One of the massive losses from Rep. John Murtha’s death is a coveted seat for Pennsylvania on the House Appropriations Committee. Philadelphia Democrat Chaka Fattah is now the lone representative from Pennsylvania on the panel, but the delegation is ramping up its efforts to keep the seat. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, said this afternoon that three Pennsylvanians have expressed interest: Kathy Dahlkemper, of Erie; Patrick Murphy, of Bucks County; and Chris Carney, of Susquehanna County. The delegation will meet in the coming days to pick which Pennsylvanian to submit to the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which will choose who fills the slot.

Doyle noted that one factor is going against the Pennsylvanians: for appropriations seats, the country is divided into districts, and before Murtha’s death Pennsylvania’s District 10 had the most seats (5) of any on the panel. Pennsylvania, Doyle said, is grouped with Ohio and Kentucky to form the district. He said there are probably 15 members from across the country seeking the seat, one of 37 Democratic slots on appropriations.

One thing all three of the potential seekers from PA have in common: they face tough races in the fall, and bringing home a slice or two of bacon couldn’t hurt.

Reported by the Post-Gazette’s Daniel Malloy

Tags: Chris Carney, Kathy Dahlkemper, Mike Doyle, Patrick Murphy

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 7:23 pm and is filed under Front Page Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.