John Hugya, the former Chief of Staff to Rep. Jack Murtha, will be seeking to recapture the seat of his old boss according to Buzzfeed. The seat, Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, is currently represented by Congressman Keith Rothfus who will be seeking his second term next year.
Hugya worked along side Rep. Murtha, who represented the district from 1975 until his death in 2010. Murtha was one of the more colorful and prominent members of Congress. He famously was a defense-minded conservative Democrat who nonetheless became a hero to the anti-war left when he called for ending the Iraq War in 2005.
Hugya is portraying himself as a conservative Democrat much like Murtha. Hugya, the Buzzfeed report notes, is also a military veteran with a blue-collar background in the steel industry.
“Col. Hugya is running because he believes the people of the 12th District deserve better,” Michael Duga, the candidate’s campaign manager, told BuzzFeed. “Col. Hugya holds Chairman Murtha in the highest regard. He’ll run his own race, and as a former Marine Colonel he is very much his own man.”
After Murtha’s death, another former staff member Mark Critz won his seat in a special election and held on during the Republican wave of 2010. In 2012, however, Rep. Rothfus defeated Critz in another competitive race. Last month, Critz announced he was forgoing a re-match with Rothfus and instead seeking the Lieutenant Governorship.
Hugya and Rothfus, however, are not the only candidates in this race. In April, veteran and businessman Larry Stiles declared his candidacy and announced his intentions to run as a centrist against Rep. Rothfus in the Republican primary. Additionally Democratic candidate Erin McClelland, who runs an addiction treatment clinic, got into the race in March and already has compiled a campaign staff.
The 12th Congressional District consists of Johnstown and Somerset and stretches west to Beaver and the state’s Ohio border.
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8 Responses
I do not leave a lot of remarks, however i did some searching and wound up here PA-12:
Hugya Announces Run for Congress | PoliticsPA. And I actually do have 2 questions for
you if you don’t mind. Could it be just me or does it look like some of the
comments look like written by brain dead individuals?
😛 And, if you are writing on additional online social sites,
I’d like to follow everything fresh you have to post.
Would you list of every one of your shared sites like
your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
Hugya is foolish to run. He was Murtha’s enforcer in the district and is hated by many. He is a classic obnoxious “little man” bully who enjoyed influence only because of his close alliance to Murtha (and probably rose to the rank of Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve for the same reason). He has all the traits people hated most about Murtha, while possessing none of Murtha’s charisma or affability. As Murtha’s Chief of Staff, he attempted to have me deployed to Afghanistan when I challenged Murtha in 2008. He also publicly threatened to have me recalled to active duty in 2009 — and embarrassed the hell out of his boss when that threat made national news. I was just one of many who had such dealings with Hugya. Reporters should spend time speaking to rank and file police officers in the district and they will get a good feel for the level of reputation Mr Hugya has among his fellow Cops. SW PA has certainly had enough of Hugya’s kind of “leadership.”
William T Russell
Lt Col(Ret), US ARMY
If Hugya has a brain he’ll dump that trainwreck Michael Duga and get a new campaign manager as soon as possible. A quick Google search reveals Duga shenanigans of EPIC proportions. Hugya can’t have a campaign manager with that kind of ridiculous baggage. PoliticsPA be careful what you print about Duga, he’ll sue for millions in “defamation”
Hugya will make a great congressman
If you liked Murtha you’ll love Hugya
I’ve known col Hugya for years
He would make a great congressman
If you liked Murtha you’ll love Hugya
This race just got very interesting.
Getting elected with a last name like “Hug Ya” can’t be easy!
Duga? Former staffer has quite a resume.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W06yTxagHrA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DW06yTxagHrA