Phil English

The Cook Political Report has moved the 3rd Congressional District race between Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper and U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Erie) from "leans Republican" to "toss up."

The announcement comes after a SurveyUSA poll released Tuesday showed Dahlkemper leading the 14-year incumbent by 4 percentage points, 49 percent to 45 percent.

English's campaign has disputed the poll's validity because it was automated and taken over the weekend, but apparently it was enough to catch the report's attention.

"This is obviously good news and shows we have momentum on our side," Dahlkemper said in a statement. "Voters in this district are hungry for a leader who can bring about positive change."

When Roll Call/SurveyUSA released their poll showing Democratic candidate Kathy Dahlkemper leading Phil English 4 percentage points in PA-3 the initial reaction from English and Republicans was "it's a phone poll." SurveyUSA is indeed a phone poll, but during the presidential primary campaigns they proved to be failry accurate.

U.S. Rep. Phil EnglishThe re-election campaign for U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Erie) is questioning the merits of a poll showing the incumbent down 4 percentage points to Democratic opponent Kathy Dahlkemper.
 
The results of an automated poll conducted over the weekend, as was done in this case by SurveyUSA, shouldn't be trusted, said Adam Beebe, English's campaign manager.

"More importantly, this was a very unstable weekend to do any kind of polling," he said, citing the country's financial crisis. "I would question the accuracy of the polling."

Beebe said the campaign doesn't comment on its internal polling but emphasized its confident English will win.

"We feel that Phil is going to be in a position at the end of the election where he will be victorious," Beebe said.

Democratic challenger Kathy Dahlkemper leads U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Erie) by 4 percentage points in the 3rd Congressional District, according to a new poll conducted for Roll Call by SurveyUSA.

The race between English and Dahlkemper is considered one of the state's most competitive, although most considered English the favorite because of his significant financial advantage. 

The poll, however, indicates Dahlkemper has a significant advantage among moderate voters. She leads in that group 63 percent to 32 percent, it reports.

The poll surveyed 618 likely voters from Sept. 26 to Sept. 28. It has a margin of error of 4 points.

The congressional campaign committees of both parties have poured resources into the races. That's been particularly important to Dahlkemper, whose own lack of fundraising prevents an aggressive TV ad campaign.

WASHINGTON – After weeks of watching its candidates barraged by its Democratic counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee has started up its independent expenditure advertising campaign. The committee is airing an ad beginning today in Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Erie) is battling to defend his seat from a challenge by Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper.

The committee did not immediately release details on the size of the buy for the 30-second ad, which takes Dahlkemper to task on energy and gas prices.

“Kathy Dahlkemper has some wacky ideas,” an announcer says. “Take energy. Kathy Dahlkemper opposes suspending the federal gas tax, which would help consumers right now. And that would help lower your cost at the pump. Dahlkemper’s wacky solution: she said we should make personal sacrifices, such as walking places or riding a bike. Hmmm, why don’t we try using dog sleds, too?”

Two Democratic Pennsylvania congressmen involved in tight re-election campaigns bucked their party and voted against a $700 billion Wall St. bailout proposal in a vote that evenly split the rest of the state's delegation.

U.S. Reps. Jason Altmire (D-McCandless) and Chris Carney (D-Dimok), along with U.S. Rep. Tim Holden (D-St. Clair), opposed the bailout plan, which was defeated on the House floor 228 to 205. Altmire and Carney each face difficult re-election tests this fall against opponents bent on portraying them as "Nancy Pelosi" liberals. 

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was a strong proponent of the bill. 

Altmire faces former congresswoman Melissa Hart in the 4th Congressional District -- Carney faces Republican challenger Chris Hackett in the 10th Congressional District.

The campaign for U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Erie) will not be, as of late Wednesday afternoon, affected by the financial crisis gripping Washington, his campaign manager told PolitickerPA.com.

"As of right now, we're still operating with the same plan that we've had," Campaign Manager Adam Beebe said.

English, who faces Democratic challenger Kathy Dahlkemper this fall, is in Washington now trying to determine what action the government needs to take, Beebe said.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain announced Wednesday he will suspend his campaign to return to Washington and help solve the crisis.

Joe Biden: Getty Images PhotoA quartet of western Pennsylvania Republicans seized Tuesday on statements made by Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden that he opposes building "clean coal" plants, saying the Democratic presidential ticket clearly doesn't understand the needs of the Keystone State's middle-class families.

"It's fairly clear Joe Biden has sided with the faction of radical environmentalists that is opposed to any application of clean coal," said U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Erie).

"Senator McCain has spelled out in great detail his strong position on energy that is ultimately a winner for him in Pennsylvania," he said.

English was speaking with reporters on a conference call organized by John McCain's campaign, which acted quickly to exploit Biden's statements to gain an advantage in the state's western half. Clean coal technology is a Holy Grail of the once-heavily industrial region, carrying with it the hope of an economic revival for an area struggling to create jobs.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Erie) acknowledged in an interview today the potentially ominous sign that the National Republican Congressional Committee had been conducting research in his district. But he suggested that the poll had a silver lining.

The NRCC’s early investment was widely seen as a sign that the seven-term Republican needed shoring up in his battle against Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper. In its initial ad reservations, the NRCC indicated it planned to spend close to $700,000 on English’s behalf. And financial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission last week showed the committee spending over $10,000 in survey research in the northeast Pennsylvania-area 3rd Congressional District.

“Ominously, we saw also they had polled,” noted English. “I think they’re testing.”

The opposing campaigns in the 3rd Congressional District are again sparring over a TV ad from U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Erie).

The 30-second ad, which started airing Wednesday and focuses on the candidates' energy plan, is being criticized by the campaign for Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper as misleading and just another attack from an incumbent struggling to retain his seat.

English's campaign has countered that the ad draws a fair contrast between the candidates on an issue critically important to district residents -- increasing domestic oil supply. The ad says, in a claim disputed by Dahlkemper's campaign, that she opposes new domestic drilling while preferring that residents being walking or riding more bicycles.

Either way, it's the second critical ad from English's campaign before October, a show of the incumbent's financial muscle that could prove decisive in what is expected to be a close race.