Follow us on

Saturday, May 18, 2013 | 9:02 a.m.

Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider

Posted: 8:36 p.m. Monday, May 17, 2010

May 18 House Primaries 

Previous Posts

By Jamie Dupree

Even if no incumbent loses in primaries for the U.S. House today in four states, there will still be one race attracting a lot of attention, a special election to fill a House seat in Pennsylvania.

That race is to fill out the term of the late Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), who died earlier this year after a botched surgical procedure.

Murtha was first elected way back in 1974, and had dominated his district in southwestern Pennsylvania.

It's a district that trends a bit more to the GOP side.  In 2008, John McCain narrowly won Murtha's district, while Murtha easily won re-election, getting nine points more than Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania 12th.

The district partially butts up against West Virginia's 1st Congressional District, where a week ago today, Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) was handily defeated in his primary.

Running on the Democratic side is Mark Critz, who was a longtime Murtha staffer.

The Republican is a businessman named Tim Burns.

Burns has earned the ire of talk show host Neal Boortz for running away from support of the Fair Tax, as Democrats have tried to use it against him, arguing that Burns wants to add a national sales tax to existing income taxes, something Burns has denied.

As for other House races today, I really haven't seen one that stands out as a possibility for a loss by an incumbent.

There has been some talk that Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) could be at risk.  He has a substantial money advantage in terms of fundraising, but then again, so did Rep. Mollohan last week in West Virginia.

Remember, if you're interested in monitoring all the results tonight, please join me on Twitter, @jamiedupree

 
Featured Articles
Ads By Google
 
March 2013 Photo Winner - Abbey Wyatt

iW7 April 2013 Photo of the Month Vote

It's time to vote on your photos for the iWitness7 Photo of the Month for April. Voting lasts until May 23.

5-day text alerts

Get your 5-day forecast on the go!

Sign up to receive your daily 5-day forecast text alert from WHIO-TV and Storm Center 7.

iWitness7 Photos