Open Thread

April 26th, 2010 12:53 PM

In the race to succeed former representative Jack Murtha, pork is back in the picture:

Remember Martha Coakley's trip to Washington - the one she took to raise money at a fancy Capitol Hill wine bar with a Who's Who of health care lobbyists?

Something similar is happening in Pennsylvania, where a May 18 special election is being held to replace the late Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa.

The race is very close between Democrat Mark Critz, a former senior staffer for Murtha, and Republican Tim Burns, but Critz has a trump card. He was the guy who used to prepare Murtha's list of pork for preferred lobbyists and defense contractors. So those lobbyists and contractors are now paying him back - they account for more than half of his individual campaign contributions