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U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-11th, has become the second member of Pennsylvania's GOP Congressional delegation to endorse billionaire Donald Trump's presidential candidacy. Trump has already received the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, R-10th, whose district borders Barletta's. This is the full text of the statement the Hazleton Republican released this afternoon: "Like millions of Americans, I want our next president to be a leader who fights for the American people and gets things done, not a politician who tries to say all the right things but will never be able to deliver on more broken promises. "Throughout his campaign,...

If not, then he's at least got to go to court to defend himself: A University of Pennsylvania student is trying to have Republican presidential candidate John Kasich removed from the state's primary ballot. Nathaniel Rome, a Penn sophomore and chairman of the Pennsylvania Students for Rubio network, has petitioned Commonwealth Court to remove Kasich from the April 26 primary election ballot, alleging that the Ohio governor did not meet the statutory requirement of at least 2,000 signatures on his nominating petition. Rome, a resident of Strafford, Chester County, contends in his court filing that as many as 802 of...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/03/03/donald-trump-president-rep-tom-marino-editorials-debates/81277746/

Not as important as Tim Scott’s support since Toomey’s not from an early state, but still significant big-picture. This isn’t just a case of Cruz losing out to Rubio on another endorsement among his Senate colleagues, it’s a litmus test of electability — or perceived electability. Why might a Republican from a purple state, whose seat is up this year by the way, prefer Rubio to Cruz or Trump? Hmmm:

Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Fitzpatrick, standing outside the Bucks County Courthouse in Doylestown on Thursday, announced his candidacy for Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District in the House of Representatives. “The time is now to restore integrity and honor to our nation’s capital. Our government is broken. People have lost faith in the system: Corruption is rampant in our nation’s capital and Harrisburg. And all the while, too many politicians prefer to be political ideologues, rather than the problem solvers we need,” said Fitzpatrick surrounded by supporters. “I believe I have the experience and background...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Long optimistic about U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey winning a second term in Pennsylvania, Republicans now have something to worry about -- and it is not necessarily a strong Democratic Party challenger. Rather, a number of top Pennsylvania Republicans are fretting about a divisive Republican presidential nominee souring the state's moderate, swing voters against Toomey -- not to mention other Republican candidates on the ballot -- and dooming his re-election bid in November. The stakes are tremendous, with Democrats hoping to retake control of the U.S. Senate....

Santorum, who has running for President for years now, ticked off Beck et al with a video political advertisement that went after Beck show darling, Texas Senator Ted Cruz. In the video ad, entitled "Fairy Tales", which contrasts and compares the Senate history's of the two Republican candidates, mocking Cruz for reading "Green Eggs and Ham" during a filibuster a couple of years ago. Not a really good argument, but an ad just the same. This and other attacks on Sen Cruz drew comments from the Beck crew including today when the host himself said of Santorum, "Rick, you're dead...

Do supporters of the Christian right candidates Ted Cruz has eclipsed hate him so much they'd sabotage their own heroes? The late stages of the invisible primary would not be complete without reports of intrigue and skullduggery in Iowa, with campaigns forming tactical alliances against common enemies. We have one today from National Review's Tim Alberta and Eliana Johnson, who report that supporters of the last two caucus winners, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, are so bitter at being eclipsed by Ted Cruz that they are conspiring to block the Texan and instead elevate Marco Rubio. There's only one problem...

Just like it's past time for Jeb Bush and Rand Paul to get out, and it's past time for Rick Santorum and George Pataki to get out. That's obvious, but it's made more obvious now that Huckabee is resorting to off-base and stupidly dishonest ads attempting to trash candidates who have taken his votes away. Here's a PAC ad Huckabee's camp is running in Iowa... (VIDEO-AT-LINK) The same consulting firm also put out similar attacks on Cruz in Iowa on his opposition to ethanol subsidies and accusing Cruz of being bankrolled by the oil industry....

Especially if you live in Colorado,Iowa,Pennsylvania and Ohio. Can you safely say that all looks good for either Trump or Cruz at this point?,In other words, Hillary doesn't stand a chance in your swing state. What about those of you who live in any of the rust belt states? Any "Hillary Updates" In Michigan and Wisconsin? Please let us know how "Popular" Hillary is in your states, and if you want to call your state for the GOP in November, go right ahead!

State Senator Lloyd Smucker is running for Congress. Sen. Smucker will be seeking the seat in PA’s 16th district, which Congressman Joe Pitts has represented since 1997. Rep. Pitts announced his impending retirement last week. Smucker has represented Pennsylvania’s 13th Senate district since 2009. “Today, I am excited to announce that I am running for Congress,” Smucker stated. “As a small business owner who understands what it takes to make a budget, I promise to be an effective problem solver who will go to Washington, D.C. to build consensus on issues that will benefit the residents of the 16th Congressional...

Ben Carson and Donald Trump are neck and neck in the battle for Pennsylvania’s 2016 GOP presidential primary voters, a new poll says. Trump edges out Carson by 1 percentage point in the Keystone State, according to the latest Public Policy Polling (PPP) sampling released Tuesday. Trump leads the GOP presidential race in the state with 24 percent support. Carson closely trails the outspoken billionaire at 23 percent. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina follow them at 9 percent apiece. Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) and Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) are next with 7 percent each....

After my last two columns on Donald Trump, several people have written to ask what I think about some of the other Republican presidential candidates. So I thought I’d address that question this week. Hey, I’m nothing if not responsive to my readers. Please excuse me if I don’t mention everyone. I’ve only got 500 words. Ben Carson. No question, Dr. Carson is manifestly the smartest person in the race, on either side. His slogan should be, “It’s just politics, folks. Not brain surgery.” I don’t necessarily agree with him on every issue, but I believe he’s a man of...

When he’s right, he’s right. And it’s … interesting that he’s contemplating his own political mortality this way. “There’d be a major collapse of the race, and there’d be a major collapse of television ratings,” he said from his office in Trump Tower. “It would become a depression in television.” Mr. Trump said that a presidential campaign without him would become so “boring” that he would struggle to pay any attention to it. “I wouldn’t even be watching it probably, and neither would anybody else,” he said. Debate ratings would indeed collapse. I’m not sure what he means by a...

The Fox News Channel’s efforts to promote the presidential candidacy of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) are not working out so well, according to the Fox News Channel’s own polling. Rubio is at just nine percent, according to the latest Fox News poll, trailing GOP frontrunner billionaire Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson by a significant margin. Trump has 26 percent according to the new Fox News poll, and Carson has 18 percent. Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is tied with the struggling Rubio’s nine percent, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) comes in next with eight percent. Former Florida Gov....

One of the most knowledgeable and respected political analysts in the country has changed his mind about Donald Trump, now believing the real estate tycoon is for real and is in it for the long haul. Stuart Rothenberg first thought that “once Iowa Republicans start to see the caucuses as an opportunity to select the next president, rather than an opportunity to express their frustration and anger, they will turn away from Trump (and other outsiders) and toward politically experienced, mainstream contenders.” But with the recent rise in Trump’s favorable rating, and after speaking with GOP strategists in Iowa, Rothenberg...

Tenth farking place. Three months ago, I would have told you that a midwestern evangelical governor with Scott Walker’s record could stay home in Wisconsin and never campaign and still do no worse than, say, third in Iowa. Remember, this is supposed to be Walker’s must-win early state. Donald Trump has the support of 27 percent of Iowa likely Republican Caucus participants, with 21 percent for Ben Carson and 9 percent for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This compares to the results of a July 1 survey by the independent Quinnipiac...

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2016 election has made its way to the Keystone State. Well…sort of. We were able to get a look at how the local GOP thinks in one of the state’s most crucial counties. According to Tom Sofield of Levittown Now, Donald Trump won the straw poll at the Bucks County Republican Party’s annual Middletown Grange Fair. Trump finished first with 778, while neurosurgeon Ben Carson and businesswoman Carly Fiorina came in second and third with 542 and 397 votes respectively. More than 3,100 attendees voted in the straw poll from August 12th to 16th. The full...

When the Republican presidential candidates debated Thursday evening, some Pennsylvanians got their first look at the field — and a handful of others were watching to see how their early investments are turning out.. Commonwealth residents make up only a small fraction of the gusher of financial contributions that already are flooding the 2016 presidential race. A Morning Call analysis of recent campaign filings shows Pennsylvanians have given more than $622,000 directly to the GOP contenders, or about 1.6 percent of the candidates' total contributions from individuals. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has received the largest amount — $187,654 — from...

The latest fundraising deadline was the first for several 2016 presidential candidates. They provide a view into how all the Oval Office hopefuls are faring so far. Furthermore, thanks to an impressive interactive map from the National Journal, we can chart each candidate’s fundraising by county. By compiling the county numbers, we found that in total $615,514* was contributed by Pennsylvanians to the eligible GOP presidential candidates from April 1st to June 30th. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz finished first with $188,154 in donations from thirty-three of the counties in the commonwealth. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in second with $78,160...