Election to Replace Pennsylvania Democrat Murtha May Foreshadow November
Murtha died of complications from gallbladder surgery
Carol T. Powers/Bloomberg
Former Representative John Murtha.
Former Representative John Murtha. Photographer: Carol T. Powers/Bloomberg
The race to replace 18-term Democratic U.S. Representative John Murtha, who died in February, in many ways echoes the nationwide election-year debate over taxes, deficits and the role of government.
Those topics take on a different significance in the southwestern Pennsylvania district where Murtha, as chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, helped drive the economy by steering government contracts to his constituents.
The May 18 special election to fill the rest of his term may set a pattern for the November midterm elections, when every House seat is on the ballot amid widespread voter discontent.
If Republican businessman Tim Burns wins, running as a political outsider committed to cutting the federal deficit, “conventional wisdom will come around to a greater than 50-50 chance of Democrats losing the House,” said David Wasserman, who monitors House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington. Democrats have a 254-177 majority in the House with four vacant seats, including Murtha’s.
A victory by Democrat Mark Critz, a longtime aide to Murtha who promises to build on the late congressman’s record, would give Democrats nationwide “a blueprint for localizing and personalizing races to mitigate the national environment,” Wasserman said.
Murtha died of complications from gallbladder surgery. The legacy of his seniority on the House Appropriations Committee is evident in the area he represented for 35 years.
Murtha Legacy
The Johnstown, Pennsylvania, airport is named for him. A highway that runs through the town bears his name, as do two medical research facilities that benefited from government funding.
Defense contractors, including Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. and Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp., established operations outposts there during his tenure atop the subcommittee that oversees defense spending.
Concurrent Technologies Corp., a nonprofit research and development company based in Johnstown, built its business in large part on the strength of Murtha-sponsored spending.
In recent years, the company has become less reliant on lawmaker-sponsored projects, said Mary Bevan, director of corporate communications. Last month, the Pentagon awarded Concurrent Technologies a five-year, $425 million contract to keep running the National Defense Center for Energy and Environment in Johnstown.
Defense Contractors
“We definitely plan to stay here,” Bevan said of the estimated 800 employees in Johnstown. “We’ve got a great workforce.”
Concurrent Technologies executives are supporting the Democrat, Critz, to replace the area’s longtime political patron. President and Chief Executive Officer Edward Sheehan Jr. and his wife, Julie, have contributed $4,800, according to Federal Election Commission data. At least six other executives have given money to Critz’s campaign.
Burns, like other challengers in a year marked by anti- incumbent backlash, pitches himself as an outsider to the ways of Washington.
“My name is Tim Burns and I am not a politician,” the candidate says on his website. “I don’t claim to know ‘how Washington works’ because I don’t believe that it does.”
In contrast, Critz’s campaign biography stresses his 16 years working for Murtha, saying he has “the knowledge to hit the ground running and keep important economic development initiatives moving forward.”
Primary Ballots
During a session with veterans at the Donut Connection in Johnstown yesterday, Critz referred to his old boss repeatedly. “What I learned from Mr. Murtha is that this group -- you guys -- are at the top of the list,” he said.
In addition to selecting Burns or Critz to fill out Murtha’s term, district voters on the same day will cast ballots in Democratic and Republican primaries to select candidates for the November election for a full term that begins next January.
Burns faces a primary challenge from Bill Russell, an Army veteran who ran against Murtha in 2008.
Republicans have portrayed Critz as a tool of President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Democrats, with the help of organized labor, have accused Burns of wanting to privatize Social Security and create a national sales tax.
Burns denies the charge, saying he “would never raise any taxes.”
Critz said his opponent “is confused” because most of Burns’s commercials make it seem he’s running against Pelosi. “I keep trying to identify myself to him,” Critz said. “I’m western Pennsylvania. Heck, it’s in my DNA.”
Voter Registration
Democrats have about a 2-to-1 advantage in voter registrations in the district. However, it’s the only congressional district in the country where Massachusetts Senator John Kerry won in the 2004 presidential election and Obama lost in 2008. As a sign of conservative sentiment, both candidates oppose abortion and support gun rights.
Both parties’ campaign committees have poured more than $900,000 into the race, Federal Election Commission records show. Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts is set to appear with Burns today, and former President Bill Clinton will campaign with Critz on May 16.
On the campaign trail, Critz defends the lawmaker-directed spending programs known as earmarks, which have become unpopular with many voters, pointing out that an earmark in Washington, D.C., means jobs in Washington, Pennsylvania.
Burns responds that “the voters of this district -- no matter who gets elected -- understand that neither one of us will go to Congress and be able to continue the Murtha legacy.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick O’Connor in Washington at poconnor14@bloomberg.net
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