"It’s not a valid strategy, it's ridiculous," Rep. Tom Tigue, D-Hughestown

It maybe a ridiculous strategy but it's worth a try. The Times-Tribune has the story of the anti-pay raise group making some noise in northeastern Pennsylvania:

An anti-incumbent group hoping to recruit challengers to run against more than 200 state lawmakers next year has decided to debut a round of radio ads in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

PACleanSweep plans to run three, 30-second radio ads on Pittston Township-based WILK-AM starting Tuesday. The ads will air a total of 20 times over a weeklong run at a cost of $250, according to PACleanSweep founder Russ Diamond.

"We thought we'd start (the radio ads) in an area where we need to recruit more candidates," he said. "We have a few candidates in the region, but the number pales in comparison to other regions of the commonwealth."Mr. Diamond estimates his group has found candidates for "between 10 and 20 percent" of the legislative races in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area. He would not identify specific seats where his group has fielded challengers, saying he did not want to give incumbents a sneak peek at potential opponents."Part of our strategy is to keep the incumbents in the dark for as long as possible," Mr. Diamond said. His group plans to formally announce its roster of candidates during a Capitol press conference during the week of Jan. 30.

Running radio ads to recruit candidates? Unfortunately around these parts if you get elected the first time you are probably there for life. I hate uncontested elections and if the pay raise issue inspires some people to run for office that's great.