Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta is expected to make an announcement about whether he will challenge Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) next week.
"Mayor Lou Barletta will announce his decision on whether to run or not run for Congress in 2010 a week from today on Wednesday, December 9th," wrote Barletta 2008 campaign manager Vince Galko in a Wednesday e-mail to reporters.
Just last week, Barletta's campaign committee asked donors to help him retire his debt, which amounts to about $260,000 over the course of his campaigns. Barletta has unsuccessfully challenged Kanjorski two times, losing most recently by a four-point margin.
Perhaps Barletta is waiting for word on whether Kanjorski will run for re-election in 2010.
Two longtime Democratic House Members have announced their retirements in the last ten days, and many political observers have speculated that Kanjorski, 72, could be next. Kanjorski's longtime campaign adviser, Ed Mitchell, confirmed Monday that the 13-term Congressman has yet to make a statement about his re-election plans -- although he added that he's campaigning as if he is running for re-election.
"The Congressman has not made a statement about running next year, but I can tell you he's raising funds for a campaign and working very hard to represent his district by creating jobs, fighting for affordable health care for all Americans and protecting Medicare and Social Security," Mitchell said.
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