LEWISBURG —
Tom Marino has two words for Chris Carney: Debate me.
The Republican challenger on Tuesday stood before the Union County Courthouse and dozens of potential voters, and reiterated his challenge: A series of head-to-heads with the Democratic incumbent in locales throughout the 10th Congressional District.
Other than an Oct. 27 debate — one week before the Nov. 2 election — those requests have gone unanswered.
“Anytime, anywhere, I will debate Mr. Carney,” Marino said Tuesday.
“He can get into all the negative campaigning he wants, but he needs to explain to the people of the 10th District why he voted on several issues, including the health care plan.”
Carney, of Dimock, has said only that he will debate Marino in late October.
“The people of the 10th District deserve more,” Marino said. “This election is about real change, and I would start debating Mr. Carney yesterday.”
Carney only had one debate in 2006, when he was challenging Republican Don Sherwood for the U.S. House seat, Carney spokesman Josh Drobnyk said.
“Tom Marino has made one ethically questionable decision after another over the course of the last several years, including during this campaign,” Drobnyk said.
“Congressman Carney has agreed to debate, and he is looking forward to sharing his message of tax cuts for small businesses and working families and ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs abroad.”
A single debate, to be televised by WVIA-TV, doesn’t sit well with Marino.
“Whatever the reason, it is shameful that Chris Carney will not agree to a series of debates to benefit the voters,” Marino said. “He would rather issue press releases that attack my character, than face me in a debate.”
Several Union County officials on Tuesday endorsed the Republican from Cogan Station, Lycoming County.< /p>
“I’m here today to show Mr. Marino is the best candidate to be elected,” Union County District Attorney D. Peter Johnson said. “There is a lot to be said about Tom, and I personally vote for the person, not just the party, and I believe in the person, not what they are labeled.”
County Commissioner Preston Boop agreed. “It’s time for a change in Washington,” he said, “and Tom Marino is the man for it.”
“A million dollars worth of negative advertising will not win this election for Carney,” Boop said. “It’s just not going to happen.”
Said Marino of the fellow Republicans’ support: “I can’t express in words what this means. I am honored they have the faith and trust in me.”
About two weeks ago, Carney held a similar press conference in which several officials from Northumberland and Montour counties endorsed him.
After the endorsement announcements, Marino tackled several issues, including transportation and entitlement programs.
He said he knows the frustrations Valley residents feel over the stalled Central Susquehanna Thruway project.
“I can’t promise I can get the money for the project, but I will work very hard to see that we do, and I will make that a top priority in this district,” he said.
Marino said he does not support cuts to Social Security for those receiving or about to receive it. “Social Security is for people that worked for it,” he said, “and paid in to it.”
If elected, Marino told the gathering he will be accessible to all.
“When I’m in Washington, I will learn, I will spend time reaching out to my colleagues no matter what party,” Marino said.
“And when I’m not there, I will be in the district, and I will even go to people’s homes to discuss issues if they want that, because I will make sure I take all the time I need to take to answer and help anyone I can.”
Marino ended his 30-minute talk with a prediction:
His victory in November, despite not having the bank roll of Carney.
As of June 30, Carney had $792,891 cash-in-hand after expenditures, according to the Federal Election Commission’s second-quarter reports, while Marino had $11,137, and, through Aug. 14, he had not heard from the Republican National Committee about funding.
“Even though we don’t have the money my opponent has,” Marino said, “we will win this election.”
-- E-mail comments to fscarcella@dailyitem.com.
News
Related Photos
-
Republican congressional candidate Tom Marino talks Tuesday during a press conference outside the Union County Courthouse, Lewisburg. Matthew Harris/The Daily Item
Discussion
Tom Marino challenges Chris Carney to join a series of debates
- News
-
-
State board approves table games at Valley Forge casino
VALLEY FORGE — A casino resort scheduled to open this spring in the Philadelphia suburb of Valley Forge has been approved for table games.
-
Doctors telling more adults: Get out and exercise
ATLANTA — A new study shows more and more U.S. adults are being told by their doctor to get off their duffs and exercise. A government survey found nearly 33 percent of adults who saw a doctor in the previous year said they were told to exercise. That was up from about 23 percent in 2000.
-
Former Northumberland County judge and three others die in Florida crash
EVERGLADES CITY, Fla. -- A former Northumberland County judge was one of four people killed Wednesday afternoon when their car collided with a van at an intersection, according to the Naples News. The victims were identified as James J. Rosini, 66, William J. Rosini, 68, Patricia C. Rosini, 65, all of Coal Township, Pa., and Deborah A. Korbich, 59, of Elysburg, Pa.
-
Warden demotes four bosses
SUNBURY -- Northumberland County Prison Warden Roy Johnson was able to trim about $135,000 in expenses by demoting four supervisors. He said Wednesday that he found a way to cut costs without laying off any staff. "I cut out 120 hours of supervisors' pay each week, but I need to fill the correction officer positions," Johnson said.
-
DJ pumps up audience
Every Tuesday evening, Richard Grogg can be found spinning tunes at possibly the most well-attended dance in Snyder County. A resident at the Selinsgrove Center since 1988, the 57-year-old said the thing he likes most about selecting and playing music is "making people happy." "Some people come up and ask for requests," he said.
-
Agency closes adult center
PENNS CREEK -- Union and Snyder County caregivers have had to look farther and wider for another program that can offer respite because the Agency on Aging can no longer afford to provide the service. The adult daily living center at the Penns Creek Adult Resource Center was a helpful program each week to about eight adults from the area dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia. But it closed Dec. 30.
-
New Berlin pushes to acquire school
NEW BERLIN -- The Borough Council sold the property where the New Berlin Elementary School is to the precursor of the Mifflinburg Area School District for $1 back in 1950. It was deeded to the district for construction of a school.
-
Second suit filed to stop sewer merger
SUNBURY -- It must have seemed like deja vu all over again Wednesday for some members of the Northumberland Sewer Authority, when for the second time in two weeks, former NSA Chairman Adam Klock filed a civil action against former board colleagues Jack Fasold, James Orner and Donald Troxell, alleging they held an illegal meeting -- this time on Monday -- where they voted to transfer the borough authority's assets to the merged North-Point Sewer Authority.
-
Student Claims Bucknell Unfair
LEWISBURG -- A man cleared of sexual assault but cited in a disciplinary action at Bucknell University in 2010 has filed a lawsuit against the Lewisburg school, claiming campus police and officials violated his civil rights after the woman lodged her complaint.
-
School grants in works
MILTON -- How school funds will be distributed through Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed block grant program, which combines four basic education budget lines, still needs to be worked out, the governor said at a press conference Wednesday.
-
Corbett: Low taxes help generate jobs
MILTON -- With a backdrop of Minuteman Environmental Services trucks and charts depicting state spending, Gov. Tom Corbett said Wednesday that his proposed fiscal 2012-13 budget is a realistic plan that will help create jobs while holding the line on spending.
-
Viking Energy to close April 1
NORTHUMBERLAND -- Unable to compete with the natural gas industry, the Viking Energy plant in Point Township will close April 1 and put 19 employees out of work. The news from the wood-fired power plant comes a week after officials at the coal-fired Sunbury Generation plant in Shamokin Dam announced it was temporarily laying off 63 employees for the same reason.
- More News Headlines
-
State board approves table games at Valley Forge casino
