PoliticsPA Reports: Murtha’s GOP opponent stops by his D.C. office

By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

Tim Burns tried to get a jump-start last week on an early debate with his campaign opponent, U.S. Rep. John Murtha.

The 12th District Republican candidate made an impromptu appearance in the longtime Democrats’ Capitol office Thursday after participating in an afternoon rally against the Democratic Party’s health care bill.

“I was hoping he might be there,” the candidate told PoliticsPA during a brief interview Monday. “I would like to have the opportunity to talk to him.”

But he didn’t get the chance. Murtha’s staff told Burns the congressman wasn’t in his office, so the candidate shook hands with the staff and left his card. Murtha’s staffers were very polite, the Republican said.

Burns didn’t get a chance to talk to Murtha on Thursday, but he might have the opportunity late next year, at least during a debate. The longtime 12th District incumbent, facing questions over earmarks he delivered and derogatory comments he made about his constituents, isn’t as electorally invulnerable as he once was, though he remains a very formidable foe.

Burns said he hopes Murtha’s support of the health care bill Saturday night will help make his case he no longer should represent the districts. Burns’ stance on the bill is unequivocal.

“I believe the health care bill may be the single most damaging piece of legislation passed in U.S. history,” he said.

He said he’d prefer incremental health reform to the sweeping change proposed by President Barack Obama. Start with tort reform first, he said, and after that proposal passes, consider allowing people to buy health insurance across state lines.

Of course, Burns might end up not facing Murtha in the general election. He faces Republican Bill Russell in the primary, and the army veteran is very popular among area conservatives.  Russell has faced Murtha last year, losing by about 20 percentage points.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated Russell had run against Murtha before 2008. That was incorrect.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 2:37 pm and is filed under PA Reports, PoliticsPA Reports. 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.

2 Responses to “PoliticsPA Reports: Murtha’s GOP opponent stops by his D.C. office”

  1. Murtha’s GOP opponent Tim Burns stops by his DC office… | GrassrootsPA says:
    November 10, 2009 at 11:30 am

    [...] Murtha’s GOP opponent Tim Burns stops by his DC office… [...]

  2. PENNSYLVANIA COGRESSIONAL SEAT UP FOR GRABS! Support a CONSERVATIVE! at Desert Conservative says:
    February 11, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    [...] Back in November, he attended one of the rallies against the Democrats’ health-care reform. (He stopped by Murtha’s office, hoping for a chance to chat with the man he hoped to unseat, but Murtha was [...]

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