The LuLac Edition #1634, June 12th, 2011
PHOTO INDEX: MAPS OF THE 10th, 11th and 17th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS.
2012
There is a great deal of talk regarding the 2012 Presidential election but just bubbling under the surface are the Congressional elections of 2012. The Democrats thought they had a clear shot of retaking the House of Representatives riding the Paul Ryan Medicare program to victory. But that momentum was stopped dead in its tracks by Anthony Weiner’s Twitter obsessions. Because of that scandal, every seat is going to count.
Also looming large will be reapportionment of Congressional Districts. With a House and Senate controlled by the GOP nationally as well as having a Republican controlled Governor, House and Senate, the thinking s the GOP will have their way with the Congressional districts. One thing we are definitely hearing is that Luzerne will stay in the 11th. The Barletta forces are pushing this idea because the former Hazleton Mayor won it twice over a multi term Democrat. In Lackawanna County Barletta did not do well. Word is that Tim Holden has been making visits to the Scranton Area because there is talk it might wind up in his distriuct, the 17th. Holden was elected to the 6th District in 1994 but after Pennsylvania lost 2 seats in 2000, Holden was put in the 17th District having to run against a long time incumbent George Gekas. He beat back Gekas as well as one Mr. Scott Paterno, son of Joe Pa. If that isn’t confusing enough for you, Tom Marino who represents the 10th would not be unhappy if Scranton was eliminated and his district stretched either further north or westward with heavy Republican registrations.
The reapportionment talks are underway but a final decision won’t be made until the end of the year. But even with all this talk of where a district will be and who will represent it, there is speculation in the political world about who should run for the seat. And who will not.
Two people who were considered locks to make a Congressional race just a few years ago were Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Briwen and State Senator John Yudichak. But that was before O’Brien was forced to make a pledge of fidelity to his full second term as Commissioner when the 2011 primary race got tight. Yudichak was widely mentioned when he was a State Representative but after his resounding election to succeed Ray Musto, Yudichak at least for the time being wants to extend his considerable profile statewide. I have even heard Yudichak’s name being tossed around for Lt Governor or Governor down the road a bit.
The Casey family who made a run for the seat against Don Sherwood twice, Pat Casey lost two close races are said not to be interested especially in a year where their older brother Bob is up for re-election in the Senate. As a basketball playing buddy of President Obama you can bet his back will have a target on it by the GOP national committee, not to mention the right to life crazies.
Chris Carney has mentioned that he might want to take another stab at a run but is said to be happy in academia. Plus he has a debt from the last campaign and even though he did the right thing by voting for health care, the special interest groups will be screaming for his head.
Chris Doherty the current Mayor of Scranton might be a candidate but his two tries for higher office, a flirtation with the Governor’s office, then Senate Mellow’s 22nd District Senate seat yielded unsuccessful results. Former County Commissioner Joe Corcoran did not do well in that Senate race either and given the corruption allegations against county commissioners, touting that on his resume might be a non starter.
Most of the affluent Attorneys who could get party backing or raise money for a serious campaign war chest shot their load on the Judicial races of 2009 and 2011. So who does that leave to challenge Lou Barletta? A name being prominently mentioned is Wilkes Barre City Attorney Bill Vinsko. Vinsko is young, an active Democrat but also the perfect anecdote to Barletta whose decisions on immigration have been met with legal challenges that would seem to drag on and on. Plus Vinsko would have no baggage attached to him that a national Republican committee can throw against him from a PAC. He put himself through law school by deejaying weddings and was a personality while in college on KRZ FM, then the number 1 rated station in the district. Vinsko would also bring a unified Wilkes Barre city behind him in a race. That’s huge in a multi community race as Bill Amesbury proved in the 2009 Judicial race. Vinsko has made no firm comments about it yet but you can bet he and other Democrats are thinking about it hoping to reclaim the Congressional seat that has only been in GOP hands for only 4 of 60 years. They want it back and Vinsko could very well be the guy to achieve that goal. But the tale of this entire speculation is going to be told when the reapportionment gurus meet and make the final district outlines.
LIZ A GO
Liz Randol the candidate for Lackawanna County Commissioner is said to be ready to mount a write in campaign for the fall. Randol came in a close third behind Corey O’Brien and John Wansacz. She is being encouraged by people in her own party as well as observers who see the Lackawanmna GOP team of Pat O’Malley and Bill Jones as not being very strong. If she runs and places third, then Lackawanna County will have three candidates from the same party as the top vote getters.
This will be an interesting one to keep an eye on
There is a great deal of talk regarding the 2012 Presidential election but just bubbling under the surface are the Congressional elections of 2012. The Democrats thought they had a clear shot of retaking the House of Representatives riding the Paul Ryan Medicare program to victory. But that momentum was stopped dead in its tracks by Anthony Weiner’s Twitter obsessions. Because of that scandal, every seat is going to count.
Also looming large will be reapportionment of Congressional Districts. With a House and Senate controlled by the GOP nationally as well as having a Republican controlled Governor, House and Senate, the thinking s the GOP will have their way with the Congressional districts. One thing we are definitely hearing is that Luzerne will stay in the 11th. The Barletta forces are pushing this idea because the former Hazleton Mayor won it twice over a multi term Democrat. In Lackawanna County Barletta did not do well. Word is that Tim Holden has been making visits to the Scranton Area because there is talk it might wind up in his distriuct, the 17th. Holden was elected to the 6th District in 1994 but after Pennsylvania lost 2 seats in 2000, Holden was put in the 17th District having to run against a long time incumbent George Gekas. He beat back Gekas as well as one Mr. Scott Paterno, son of Joe Pa. If that isn’t confusing enough for you, Tom Marino who represents the 10th would not be unhappy if Scranton was eliminated and his district stretched either further north or westward with heavy Republican registrations.
The reapportionment talks are underway but a final decision won’t be made until the end of the year. But even with all this talk of where a district will be and who will represent it, there is speculation in the political world about who should run for the seat. And who will not.
Two people who were considered locks to make a Congressional race just a few years ago were Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Briwen and State Senator John Yudichak. But that was before O’Brien was forced to make a pledge of fidelity to his full second term as Commissioner when the 2011 primary race got tight. Yudichak was widely mentioned when he was a State Representative but after his resounding election to succeed Ray Musto, Yudichak at least for the time being wants to extend his considerable profile statewide. I have even heard Yudichak’s name being tossed around for Lt Governor or Governor down the road a bit.
The Casey family who made a run for the seat against Don Sherwood twice, Pat Casey lost two close races are said not to be interested especially in a year where their older brother Bob is up for re-election in the Senate. As a basketball playing buddy of President Obama you can bet his back will have a target on it by the GOP national committee, not to mention the right to life crazies.
Chris Carney has mentioned that he might want to take another stab at a run but is said to be happy in academia. Plus he has a debt from the last campaign and even though he did the right thing by voting for health care, the special interest groups will be screaming for his head.
Chris Doherty the current Mayor of Scranton might be a candidate but his two tries for higher office, a flirtation with the Governor’s office, then Senate Mellow’s 22nd District Senate seat yielded unsuccessful results. Former County Commissioner Joe Corcoran did not do well in that Senate race either and given the corruption allegations against county commissioners, touting that on his resume might be a non starter.
Most of the affluent Attorneys who could get party backing or raise money for a serious campaign war chest shot their load on the Judicial races of 2009 and 2011. So who does that leave to challenge Lou Barletta? A name being prominently mentioned is Wilkes Barre City Attorney Bill Vinsko. Vinsko is young, an active Democrat but also the perfect anecdote to Barletta whose decisions on immigration have been met with legal challenges that would seem to drag on and on. Plus Vinsko would have no baggage attached to him that a national Republican committee can throw against him from a PAC. He put himself through law school by deejaying weddings and was a personality while in college on KRZ FM, then the number 1 rated station in the district. Vinsko would also bring a unified Wilkes Barre city behind him in a race. That’s huge in a multi community race as Bill Amesbury proved in the 2009 Judicial race. Vinsko has made no firm comments about it yet but you can bet he and other Democrats are thinking about it hoping to reclaim the Congressional seat that has only been in GOP hands for only 4 of 60 years. They want it back and Vinsko could very well be the guy to achieve that goal. But the tale of this entire speculation is going to be told when the reapportionment gurus meet and make the final district outlines.
LIZ A GO
Liz Randol the candidate for Lackawanna County Commissioner is said to be ready to mount a write in campaign for the fall. Randol came in a close third behind Corey O’Brien and John Wansacz. She is being encouraged by people in her own party as well as observers who see the Lackawanmna GOP team of Pat O’Malley and Bill Jones as not being very strong. If she runs and places third, then Lackawanna County will have three candidates from the same party as the top vote getters.
This will be an interesting one to keep an eye on
posted by David Yonki @ 12:37 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
The Weiner weiner scandal will fade as soon as the next Republican uses an airport toilet. However, Barletta's selling-out of Medicare will endure.
As long as Liz eschew Steve Corbett's show and convinces him not to endorse her, she has a real shot at it. If Corbett sticks his (edited) into the race and comes out on her side again, she will not make it. If Corbett and kept his endorsement out of the primary, Liz would be on the ballot in November. Go Liz.
Very good rundown of that all important race. A lot will depend on where the districts end up but I think the capsule shots of the wanna bees and those eliminated is spot on. As always.
Students, My only quarrel with the Ryan plan is that it does not go far enough.
As Ronald Reagan stated in his Inaugural Address (and I hope you undertake your assingnment to read it): "We as Americans know that we can for a while live beyond our means, but only for a while"; or words to that effect.
MY point, class is that Medicare is a glorified Ponzi scheme. I will grant that Mr. Johnson was well intended when he presented this monstrocity upon the backs of the taxpayers, but good intentions are not always well founded in logic or reality.
As the population grows, so disappears the influx of cash into the program. Indeed, any mathematician will tell you that the Medicare program as it stands now is running on fumes monetarily.
As for Democrats protesting the upcoming changes I would note that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Now, students, I would like to address some commentary that has appeared on the pages of Mr. Yonki's blog. Various elements have been protesting my teachings; I have no problem with detractors, but when certain youngsters deem the idea of protest as the act of hurling insults and four letter words at your humble professor, this is plain wrong. I continually ask the young to do their research before opening their mouths but, alas, my words fall on deaf ears. This does not surprise me as a typical slacker will find it easier to speak before he listens.
My final point, class: Mr. Yonki is Publisher, Editor in Chief, and Senior reporter on this blog and I will continue to post my teachings for as long as HE allows me to do so.
Democracy is sometimes messy; and youngsters must realize that they are not very special. We must always respect the other person's points of view.
Have I made my point, students????
Class DIsmissed!!!!
Students, we are less than one year away from the 2012 Primary election. We have yet to hear even a rumbling of a possible Democratic candidate[s] to take on Mr. Barletta that Fall.
This is very important; it serves as an inkling the the DNC sees the seat in the 11th District {along with MR.Marino's in the 10th} as safe for the GOP and impossible for the Democrats to take.
I realize people wish that we were back in 1982 when the last Republican to hold the seat was defeated; but alas students, the world has changed.
Common working folk understand that the free lunch has come to an end and they are willing to sacrifice for the sake of their nation.
The age of liberalism is now fastly becoming a distant memory.
Class dismissed!!!
Geeze!
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