PA-12th Congressional – Democrat Mark Critz runs to the Right to Defeat Republican Tim Burns in Murtha Seat Special Election – Rematch in November.

Mark Critz Website Issues Page - Running on Conservative Values

The PittsburghTribune headlined “Voters Promote Murtha’s Aide”, referring to Democrat Mark Critz who, with 70% of the vote tallied, had a 53% to 45% lead. The pundits on the right and left referred to this race as a “must –win” for both major parties, however, on the face of it, both candidates ran on conservative values. It would appear that, in this particular district, which has a history of “swinging” from one party to the other, voters had a choice between two candidates that were pro-life, pro-gun, anti-health care reform and anti-cap and trade. Although Burns was faced with a 2-1 deficit in voter registration, the fact that Critz, who was a former Murtha aide, campaigned on the identical side of the issues is key, additionally neither candidate appeared to be weak, and therefore, low voter turnout, or any other factor that can be touted, did not make a difference. How Critz performs in the short period between now and November will be telling, as the two will face each other again in November – the special election doubled as a primary.


Critz campaign Website, against Cap and Trade


Critz, who was supported by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is, for all intents and purposes, a “blue dog” democrat. Screenshots below show his campaign website and stance on the issues. In other national spotlighted special elections, most notably the Massachusetts special election to fill a vacant Senate seat, Scott Brown ran against an openly Progressive Democrat, Martha Coakley, who was supported and visited by Barack Obama. The night before the election, Burns joked on Fox News that he hoped Obama would visit Critz, as it would put him (Burns) over the top. He may have been right on that score.

Should Critz go to Washington and vote party line, come November, and again in 2012, he will be faced with the difficulty of defending his original issues. That said, it is entirely possible that Critz is sincere in his stance as a Conservative Democrat – and will follow the will of his constituents rather than the Beltway and the administration – he is in a similar position to Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak, who resigned after constituent backlash, once he cast a yes vote for health care reform, understanding that his chances for reelection were greatly diminished. Therefore, it will be job performance that will sway the voters of the Pennsylvania 12th in the long-run.