Internal poll: Barletta up by 4 points

HAZLETON – A second internal poll conducted by the Lou Barletta campaign shows the Republican mayor holds a 4-point lead over Democrat incumbent Paul E. Kanjorski.

The poll was conducted in July by a Republican polling agency – Susquehanna Polling and Research of Harrisburg – and shows Barletta leading Kanjorski 45 percent to 41 percent. The same firm released a poll in mid-June that showed Barletta ahead, 47 percent to 42 percent.

Barletta, the mayor of Hazleton, is challenging the 12-term Nanticoke Democrat for the 11th Congressional District seat.

Both Kanjorski and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee turned down offers to share results of their internal polling.

“We don’t comment on our opponents’ polls and we don’t release the data in ours,” Kanjorski campaign spokesman Ed Mitchell said.

Barletta spokesman Shawn Kelly said the campaign is pleased with the results, especially since Kanjorski has begun airing television ads.

“Those negative television ads seem to be backfiring, according to the polling data,” Kelly said. “It shows 81 percent of respondents said Mr. Kanjorski’s ads had no impact on their vote – or made them view the incumbent in a less favorable light.”

The survey polled 400 likely general election voters and the margin of error is plus/minus 4.9 percent. Results show 48 percent feel it’s time to elect a new person in the district.

“Beginning in June, Paul Kanjorski and his Washington, D.C., friends launched a series of ads that tried to prop up his dismal record and attacked me, but those ads are not working,” Barletta said. “The hardworking people of the 11th Congressional District are smart enough to see through those slick ads, and they’re saying they are ready and eager to vote for new leadership in Congress.”

Ken Spain, press secretary of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Kanjorski’s ads have gained “zero traction” for the 24-year congressman.

“This latest round of lies from Kanjorski and his friends in Washington only further exposed the 12-term incumbent for what he is -- an entrenched and desperate Washington politician who has forgotten how to connect with the voters of his district on the issues that matter,” Spain said.

Barletta ran against Kanjorski in 2002, losing to the incumbent by 22,000 votes. In the April primary, Kanjorski received nearly 91,000 Democratic votes as an unopposed candidate, while Barletta, also unopposed, tallied just over 27,000 votes.

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