's Mayor of the Year this weekend.

Barletta, who is running a heated race against U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Nanticoke City), was given the award Saturday by the Pennsylvania State Mayors Association, The Associated Press reports.

Because of his high-profile crackdown on illegal immigration as mayor, Barletta has drawn support from conservatives nationwide.

WASHINGTON - It would be difficult to think that U.S. Rep. Phil English’s constituents already don’t know all there is to know about their congressman. After all, the Erie Republican has held his northwest Pennsylvania-area seat for 14 years.

But in a recent interview in his Capitol Hill office, English stressed that he was prepared to take significant steps in his re-election campaign to reach out to voters who, he said, weren’t fully aware of his independent-minded record.

“The way we look at it is, we will be taking some unusual tactics to be adapting to this unusual environment and that’s going to include messaging to a lot of independent voters to convey to them my track record which is very different than many perhaps have expected,” he said.

The conservative group Freedom's Watch has unleashed yet another round of robocalls, this one attacking Democrats in Congress for "standing between us and billions of barrels of American oil."

The robocall campaigns are being run in New Hampshire, Arizona, California, Kentucky, New York, Illinois, Florida and Ohio, as well as in Pennsylvania.

With similar scripts, the Pennsylvania calls are targeting U.S. Reps. Jason Altmire (D-McCandless) in the 4th Congressional District, Chris Carney (D-Dimock) in the 10th Congressional District and Paul Kanjorski (D-Nanticoke City) in the 11th Congressional District.

The voice on the call reminds listeners that President Bush recently lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling, and blames its Democratic targets for stopping increases in domestic oil production. It gives listeners a number of times that each target has "sided with Nancy Pelosi and liberals in Congress instead of us" and urges listeners to call the target.

"Tell him to stop standing between the American people and American oil," the call closes.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel: Getty Images PhotoEight Pennsylvania Democrats running for Congress are being criticized by the National Republican Congressional Committee for accepting donations from U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who is embroiled in scandal after being accused of using his high-profile status to secure rent-stabilized apartments.

The NRCC sent two sets of e-mails, one Saturday to incumbents and another Wednesday to challengers, saying Democrats should return donations from the politically powerful Rangel.

U.S. Rep. Phil EnglishThe campaign for U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Erie) said Democratic opponent Kathy Dahlkemper tried hiding disappointing fundraising figures Tuesday by releasing a favorable internal poll on the same day.

It's case of political misdirection, the English campaign said, that won't work.

Dahlkemper reported she raised $161,911 in the second quarter, leaving her with $127,866 on hand. Those numbers are far below the incumbent English, who raised $417,242 and has $786,983 on hand.

But Dahlkemper told PolitickerPA.com her second-quarter effort builds on momentum she's gained since emerging as the Democratic nominee in the 3rd Congressional District.