Barbara Hafer has withdrawn as a candidate for the 12th Congressional District. PA2010.com was the first to pick this up. According to my information Hafer was able only to secure a few signatures over the required amount and felt she would be challenged for her ballot position. The short time period for organizing people and getting a campaign together definitely hurt everyone in this race due to the timing of Congressman Murtha's death. His funeral just about coincided with the beginning of the nominating petition period and efforts by those in Murtha's camp to dissuade others from announcing before the funeral hurt them. Was this calculated? Who knows.
Through the course of our work on this race I never spoke with Hafer or her operatives. They were not our sources.
