Area Congressmen Vote In Favor of Fiscal Cliff Deal

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 late Tuesday night.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 to avert the fiscal cliff late Tuesday night. The vote was 257 to 167. U.S. Reps Mike Doyle (D-14), Mark Critz (R-12) and Tim Murphy (R-18) voted in favor of passing the legislation. Doyle's district covers Oakmont and Verona, Critz's district covers Plum and Murphy's covers nearby Monroeville. Murphy explained his vote in this statement: “The process and product are imperfect, but what has been achieved can’t be overlooked. We’ve overcome the impasse to permanently lock in lower tax rates for 99 percent of taxpayers. (The) vote opens the door for work to begin in the next session of Congress on significant cuts in federal spending, meaningful tax reform and …

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U.S. Reps Murphy, Kelly Accepted Contributions from NRA in 2012 House Campaigns

Open Secrets has published a list of recipients of National Rifle Association campaign contributions that also includes outgoing U.S. Reps. Mark Critz of Johnstown and Jason Altmire of McCandless, both Democrats.

U.S. Reps Tom Murphy (R-Upper St. Clair), Mark Critz (D-Johnstown), Jason Altmire (D-McCandless) and Mike Kelly (R-Butler) of Pennsylvania accepted thousands in 2012 campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.  The NRA doled out more than $750,000 in campaign contributions in 2012, according to the center, a research organization that tracks money in politics and how it affects elections and policies and shares the information on OpenSecrets.org. The center obtained its data from the Federal Election Commission.  Fifteen members of Congress from Pennsylvania accepted contributions from the NRA during their 2012 bids for office, according to the center's list. Three of the top…

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Rothfus Defeats Critz in Newly Drawn 12th Congressional District

The district covers Plum Borough.

Republican Keith Rothfus of Sewickley defeated incumbent Democrat Mark Critz of Johnstown by a margin of 52 to 48 percent to win election to the newly re-drawn Pennsylvania 12th congressional district.  Rothfus said his number one priority is the economy. "We got get the economy rolling again," he said after delivering a victory speech at the Holiday Inn on McKnight Road in Ross Township Tuesday night. "I'm concerned about tax policy, about the possibility of another tax increase on our small businesses on January first. The president said a couple of years ago; you don't want to raise taxes in a slow economy. And so we have to convince the president of the wisdom of his argument from a couple of years ago." Rothfus was asked about the …

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Pennsylvania Election Unofficial Results 2012: Obama, Sen. Casey Re-Elected

Democrats also win PA Auditor General, Treasurer, and Attorney General races.

LIVE 2012 ELECTION RESULTS   149,529 President Barack Obama has been re-elected for another four-year term. Obama also won in Pennsylvania, gaining the state's 20 electoral votes, according to CBS, NBC and ABC. In Pennsylvania's 2012 race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Bob Casey Jr. (D-Scranton) defeated Tom Smith (R-Shelocta). In Pennsylvania's 2012 race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Bob Casey Jr. (D-Scranton) defeated Tom Smith (R-Shelocta).  In the races for three state offices: In the congressional race in the newly redesigned 12th District, Republican Keith Rothfus of Edgeworth defeated incumbent Democrat Mark Critz of Johnstown. The district covers Plum Borough. In the 14th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Mike Doyle of Forest …

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Patch Poll: Which Race Has the Most Annoying or Negative Campaign Ads?

The good news is that ads will end after Tuesday. The bad news is Election Day is still two days away.

As we head into the last few days before the election, the campaign ads seem never ending. But do they influence voters or turn them off? Some people hang on to those ads which agree with their viewpoint but others just seem to be grating if you don't have a similar viewpoint. Many seem to be negative ads against the opponent rather than ones that point out the attributes of the candidate. So, you tell us. Take our poll and if there's a specific commercial that you want to point out, tell us in the comments section.

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The 2012 Plum-Oakmont Patch Election Guide

See who is running for what office in the area. Everything you need to know about the election.

Plum-Oakmont Patch: 2012 General Election Guide

Here's a look at the candidates and important issues for the November general election.

As we look ahead to November’s elections, Plum-Oakmont Patch is devoted to bringing you the information you need about every race in town. Here's a look at the candidates and issues. Check out our Elections Page for more information. Plum, Oakmont & Verona Economic development, transportation and education funding are hot topics for the candidates of Plum, Oakmont and Verona. Our area has several contested races—some of them even rematches from two years ago. Here's a look at two of them. 25th Legislative District—Plum Councilman Mike Doyle, a Republican, will face off with Democratic state Rep. Joe Markosek of Monroeville once more during the general election in November. This will be Doyle's second time running against Markosek, a 30-…

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Officials Break Ground on Moon Military Commissary

Construction will soon be under way on a University Boulevard military commissary, marking the end of a six-year battle to bring the facility to Moon.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, said it was a testament to perseverance.  Members of Pennsylvania's Congressional delegation and military officials from across the region attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the long-awaited Moon Township military commissary last week.  The 43,000 square-foot facility, set to open in the fall of 2013, will house a grocery story for more than 170,000 military members and their families in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.  The regional hub will be located at the corner of University Boulevard and the Interstate 376 Business Route in Moon and will more than double the size of Oakdale's Charles E. Kelly Commissary, which is slated to close.  The effort to bring the new commissary to Moon has been in the…

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Tea Party Event at Boyce Park Turns Heated

Two men representing both sides of the political spectrum were passionate as a discussion about where some political hats were manufactured turns into a war of words on a number of issues.

A conversation at a Tea Party event held earlier this month at Boyce Park in Plum Borough turned into a war of words after a man questioned the fact that the hats for sale were made in China. The event was June 9. Among the items of the day was the Tea Party Express endorsement of Republican Keith Rothfus for Congress over Democrat Mark Critz for the race in the newly redrawn 12th Congressional District. Critz made news of his own today when he announced he would not be attending the Democratic convention. The conversation between the two men degenerated into the birther issue, employment, outsourcing, Tea Party funding sources and the observation by one man that "we have such an ideological civil war coming." The video, which also appears…

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