Late Rep. John Murtha’s wife Joyce won’t run for Pennsylvania seat vacated by his death
By APMonday, February 22, 2010
Murtha’s widow won’t run for his US House seat
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — The wife of the late Rep. John Murtha will not run to finish his term in the western Pennsylvania House seat that he held nearly four decades.
The Murtha for Congress Committee said in an e-mail Monday that Joyce Murtha feels it’s “too soon after his death to be on the campaign trail.”
A special election to fill the vacancy will be held as part of Pennsylvania’s May 18 primary. Murtha died Feb. 8 following complications from gallbladder surgery.
Democrats running include former Pennsylvania treasurer Barbara Hafer, former lieutenant governor Mark Singel and Cambria County Controller Ed Cernic Jr.
Prospective Republican candidates include William Russell, who unsuccessfully challenged Murtha in 2008, and Tim Burns, a businessman from the town of Eighty Four.
