did you see this?
what's your take on this one?
Democrats Win PA Special Election For John Murtha's SeatPhiladephia, PA, United States (AHN) - Democrats saw a divisive primary battle end Tuesday night with the loss of Sen. Arlen Specter, but it was not all bad news for the party in Pennsylvania with the victory of Mark Critz in the special election for the seat of the late John Murtha.
Critz, longtime aide to Murtha, had 53 percent of the vote with 99 percent of districts reporting. Republican businessman Tim Burns received 44 percent.
The two will have a re-match in the general election in November. Tuesday's special election allows Critz to serve only the remaining months of Murtha's term until January next year.
Murtha represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district for 35 years. He died suddenly in February from complications of gallbladder surgery.
Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, Murtha had faced longtime criticisms about his earmarks for his district, earning him the moniker King of Earmarks.
A liberal watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, had designated him one of the most corrupt lawmakers while Esquire magazine had said he brought in the "richest handout in the country" at $100 million a year. But voters turning out for the special election to his seat apparently agreed with his statement, made last year when his earmarks again became controversial.
"If I'm corrupt, it's because I take care of my district," Murtha had told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. My job as a member of Congress is to make sure that we take care of what we see is necessary."
And pundits, all calling the special election a referendum on his legacy, were magnanimous.
"In four decades in office, Murtha almost single-handedly transformed the 19th-century steel-and-coal industrial base of southwestern Pennsylvania into a region dominated by hospitals and high-tech defense contracting," the Philadelphia Inquirer's Amy Worden wrote.
Critz was statistically tied with Burns, who had the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in polls before the special election, which the Cook Political Report rated as a "tossup."
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called his win an "extraordinary victory," one that may be short lived, however, as the majority party in Congress braces for continued anti-incumbent sentiment during the general election.
"For all of their bluster about building a national wave this year, including RNC [Republican National Committee] Chairman Michael Steele’s guarantee of victory for Tim Burns, Republican policies were once again rejected when it came time to face the voters," DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen said in a statement.
