StopLouBarletta.com

It seems that as everyone is focused on Lou Barletta, and wondering if the Hazleton mayor will make his third attempt at running for Congress, the addition of Chris Paige to the mix has gone largely unnoticed. Paige has declared his candidacy in the race to win a seat in the US House of Representatives, representing PA’s 11th Congressional District. To date, Chris Paige is the only Republican officially in the race, though Mayor Barletta keeps hinting that he may yet jump into the mix, as well.

Personally, I’m thrilled to see a Republican enter the race who isn’t Lou Barletta.  As I’ve said many, many times on this website, I don’t think Barletta is fit to represent either the Republican Party or the constituents of the 11th Congressional District.  I find the fact that Chris Paige has entered the race and, to date, Lou Barletta has not encouraging.  Hopefully, it’s a sign that Barletta has finally realized he hasn’t got a shot in Hell at winning this thing and is ready to let someone else give it a go.  Hopefully.

So who is Chris Paige?  From his official biography on his website:

Today, Chris is an attorney and small business owner.  Several years ago, Chris co-founded Paige Capital Management, LLC, which is the investment manager for two hedge funds, Paige Opportunity Partners and Paige Opportunity International.  Hedge funds are similar to mutual funds, except that hedge funds may only accept investments from “qualified investors” while mutual funds, generally speaking, may accept investments from anyone.  As a small business owner, Chris has experienced the recession first-hand, and he knows how difficult and important it is to create more jobs and new businesses.  As an attorney, Chris can transform that understanding into law.

In the community, Chris is a member of Rotary and a graduate of Leadership Pocono.  He serves on the Board of Directors for several local charities, which focus on providing career education and internship opportunities to local youth.  For the past few years, he has – quite literally – played Santa for local disadvantaged children who might not otherwise receive any toys.  Previously, he was a Board member of the Union Settlement Association, which provides educational, healthcare and social services to the residents of East Harlem.

If Paige is successful in winning the Republican nomination, he will be taking on either long-time incumbent Rep. Paul Kanjorski or Democratic challenger Corey O’Brien.  While Kanjorski has a huge financial advantage over everyone, he is also considered one of the most vulnerable Congressional Democrats in the country, so he may need all that money just to hang on to the Democratic nomination.  If Chris Paige can mount a serious campaign, this race could become one of the most interesting in the nation, regardless of who wins the Democratic primary.

Paige has established his official website, www.ChrisPaigeForCongress.com, where he provides information on his biography, his views, and his campaign.  What I already like about Paige is that he is actually talking about real life issues that affect voters (the economy, unemployment, and health care).  This is a marked improvement over Lou Barletta, who notoriously refused to take a position on any issue of substance.  Additionally, Chris Paige has established both a Facebook and Twitter account, where, according to his webpage, he wants to hold a conversation with others.  Again, this seems to be an improvement over Lou Barletta, who’s idea of a “conversation” was to pound a podium and rant about imaginary illegal immigrant crime waves.

I think Chris Paige has lots of potential and I am eagerly watching his campaign.  As a Republican, I am thrilled to see someone enter this race who has a legitimate shot at taking back a seat from a Democrat.  More importantly, though, I am thrilled to see a candidate who isn’t going to embarrass both the Republican Party and the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania as he flops around the national stage like an idiot.  So far, the best thing about Chris Paige is that he isn’t Lou Barletta and that, in my mind, makes him a very strong Republican candidate.

See also: Will Lou Barletta Run?

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 am and is filed under Chris Paige . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.