The leading contender for the Republican nomination is Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, who entered the race Dec. 9 to pursue a rematch of the 2008 race that Kanjorski won by just 3 percentage points. The incumbent ran well behind Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama , who won by 15 points in the typically Democratic-leaning northeastern Pennsylvania district that includes Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.Congressional Quarterly
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Barletta leads among males, (44% to 31%), among whites, (40% to 35%), among veterans, (52% to 29%), and voters with incomes over $75,000, (49% to 26%). Kanjorski has the edge among voters with incomes less than $35,000, (47% to 29%), among Catholics, (43% to 34%), among non-whites, (46% to 23%), and among union households, (42% to 32%). Female voters divide about evenly.
Pocono Record
This year, though, Barletta is back, and he's one of Republicans' best potential candidates. As mayor of a small town of 23,000, Barletta won national attention for his drive to make the city as unwelcoming as possible for illegal immigrants, including making renting an apartment to the undocumented a crime and making English the town's official language. He became something of a national celebrity, appearing on Fox News and CNN shows, and his announcement of candidacy drew television cameras from local affiliates and national networks in New York.
Kanjorski beat Barletta handily once, but newfound celebrity has made the Democrat nervous. A poll for Barletta's campaign showed the mayor leading the congressman by a 47 percent to 42 percent margin in late March, and though Democrats insist the race is still Kanjorski's to lose, national Republicans can hardly contain their giddiness at the prospect of knocking off an incumbent who has held the seat since 1984.
