I have to call BullSh!T on this — so Burns, who is loosing in the polls is the candidate in the special election - unbelievable!
There was only one primary poll, and that was before Burns had even started advertising. A private businessman isn't going to outpoll a prior general election candidate before the campaign even starts.
There was one special election poll where Burns was trailing Critz by 5 with a big pool of undecideds. Doesn't mean much since neither candidate is well known yet. I have seen no polling matching Russell and Critz, so there's no indication that he's do better or worse.
I was there at the meeting March 11th when the special election candidate was SELECTED NOT ELECTED and it was obvious the fix was in.
The Republican conferees(all 132) were all up front closest to the speakers podium. These folks were supposedly representing the wishes of the 106,000 registered Republican voters in the district.
The rest of us (about 100 or so lowly citizens and voters) were at the back of the room segregated from the front by a 20 feet buffer zone and rope poles like you see in theaters (except the ropes were actually sturdy chains).
Rob Gleason, the PA GOP’s version of Tony Soprano, was gladhanding the conferees and ignoring we riffraff in the back of the room as he strutted around like a mother hen about to drop a golden egg.
When Burns spoke, ALL the applause came from the front of the room.
When Russell spoke, almost all of the applause came from the back of the room, and it was loud and sustained.
Afterwards Gleason proudly told the media he voted for Burns himself. He’s the PA GOP Chairman who oversees all the County Chairmen of the 9 counties in the district AND he’s also the Cambria County GOP Chairman. Cambria County had more conferees and more votes there than 7 of the other counties. Gleason’s relatives, cronies and fellow travelers are conferees in every county.
It wasn’t hard to figure out what went down.