Barbara Hafer, who is running in the special election to succeed late U.S. Rep. John Murtha, yesterday contended that the Democratic Party’s nomination process was “flawed” and designed to favor a Murtha aide.
The former state treasurer also demanded that the aide, district director Mark Critz, disclose his testimony from a House Ethics Committee investigation into Murtha’s earmarks and describe his relationship to a military contractor.
In an e-mail last night, Critz said he would ask the House Ethics Committee to release all the information.
Democratic delegates from the nine counties in Western Pennsylvania’s 12th District are scheduled to meet Saturday to cast a straw vote on the nomination for the May 18 election to fill the eight remaining months of Murtha’s term.
Under rules recently set by the state party for the vote, 57 conferees will be chosen by the district’s county chairs to supplement the 43 state committee members who live in the 12th District. Hafer said the change made the convention “flawed, non-transparent, and undemocratic.”
The 57 picks are to be announced at noon today, but Hafer said Critz appeared to know in advance who some of the conferees would be because he claimed to have 50 votes lined up in an interview with the PoliticsPA Web site.
“This is almost like Philadelphia politics,” Hafer said. “The deck is stacked.”
Saturday’s preference vote is not binding on the 50-member state party executive committee, which will pick the nominee Monday, but it is expected to be highly influential.
“The recommendation process in the 12th District is transparent, representative, and fair,” said Patrick McKenna, spokesman for the state Democratic Party. “The recommendation convention rules are broadly inclusive and designed so that as many citizens . . . as possible can have their voices heard.”
He said all candidates would have an equal opportunity to contact the 57 delegates.
Read the full Inquirer article here
Tags: Barbara Hafer, John Murtha, Mark Critz
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