By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

There’s about a 50 percent chance Republican Lou Barletta will once again run against Democrat incumbent Paul Kanjorski in the 11th Congressional District, a Republican source familiar with his thinking told PoliticsPA.

Expect a decision by the end of the month, the Republican official said, after Barletta has made an unrelated announcement earlier in November.

Other sources close to Barletta have said he is “very likely” to enter the race.

Barlett lost to Kanjorski last year by 3.2 percentage points, a narrow defeat that was nonetheless deeply disappointing to some Republicans because of the Hazelton mayor’s early lead in many polls.

If Barletta decides to enter the race, he would likely run in a more politically favorable year for Republicans than 2008, when Democrats swept past Republicans state and nationwide. But he would also face opposition in a primary from Monroe County attorney Christopher Howard Paige, and might not even face Kanjorski in a rematch if the incumbent loses to Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien.

Barletta also is far behind in fundraising, something the unnamed Barletta ally said the mayor knows he needs to rectify, and soon.

“The longer you wait the longer you’re not raising money,” he said.

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