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Lackawanna County official to announce Sat.
Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey D. O’Brien is expected to announce his candidacy to run for the U.S. Congress at a press conference on Saturday.
In an e-mail he sent to The Times Leader on Wednesday, O’Brien said he will “make his intentions known regarding a run” for Congress.
Although he wouldn’t confirm or deny plans to seek the 11th District seat currently occupied by U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, O’Brien’s remarks in a phone interview made his intentions pretty clear.
“I’m excited about an opportunity for providing some new leadership – to replace the old-style politics with new-style leadership,” O’Brien said.
And last week, the 36-year-old Democrat filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission necessary for a run for Congress.
O’Brien, of Moosic, will make his announcement at 9:45 a.m. from the steps of his childhood home at 1906 Delaware St., Dunmore.
“It just means a lot to me. It’s where a lot of my closest friends are and the people who have been rooting for me and cheering me on. They’re the people who have given me the strength to do this. They’re the people I used to be running around in back yards with, throwing snowballs at. I wanted to go to the place that gave me the inspiration to want to run for public office,” he said.
David Sosar, an associate professor of political science at King’s College, predicted that O’Brien, should he enter a race with Kanjorski, “is going to need every penny he can get from this small group and others to help him out,” given Kanjorski’s current war chest, name recognition and ability to secure funding for projects in his district.
That’s assuming Kanjorski decides to run for re-election. His campaign spokesman, Ed Mitchell, said he and Kanjorski have not discussed the matter.
“The congressman is not really focused on next year’s politics now. He’s working hard to create jobs, get the economy on the right track and pass affordable health insurance reform. In other words, Congressman Kanjorski is doing what he’s paid to do,” Mitchell said in an e-mail on Wednesday.
But when questioned last week, Mitchell said that if Kanjorski “wasn’t intending on running again, I don’t think he’d be raising money.”
Through the first half of the year, Kanjorski has $700,000 cash on hand, according to his own FEC filings.
Kanjorski did not return a call seeking comment.
The 11th Congressional District encompasses all of Monroe County and portions of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.