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PA8: Candidates Accuse The Other of Lies in Ad War

The tones in the ads differ, but the candidates for Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District share the same reaction. Their opponent is lying.

Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Lackawanna) has targeted Republican challenger John Chrin (R-Skytop) on residency through multiple ads thus far and his career on Wall Street. Chrin has dubbed Cartwright as beholden to Nancy Pelosi and an advocate for the progressive wing of the party. The newly drawn 8th district went to President Trump by 10 points.

The candidates are at it again in a new slate of ads echoing the same message from the past couple of months.

Cartwright released a second satirical ad painting the picture of Chrin having those around him finding properties in Northeast Pennsylvania to purchase so he can run for Congress in the district.

“Hey boss, turns out Pennsylvania houses are cheap,” the ad starts. “So we bought you two.”

The ad continues to say the two houses purchased were bought in the wrong district, so a third house was purchased in the newly drawn boundaries.

This follows up with an August ad that debuted a similar message from the Cartwright campaign.

The Chrin campaign believes the ad is a lie and believes the candidate is avoiding focusing of issues important to the district.

“Matt Cartwright’s obsession with John’s residency is laughable at this point,” said Michael Stwarka, Communications Director. “Politicians like Cartwright are exactly what people hate about politics. Cartwright’s poorly produced ads are aimed at getting clicks, not educating voters on his policy positions, as those positions, like his support of sanctuary cities, are out of touch with the values of Northeastern PA.”

Another 30 second Cartwright ad attacking Chrin on residency, “Conservatory” also focuses on the Democrats economic message for the district.

“In Pennsylvania, Matt Cartwright is investing in jobs, cutting billions in government waste and protecting our veterans,” the voiceover says in the ad. “Matt Cartwright keeps working for us.”  

Chrin’s campaign believes this is ad is a failed attempt to show Cartwright knows how to advance the economic interests of the district.

“Cartwright’s new narrative is that NEPA needs him to rise to committee “cardinal” for prosperity to happen here overnight,” said Stwarka. “This is not rooted in reality. It just shows he doesn’t know the first thing about how to create jobs in this region.”

Cartwright’s third television ad, “Bailout” addresses Chrin’s previous attack ads slamming Cartwright on taxes and accuses his opponent of benefitting from the financial crisis a decade ago.

“His Wall Street bank was bailed out by our tax dollars,” Cartwright says in the ad. “He took a bonus in a time when people were losing their jobs and their homes…”

Once again, the Chrin campaign says the ad is false.

“Cartwright knows John did not personally benefit from the financial crisis,” Stwarka said. “It is shameful that he makes this claim, fully knowing it is not true.”  

Cartwright’s campaign stands by their ads stating that they are accurate and are happy with the results.

“The theme of our ads has been that John Chrin is a Wall Street banker from New Jersey who is so out-of-touch with NEPA that he would cut Social Security COLAs,” said Cartwright campaign spokesman Mike Szustak. “We’ve been happy with the results.”

Chrin’s slate of ads feature Nancy Pelosi, taxes, and his mother.

In the thirty second television ads, “Darling” and “Slick”, the Republican candidate paints Cartwright as too liberal for the district.

“When Matt Cartwright moved to Washington, he became a darling of the far left,” the voiceover says to start the ad “Darling”.


The ad continues to state that Cartwright is an advocate for sanctuary cities and amnesty.

This ad shares a similar tone from an August ad that tied Cartwright to sanctuary cities, in which the Democrats campaign denies then and now.

“Our opponent’s repeated lies on TV about Matt Cartwright’s record have been well documented, which is why their campaign has struggled to gain any momentum, but John Chrin is also lying about himself,” Szustak said.

In Chrin’s thirty second spot, “Slick” the Republican candidate hits Cartwright once again on sanctuary cities, while focusing on taxes and Pelosi.

“He votes with Nancy Pelosi 96% of the time, supporting higher taxes and more welfare,” the voiceover in the ad says. “Matt Cartwright is a slick talking liberal lawyer who represents the radical left, not us.”

Chrin has two television ads, one thirty seconds and the other 15 seconds, in which he talks to his mother about the important issues the district faces and his solutions to these problems.

“Johnny, so what really was the deciding factor for you to run for Congress,” Chrin’s mother, Kay says in the ad.

“Mom, I want to fight for you and the people of Northeast Pennsylvania and I will bring jobs for the young people here to create opportunities that I didn’t have,” the Republican candidate responds with.

Chrin also says he will protect Social Security in the latter half of the ad.

Chrin’s 15 second ad takes the first part of the previous ad, highlighting jobs with his mother.

Chrin’s thirty second ad, “Job Creator” highlights his upbringing in Northeast Pennsylvania and his career fighting for advancing the local economy.

“John traveled the country building successful businesses,” the voiceover in the ad says. “John returned home to put his experience as a job creator to work for our local economy.”

The Cartwright campaign once again targeted Chrin for his past on Wall Street and doesn’t believe he puts the economic interests of the community first.

“When he was on Wall Street, the deals Chrin engineered during the financial crisis eliminated over 18,000 jobs while he raked in huge bonuses,” Szustak said. “So much for being a job creator – he took taxpayer bailout money to put thousands on unemployment.”

8 Responses

  1. Matt Cartwright was born in Erie, which the last time I checked, was in Pennsylvania. He went to H.S. and College in Canada, but returned to earn is law Degree at the University of Pennsylvania — where he edited the Law Review He then came to Scranton and has practiced law here for 25 years while raising his family locally. Chrin was born and raised in the Easton area. Claims he was born in Northeast PA in one of his TV commercials — but he was actually born and raised in the Easton area. Only a person unfamiliar with Northeast PA would think Easton is in Northeast PA — or maybe his campaign is just lying. After a couple of false starts he recently bought a townhouse near the Skytop resort in the Poconos so he can run for Congress. Ask him what community organizations he has supported, to what local charities he has contributed, of what local events has he been a part of? The answer is none — at lest up until he decided on his drive-by Congressional campaign. Chrin has never been part of the fabric of this community. Instead he is rich Wall Street Banker who still owns a home in New Jersey and the Chrin family still lives there. A shameless political opportunist is what he is.

  2. Chrin is running a bogus campaign with the sanctuary cities angle. It has no relevance in northeastern Pa aside from being a distraction from the real issues which are that Chrin positions are not in line with the voters of this district.

  3. I have NEVER seen Chrin at any public event in Wilkes-Barre. I have NEVER known Chrin to do any charity work in W-B. I have NEVER seen Chrin at a concert or hockey game in W-B. The worst cut of all, … He probably thinks the best pizza in W-B is Domino’s, I’ve never seen him in a real pizzeria either. And neither has anyone else.
    Matt Cartwright is a functioning member and servant of this community. Cartwright doesn’t need a tour guide to get around. New Jersey and Wall Street have enough Congresspeople.

  4. Matt Cartwright grew up in Canada and attended an elite boarding school there while John Chrin worked and attended school in PA. Cartwright went to a college in Upstate NY while Chrin attendee Lehigh University, also in PA. Cartwright voted multiple times for sanctuary cities and pals around with Kamala Harris. Yes Chrin was a banker. I’ll take the self made certified financial planner who grew up any day over silver spoon in mouth Canadian lib ambulance chaser Cartwright!

  5. Whoever vetted this guy Chrinn does not think much of the brains of PA voters. The Wall Street Banker Mansion Upgrade thing is a bit much without adding in the having to buy 3 houses before he gets one actually in the district problem. He’s not exactly a regular guy.

      1. At least he lives in the district. Give me a break. Chrin wants to run for Congress, then let him run where he lives instead of shopping around and treating Pennsylvanians like we’re a bunch of morons.

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