The LuLac Edition #3583, August 28th, 2017

BARLETTA TO RUN FOR SENATE 

(Photo: Barletta office)

WNEP TV is reporting that Congressman Lou Barletta will run for the Senate seat held by incumbent two term Democrat Robert Casey. http://wnep.com/
Barletta is set to make the announcement, we're told tomorrow morning in a video. Time line on that is 7am. 
Barletta has been courted by the Trump administration. His race will garner excitement in this area because he is popular. But a few things to remember. 
1. Luzerne County gave President Trump 26% of the vote he got in the state. That was more than half of the 44% he totaled statewide. The rest of the state is not Luzerne County.
2. Barletta will have to defend the record of Donald Trump. Only hardcore supporters in the state are still staying with Trump. Right now, Trump is at least 10 points under water in the Commonwealth in terms of approval.  Will Pennsylvania support an ardent supporter of this President?
3. The announcement puts this 11th Congressional District seat in play.  State Representative Tarah Toohil has said she would be interested in succeeding him. On the Democratic side, talk is percolating that Attorney Bill Vinsko, now of Dallas, might be in the mood for a return run. But any Democrat thinking about this has to remember that running against a new candidate would not be the same thing as running against Barletta.  With a new opponent and the heavy GOP legislation, this would be a hard nut for any Democrat to crack.
Meanwhile if Toohil decides to run, then the 116th Legislative seat would be in play.  Toohil defeated incumbent and Democratic leader Todd Eachus in an upset victory. There are some Democrats who might want to line up for that seat to return it to that column. 
Then there are Republicans to consider. Two that come to mind are WYLN TV talk show host Tiffany Cloud (who helped Toohil in her upset of Eachus) or her husband Sergeant Eric Olson, a decorated veteran. 
That's just the tip of the iceberg when you think about the domino effect this Barletta announcement will have. 
Then there will be the media budgets to consider. There will be many happy broadcast sales people smiling when they catch the possibility of all of this. 
More to come.