Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on February 9, 2010

The unexpected death of Rep. John Murtha has Democrat Party in a tailspin over his open House seat

Dubbed “King of Pork,” Democrat Rep. John Murtha’s unexpected death yesterday has Democrats on Capitol Hill in a panic over potentially losing another seat to Republicans in a special election in Pennsylvania.

The election of Republican Scott Brown in Democrat-heavy Massachusetts in January wasn’t lost on them.

From Guardian.co.uk, Veteran congressman’s death adds to Barack Obama’s woes:

The Democratic party faces another election test after the death yesterday of John Murtha, a congressman dubbed by his colleagues the “king of pork”.

Murtha, aged 77, had been in the House of Representatives since being elected to his Pennsylvania district in 1974.

The fear in the party is that Republicans will notch up another victory when a special election is held, probably May.

The Democrats have been panicking since losing Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat to the Republicans last month.

Murtha’s nickname referred to so-called pork barrel politics – bringing government spending to bear in a representative’s own district.

His death came on a day that saw Barack Obama’s poll ratings fall further. A Marist poll found that only 44% of voters surveyed approved of his job performance, down 2% on December. More alarming for Democratic strategists, 57% of independents disapprove of his performance.

Murtha’s death will have a neglible impact on the arithmetic of the House, where the Democrats have an overwhelming majority, unlike in the Senate. But another defeat in the spring would add to the sense of panic among Democrats in the run-up to the Congressional mid-term elections in November.

[...]

Murtha, as chairman of the House defence appropriations sub-committee, added ‘earmarks’, special spending projects to help his district, to defence bills, hence the King of Pork.

From Wall Street Journal, Washington Wire, Fight Shapes Up for Murtha’s Seat:

Democrats are mourning the personal loss of their colleague Rep. John Murtha, but his death today at age 77 is doubly troubling for the party that will have to defend his seat in an upcoming special election.

Immediately following the news of his death, election analysts rated the race as competitive for the GOP.

While Murtha has held the seat since 1974 with few re-election scares, the Johnstown-area district outside of Pittsburgh has right-leaning roots, and a special election contest will be targeted by House Republicans. With Murtha’s death, Democrats now control the House by a 256-178 margin.

In the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) won the district by a narrow 1,000 vote margin against President Barack Obama. It was the only district in the nation, however, that voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential race that was carried by McCain four years later.

From Politico, Pa. seat is latest Democratic worry:

Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) untimely death Monday makes the political map even more daunting for House Democrats, who will have to defend another highly competitive seat in what is shaping up to be a hostile election year.

His passing means there will be a special election held during the spring to fill the remainder of his term. Once the congressman’s vacancy is declared, Gov. Ed Rendell (D-Pa.) has 10 days to call the special election date, which can be held no later than 60 days from his declaration.

The most likely special election date, according to Democratic sources, is May 18, the same date as the regularly-scheduled Pennsylvania primary election. Holding the special election along with the primaries would save Pennsylvania, already struggling to balance its budget, a significant amount of money.

There will be no special primary to nominate candidates. Instead, county party leaders from Murtha’s western Pennsylvania-based 12th District will each select the nominees at a convention, and the winners will then square off in the special election.

The Cook Political Report changed its rating of the now-vacant seat to “toss-up” status Monday evening, making it the 50th Democratic-held House seat rated in its most competitive groupings.

[...]

Murtha, famous for his success at delivering federal dollars to his economically struggling district, held a near-stranglehold on the seat since first capturing it in 1974. The longest-serving congressman in Pennsylvania history, Murtha won 58 percent of the vote despite facing a well-funded Republican challenger in his last campaign.

Related:
Gateway Pundit: JOHN MURTHA DIES- Controversial Anti-War Democrat Dead at 77 (Video)
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Breaking News… Controversial Rep. John Murtha Has Died Following Surgery Complications and More Insanity from DC… John Murtha Puts Your Taxpayer Stimulus Money to Work
Patterico’s Pontifications: John Murtha Dead at 77
Dancing Czars: Rep. John Murtha, Iraq war critic, dies at 77
Gathering of Eagles NY: Ex Marine Murtha Titz Up
Michael Walsh, Big Journalism: ‘ABSCAM Jack’ Murtha, RIP
Breitbart.com: Congressman: Murtha’s intestine damaged in surgery
Publius, Big Government: Congressman John Murtha Dead at 77
Flopping Aces: BREAKING: Congressman Jack Murtha dead at 77
Columbia Journalism Review: “John Murtha Dead”: ‘Funny’? ‘Typical’? ‘Finally’?

Categories: Government, Notable Deaths, Social and Political Climate
Tags: anti-war, Congress, Democrat, election, gall bladder surgery, House of Representatives, Iraq, John Murtha, John Murtha dead, John Murtha died, John Murtha has died, Pennsylvania, political, politics, pork, pork barrel spending, Scott Brown