10th CD update

Candidates are dropping in and out of the race for the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District. The big news today is that former New Jersey state senator John Scott has withdrawn from the contest.

That leaves 4 announced candidates, Chris Hackett, Shavertown, owner of One Source Staffing; Dan Meuser, Harveys Lake, president of Pride Mobility Products; Donald Ely, Sunbury, a retired schoolteacher and minister; and Paul R. Swiderski, Harding, self-employed. Previously Joe Peters and Tom Marino ruled out a bid and Vince Sweeney is still thinking about it.

There is still time for someone else to jump into this thing and a commenter gives us a heads up to another prospective candidate; I heard that Amber from Club 10 will enter the race. She is raising funds Thursday night in the VIP room.

The announced candidates have websites in various stages of development.

Incumbent Democrat Chris Carney's site has just been given a makeover.

Paul Swiderski was the first of the challengers to pop up on the web. The best feature of it is his campaign blog.

Dan Meuser has his bio and sketches out some policy positions with a promise of more content to come.

This one is my favorite so far. Don Ely has bullet points saying what he is for and against without any explanation of his positions. I'm sure he will expand on them later. Some of what he OPPOSES caught my eye; Law of the Sea U. N. Treaty, U. N. Taxing of Americans, North American Union and the ever popular The Whole Liberal “Hate America” Agenda.


Chris Hackett is a slacker in this category with only a Coming Soon. But he got some press this week with the Pocono News and The Wayne Independent covering his announcement tour. And the DC publication The Hill has this blurb:

Republican candidates hoping to unseat vulnerable House Democrats by and large are sticking by their party’s line in opposition to the children’s healthcare bill President Bush vetoed earlier this month....if GOP congressional hopefuls are fearful that backing Bush and the House Republican leadership against the SCHIP bill will hurt their campaigns, they aren’t showing it in their public statements.

In Pennsylvania, businessman Chris Hackett, one of two top Republican contenders running against Rep. Chris Carney (D), cited Carney’s vote for SCHIP as one of several that “don’t reflect the values of the district in any way, shape or form.”

Asked if the president was right to veto the bill, Hackett said, “Absolutely, yes.”

Ace TL political reporter Bill O'Boyle has the spin from the NRCC and Carney's office on the race.

Ken Spain, press secretary at the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he’s not surprised by the large field.


“Chris Carney’s record of voting for tax hikes and runaway spending has made him an easy target so it should come as no surprise that he has attracted stiff Republican opposition in this race,” Spain said. “Every day that he allows himself to serve as a rubber stamp for this wildly unpopular Democrat-led Congress, he provides more incentive for Republican challengers to line up against him and send a message to Washington.”

That drew a response from Rebecca Gale, spokesperson for Carney in Washington.

“Congressman Carney is proud of his record as a fiscal conservative,” Gale said. “The NRCC is just grasping at straws since their first-tier candidates have already backed away from challenging Congressman Carney.”

It's good to see Hackett address the issues in the news. I've asked the other candidates to tell us what they think of the SCHIP bill but for some reason they are being shy. I disagree with Hackett on this issue but he his willing to take a position and defend it.