From the House Race Hotline for Tuesday, May 6,2008

PENNSYLVANIA 10 (D/WILLIAMSPORT -- CARNEY)

The WH effect

Tue. May 6, 2008


The number of registered GOPers "has dropped below" the 50% mark "for the first time in decades." GOPers now represent 48.7%, a drop of 4% from '06, while Dems have increased about 2% since then, to 40.5%. The latest figures "are being viewed positively" by Dems and supporters of Rep. Chris Carney (D). PA Dem Chair T.J. Rooney: "We've always been confident that Congressman Carney would be overwhelmingly re-elected in November. The new voter registration figures further indicate that (the district) is no longer the GOP stronghold it once had been."

But NRCC spokesperson Ken Spain said the drop "isn't a major concern" since the GOP still leads by "a pretty wide discrepancy." He said Carney's grip on the seat "is not a tight one" and that Carney will be "out of a job" in '08 (Seder, Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, 5/3).