Posted on 05/22/2010 8:20:25 AM PDT by Born Conservative
A candidate who on Tuesday lost a bid for the Democratic nomination in the 11th Congressional District seat says he is now supporting the Republican nominee, Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta.
Brian Kelly of Wilkes-Barre, who despite accepting no financial contributions to his low-key campaign garnered 17 percent of the Democratic vote in Tuesday's primary election, announced his endorsement of Barletta on Friday. Kelly urged his supporters to follow suit.
"A Barletta victory in November is as close to a Kelly victory as we can get," Kelly said.
He said he would lend his support to the Republican because, "My father always said, 'Vote for the man' and Paul Kanjorski is not that man."
Kanjorski, the incumbent congressman in the 11th district, won the Democratic nod Tuesday with about 49 percent of the vote, besting challengers Kelly and Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O'Brien, who finished with about 34 percent.
Barletta, who said he and Kelly share many of the same ideals, said he welcomes Kelly's support.
"I am honored to have Brian's endorsement. I listened very closely to his message and we do share a lot of the same philosophies," Barletta said.
Ed Mitchell, spokesman for the Kanjorski campaign, dismissed Kelly's announcement as predictable.
"Endorsements don't mean much in elections these days," Mitchell said in an e-mail. "Few politicians can deliver their votes to anyone. People are very independent. It's no surprise Kelly - basically a right-wing, conservative Republican - would support Barletta, another out-of-the-mainstream, right-wing extremist Republican.
"It would've been real news if (Kelly) did otherwise," Mitchell concluded.
Vince Galko, senior adviser to the Barletta campaign, said Mitchell's response was also predictable.
"Paul Kanjorski's campaign response is predictable. If you are not in bed with Wall Street bankers or if you haven't spent more than 20 years in Washington, you just don't matter to Paul Kanjorski," Galko said.
Kelly's primary performance surprised even the most seasoned political observers.
Ping
Kanjorski is one of the most corrupt people in Congress, which is saying a lot.
He has passed millions of tax dollars to his family and his votes are far out of touch with the beliefs of most of his ethnic, Catholic constituents (abortion, illegal aliens).
But the dummies still keep voting for the crook because he is a democrat and they are democrats, so that’s all there is to know.
Yep. In a primary contest for the vacated seat of State Sen. Bob Mellow (another crook), Scranton area Dems voted for the guy who was funded by Mellow. This wasn’t any big secret, as the story was in the local press. I’m hoping that Tea Party candidate Frank Scavo will beat him in November; we will see.
And the same ones who are saying endorsements don't matter are probably the same ones praising Scozzafava for her endorsement of Owens.
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