By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com
Barbara Hafer supporters say they are making a last-minute push Monday to convince party officials that the former state treasurer is the best Democratic candidate to replace John Murtha despite not receiving a recommendation from delegates in the 12th District over the weekend.
Their efforts appear focused on discrediting Saturday’s straw poll vote, which favored former Murtha District Director Mark Critz, and raising questions about the recommended candidate’s background.
The state’s 50-member Executive Committee, comprising Democrats from across the state, will officially decide which candidate represents the party on the May 18 special election ballot, a vote expected to come in sometime Monday evening. Hafer supporters said they expect the vote will be close.
“It’s an uphill battle for Barbara, but it’s not too steep a hill that it can’t be climbed,” said Jack Hanna, the party’s Southwest Caucus chair and Hafer supporter.
The Executive Committee traditionally supports the recommendation made by local delegates, although Democratic officials have said the importance of the 12th District race, both nationally and for the state, means party leaders could have bigger influence than usual. Allies of the former state treasurer, including some members of the Executive Committee, have tried to submarine the vote’s credibility as unfair and undemocratic.
“To me, it was one of the most ethically challenged things I have ever seen,” said Sandy Wolfe, a member of the committee from Cumberland County.
Wolfe said the party’s bylaws dictate each county committee, whose members are elected, should have convened to make a recommendation. She echoed criticism from other Democrats that allowing county chairs to appoint more than half the meeting’s delegates allowed them to stack the deck in favor of Critz.
Hafer supporters and the candidate herself combine criticism of the recommendation process with questions about Critz’s background. Reports have said the former district director helped run a company that faced tax trouble, and the former state treasurer last week called into question his role in an congressional ethics investigation into the late congressman. The committee voted unanimously to exonerate Murtha of any wrongdoing.
“In the short time since Mark Critz announced his candidacy for the special election, I have learned of some very serious concerns about his qualifications that could make him an extremely vulnerable target for the Republican Party,” Hafer wrote in a Sunday afternoon e-mail to members of the executive committee. “Mr. Critz still has refused to discuss in detail his tenure as a business manager at a failed concrete company that was involved in dozens of lawsuits and failed to pay state and federal taxes on a consistent basis.
“I do not believe that Mr. Critz can overcome his past associations with this company and recent House Ethics investigations in a race against a competitive Republican candidate,” she said later.
Hafer herself has been criticized for her aggressive attacks against Critz, and the former district director has chided her repeatedly for being disrespectful to Murtha’s memory for the timing of some of her remarks. Even some Hafer allies, such as Wolfe, say they like Critz and have been impressed with his effort to secure support in the last two weeks.
Still, the allegations should give pause to some voting members, Hafer allies say,
“My concern is winning this race, and if there’s a cloud over anybody, I would hope the Executive Committee would make sure they evaluated this decision,” said Chuck Pascal, a Hafer supporter and delegate at Saturday’s vote.
Cambria County Controller Ed Cernic Jr. and former Naval officer Ryan Bucchianeri are also seeking the nomination.
