Boy, it's a really bad year for Republicans if they have to sweat hanging on to Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional district. But that seems to be what's happening. I've been hearing rumors of internal polls that show the race for this open seat nearly tied, although no numbers have been released. And now the GOP candidate, Glenn Thompson, is being flooded with late contributions.
The contributions of more than $50,000 in the first 15 days of October, and at least $12,000 more since then, suggest that the race in the traditional Republican stronghold of the 5th Congressional District is close or at least that Republicans nationally don’t want to risk losing it.
At the same time, the Democratic candidate, Clearfield County Commissioner Mark McCracken, who has not received any financial help from the national Democratic organization, on Thursday put $5,125 of his own money into his campaign, a late-hour commitment that again suggests the race is close.
More on the flip
The Democratic candidate, Mark McCracken, has gotten no help from the DCCC. Meanwhile, Thompson has been getting plenty of help:
In addition to these contributions, Thompson’s campaign has been assisted by visits to the 5th District from the top two Republicans in Congress, Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
Thompson, asked Tuesday whether the heavy contributions and the high-profile campaign visits were signs that the race was close, said that "they like my leadership." Asked whether private polling was showing a close race, Thompson said: "We’re doing well. We’re getting a good response."
Heavy advertising on TV, radio and in newspapers can be expected until Election Day. A Thompson TV ad — departing from the positive campaign so far — was aired on WWCP-TV ahead of the World Series game Saturday night, incorporating unflattering images of McCracken at the same time that the ad called the Democrat wrong on taxes and immigration.
Up until now, both the candidates have gotten praise for the positive, issue-oriented campaigns they've been running. It seems Thompson is about to change that. I haven't seen the negative ad yet, and Thompson's Youtube account only has a fluffy intro ad.
McCracken, currently a popular Clearfield County Commissioner, has been endorsed by a slew of unions, supports universal healthcare, has real results in attracting alternative energy to PA, and was canvassing for Barack Obama even before the primary! He is probably more conservative than a typical DKos candidate, but he is a solid Dem who wins in red areas. See his website for more info or see this CDT article.
The 5th Congressional district encompasses all or part of 17 counties in north central and northwestern Pennsylvania. At the beginning of this year, registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats by 45,000. That lead was cut to about 32,000 right before the primary. The Obama registration effort since then has been massive. New district totals haven't been released yet for the last registration deadline, only county numbers have been. The 2 most populous counties have in fact flipped from majority Republican to majority Democrat (look how pretty!). Also, there is a Libertarian in the race who has been included in most of the debates and events. This district can be won this year, people. We'll be kicking ourselves for not doing more to help McCracken when the votes show how close this race is.