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In the race to replace the late Congressman John Murtha, businessman Tim Burns (R) leads former Murtha aide Mark Critz (D) by just one point (48% to 47%) in what will probably be the last major poll of the campaign. Leaping into the spotlight of this special election is former President Bill Clinton who stopped by to tell all those bitter Pennsylvanians clinging to their guns and religion that the reason the race is close is that "times are tough and things are all up in the air and people are disoriented."

Sam Boyd has been a Democrat his entire adult life, just like many here in this mostly rural, economically impoverished southwestern corner of the state, where the party’s roots run as deep as the coal underfoot. But in Tuesday’s closely watched special election to succeed the late Representative John P. Murtha in the state’s 12th Congressional District, Mr. Boyd, 65, is leaning toward casting his vote for the Republican candidate, Tim Burns, a millionaire former software entrepreneur who got involved in politics through the Tea Party movement. “I’m for Burns for the reason I was for Obama,” said Mr. Boyd,...

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- Almost four decades after John Murtha stood at the Rod & Wire Division gate and shook enough hands to loosen his arm, Mark Critz's stayed firmly in its socket, a testament to the possibility the 12th Congressional District could soon be in very different hands. "Mr. Murtha told me once, when they're coming out, shake their hand and let them go, because they want to go home. When they're coming in, they'll want to stop and talk," said Mr. Critz, who was awarded the Democratic nomination to Congress after Mr. Murtha, his boss, died three months ago....

A close primary race has divided Republicans in the late Rep. John Murtha's district and has helped Democrat Mark Critz take the lead in the special election to replace him, according to a Susquehanna Polling & Research survey. Critz leads GOP nominee Tim Burns 44 percent to 38 percent with one week to go. Voters on Tuesday will pick between the two to fill Murtha's unexpired term and will choose their parties' nominees for the general election in November. A majority of Democrats back Critz in the primary over challengers Ryan Bucchianeri and Ron Mackell Jr. Burns is locked in...

Mark Critz, a former aide to the late John Murtha and the Democratic nominee to replace him, has pulled out to a 6-point lead in the special election for Pennsylvania's 12th district, according to a new Susquehanna poll. Critz leads Republican Tim Burns 44%-38% with less than a week to go. The Johnstown-based district in southwestern Pennsylvania has swing potential, despite the overwhelming Democratic registration advantage and Murtha's dominance in the district for the last 36 years. It's the only district that voted for both John Kerry and John McCain. Critz is running as a continuation of Murtha -- a...

Filling the void in 12th District Observer-Reporter May 10, 2010 The unexpected death in February of U.S. Rep. John Murtha left a void in the U.S. Congress and, more specifically, in Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, that seems unlikely to be filled anytime soon. Murtha not only brought a wealth of expertise on defense issues to the U.S. House of Representatives, but also pulled a bounty of federal projects into his district. Some may have condemned it as pork-barrel spending, but it brought the region a much-needed economic lift as the steel industry withered. Voters in the 12th Congressional District will...

The ghost of John P. Murtha looms large over this congressional district: from the hundreds of millions of dollars the late Democratic legislator famously funneled to western Pennsylvania to the many eponymous buildings, highways and even an airport that memorialize him. And now he is the elephant in the room in an increasingly contentious congressional race to succeed him. This once safely Democratic district where Murtha reigned for 35 years is now a toss-up. Longtime Murtha aide Mark Critz, 48, vows to carry on his former boss's legacy, while Republican businessman Tim Burns, 42, tries to leverage anti-Washington passion by...

ANTI-TROOP ACTIVISTS TRY TO RAISE MONEY ON JOHN MURTHA’S ANTI-WAR LEGACY Move America Forward   The liberals bankrolling Mark Critz’s campaign to succeed John Murtha in Pennsylvania’s 12th district are shamelessly using John Murtha’s liberal anti-war, anti-military legacy to desperately raise last-minute cash. In a fundraising email sent out last night, also posted on the Nancy Pelosi controlled DCCC website, Joyce Murtha pleads for donations and recall’s her husband’s shameful l conduct. In 2005, my husband, Congressman Jack Murtha, courageously spoke out against the war in Iraq and you stood with him when he was outrageously accused of cutting...

Remember Candidate Barack Obama's opinion of people in small town Pennsylvania? He made it very clear at a 2008 San Fransisco fundraiser when he said, "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania...they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion." (source) Call it revenge of the clingers - in eleven days the Obama machine is about to be seriously jammed by those small town Pennsylvanians and one native son who wants to bring real hope and change to the area.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- In what was the late U.S. Rep. John Murtha's western Pennsylvania district - reachable through John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport or John P. Murtha Highway - Democrats watch nervously, hoping his former top aide can hold on to the House seat. Mark Critz, who worked for Murtha for more than a decade in Pennsylvania, including the past three as district director, is in a fierce fight with Republican businessman Tim Burns in the May 18 special election. The national GOP has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to push Burns' candidacy, sensing a legitimate shot of...

At first blush, Democrats should have nothing to fear in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District special election. John Murtha held this seat for decades. Democrats have a 2-1 registration advantage over Republicans. Their candidate was a Murtha aide for over ten years, while their opponent has had little political experience. And yet, the AP has gotten a big whiff of panic from Pennsylvania Democrats... The polling shows a very close race — with Burns in the lead. That has Democrats worried about how other normally-safe districts might turn out in November. That fear has come out in Critz’ campaigning, where he...

No sooner had Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced plans to name the latest San Antonio Class LPD battleship in honor of the late Rep. John P. Murtha (D. Pa.) than the firefight began. The most vocal opposition to naming a warship in honor of the first Vietnam veteran elected to Congress came from some of Murtha’s own fellow U.S. Marines. “Outrage” is a mild word to describe the reaction to the possible naming by least two well-known, distinguished Marine Corps veterans who, like Murtha, served in Vietnam. “You are kidding!” retired Marine Col. Jack Brennan fired back to...

The new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll of the PA-12 special election gives Republican businessman Tim Burns the edge in the race for the House seat formerly held by the late Democratic Rep. John Murtha. The numbers: Burns 46%, with Democratic candidate and former Murtha aide Mark Critz at 40%. The sample of likely voters has a ±4% margin of error. The Democrats have held this seat since 1974, when Murtha picked it up from the Republicans in a special election held in the midst of the Watergate scandals. The special election will be held on May 18. The TPM Poll...

While some try to rehabilitate the corruption laden reputation of the late Congressman John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania) by naming a Navy ship in his honor, voters in his district are poised to rehabilitate their representation in Washington. The latest poll shows Republican businessman Tim Burns leading his Democratic challenger in the May 18 special election former Murtha aide Mark Critz 46% to 40%. And in typical 'Desperate Democrat' fashion, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has responded with one of the most misleading political ads you'll ever see.

JOHNSTOWN — Just seven months after announcing that a big contract would bring up to 100 new jobs to Johnstown, KDH Defense Systems administrators are leaving town. Employees, who number an estimated 100 or more, were informed this week that the Broad Street manufacturer of military vests is “permanently closing” no later than July 1. The letter from John Hornick, KDH human resource manager, also says most of the company’s local workers had been laid off “on a temporary basis” in January and February. “Unfortunately, the business environment has not improved and therefore we are unable to call back any...

Five candidates, two elections, one forum April 28, 2010 Dan Hirschhorn WESTMONT—Three Democrats and two Republicans competing for the chance to succeed the late John Murtha shared a stage Wednesday evening, during a lightning-round style forum that divided the candidates along predictable ideological lines but also briefly prefaced the bitter debate to come between Republican Tim Burns and Democrat Mark Critz. The forum, held in a high school auditorium in this borough on the outskirts of Johnstown, featured not only Burns and Critz—the two candidates set to face off in the May 18 special election—but also three others competing for...

What do you do when you’re a Republican in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and you’ve just stomped Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked Democrat into smithereens in a public debate for the congressional seat formerly held by the late Jack Murtha? Tim Burns headed straight to Coney Island Lunch for the world-famous “Sundowner” burger. The Johnston Tribune-Democrat story about the debate is so “fair and balanced” as to be soporific. It’s 3 a.m., I’ve just driven 240 miles round-trip and I’m too tired to give you the full gonzo account until I get a few hours of sleep. But the neutral objective fact is that...

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- The Navy is naming its next amphibious ship after the late western Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus made the announcement Friday at the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport. Murtha's family and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were in attendance.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus on Friday announced the selection of the USS John P. Murtha as the name of the 10th San Antonio class Amphibious Transport Dock ship, honoring the late U.S. Representative. Murtha served a distinguished 37 years in the Marine Corps and received the Bronze Star with Combat “V”, two purple hearts, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry for his service in the Vietnam War, retiring as a colonel in 1990.

Two separate polls released Tuesday show a tight race in the May 18 special election for the late Rep. John P. Murtha's (D-Pa.) seat. A Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday showed businessman Tim Burns with a 3-point lead over Murtha aide Mark Critz,, 44 percent to 41 percent. And in a polling memo paid for by the conservative American Action Network and conducted by GOP pollster McLaughlin and Associates, Critz and Burns are in a statistical tie, 40 percent to 39 percent. The PPP survey took the opinion of 1,197 likely voters in the district April 17-18 and had...