Republican businessman Steven Welch, who promises that his run in the 7th District, a suburban Philadelphia constituency, will feature a "new style of campaigning that will focus on voter engagement and utilize cutting-edge technologies."
What do you know about Mr. Welch, and do you see him as a strong candidate, as he would have to be in the Democratic-leaning district currently represented by Representative Sestak if he hopes to win?
Senate Republicans have not been doing well for a while now. But the GOP's disarray is now extending to the House! The series of Republicans congressmen (Pryce, Hastert, LaHood, Peckering, ...) declaring their intention to retire in August started the wave of bad news, but this past week shows the GOP's House problems go much deeper than these open seats.
I wanted to share an anecdote from the campaign trail with everyone. In New York's Seventh District, Craig Johnson (D-WFP) is running for an open State Senate seat in a special election set for February 6th.
Last night, while Craig Johnson was rallying supporters and the Working Families Party canvass was knocking on doors and talking to people, Craig's Republican opponent Maureen O'Connell was sitting at home.
"One of Nassau Legis. Craig Johnson's canvassers in the state Senate race ran into Johnson's opponent, Republican County Clerk Maureen O'Connell, after the campaign worker got a little lost Monday evening.
O'Connell had just pulled into a driveway in the East Williston neighborhood when the canvasser, needing directions, approached her. As they talked, the canvasser recognized O'Connell and she realized she was talking to one of her opponent's foot soldiers. They exchanged pleasantries and wished each other luck."
Now, since the WFP is running the canvass, I can give you the inside story straight from the canvasser who talked to her:
"A little after 5:30, I was trying to find an address on my turf and was looking from the sidewalk at a number on one of the houses from the street to determine if it was on my walk list. A woman saw me looking at her house and came out to ask if she could help me.
I recognized her as Maureen O'Connell as soon as she came out because she had an O'Connell lawn sign and I'm friends with one of her former Assembly opponents. I decided to exchange pleasantries, and we each did some campaigning and talked about the situation in Albany. Then she realized I was part of the WFP canvass campaigning for Craig Johnson, and we wished each other good luck and parted ways. I kept canvassing for the rest of the night and she went back inside."
Gonna have to work harder than that to win this race.
