SCRANTON, Penn. – Rep. Paul Kanjorski, the 13-term House member dubbed “Mr. Credit Union” for his reliable congressional support, easily held off two primary challengers yesterday, but is expected to face an even tougher fight in the general election as part of the anti-incumbent sentiment nationwide.
“I think he’s going to have a tough race. It’s not a good year for incumbents,” said Terry Madonna, a political pollster at Franklin & Marshall College, in Kanjorski’s district.
While Kanjorski was winning his primary, five-term Senator Arlen Specter, who switched parties last year, was losing the Democratic primary to Rep. Joe Sestak, which observers were calling another sign of the anti-incumbent mood by voters
After winning yesterday’s primary, Kanjorski is matched up for a third straight election against Lou Barletta, the Republican Mayor of Hazelton who Kanjorski edged out by just three points in 2008. According to Madonna, Kanjorski was running behind Barletta in the days leading up to the last race but the district’s overwhelming vote for Obama carried the Democrat to victory. “He owes a lot to President Obama,” Madonna told Credit Union Journal yesterday of the big Democratic turnout in 2008. “If turnout hadn’t been what it was he wouldn’t have been able to pull it out.”
Kanjorski’s primary victory came against two political neophytes, Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien and Marywood University professor Brian Kelly of Wilkes-Barre. Barletta ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
The 73-year-old Kanjorski, who now chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, has become a staunch supporter of credit unions, having sponsored HR 1151, the CU Membership Access Act, and several pro-credit union bills since then.
