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College Corner: Meyers’ Rasheed Moore finishes strong career at ESU

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Despite reports that the National Republican Congressional Committee is &#8220;targeting&#8221; him for defeat, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright said Tuesday he is not worried.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m happy to say I have the full support of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,&#8221; Cartwright, D-Moosic, pointed out. &#8220;I know if I do need them, they&#8217;ll be behind me.&#8221;</p><p>In the meantime, Cartwright, who was re-elected to his third term in November, said he is concerned with doing his job. That includes meeting with constituents and working on his priorities: securing family-sustaining jobs for the region; protecting Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare; standing up for veterans; and ensuring a strong national defense.</p><p>According to published reports, the DCCC&#8217;s Frontline Program announced Monday the names of the 19 members considered most vulnerable in the 2018 election cycle who will benefit from its incumbent protection program.</p><p>The Frontline Program provides candidates with extra fundraising and campaign infrastructure support.</p><p>According to the published reports, Democrats need to pick up 24 seats in 2018 to assume majority of the House. That means the Democratic Party would need to re-elect all of its incumbents plus win two dozen seats now held by the GOP.</p><p>The list of the 19 most vulnerable includes most of the 12 Democrats who represent districts won by President Donald Trump in November. But four were left off the list, including Cartwright, who the DCCC said it considers &#8220;a strong incumbent.&#8221;</p><p>The NRCC issued a statement that noted Cartwright received 53 percent of the vote in November, despite outspending his opponent &#8212; Republican Matt Connolly &#8212; $836,460 to $31,056. Trump won Cartwright&#8217;s 17th District by more than 10 points.</p><p>The NRCC release poked at the congressman, observing: &#8220;Looks like the cavalry is staying home, Matty &#8230; but we&#8217;re not.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Common ground with Trump</strong></p><p>Cartwright said he asked the DCCC to leave him off the Frontline list because he didn&#8217;t want to take up resources unless he actually needed them. He said his slimmer margin of victory in 2016 was most likely attributable to Trump being at the top of the ticket.</p><p>Cartwright said despite Trump&#8217;s popularity with voters, he found that he and the Republican president agree on some key issues, such as protecting entitlement programs and national defense.</p><p>&#8220;Those also happen to be things that Trump was messaging about,&#8221; Cartwright said, adding that he didn&#8217;t purchase any television spots during the last campaign.</p><p>&#8220;Am I worried about being re-elected? No. I&#8217;m worried about doing the very best job I can do,&#8221; Cartwright said.</p><p>Those in the U.S. House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms, which forces members to constantly campaign, critics say.</p><p>&#8220;But I feel it also forces us to be close to our constituents,&#8221; said Cartwright.</p><p>The congressman won his seat in 2012 over Republican Lackawanna County Commissioner Laureen Cummings by 20-plus percentage points. He has been re-elected twice &#8212; in 2014 and 2016 &#8212; each time by lesser margins.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Cartwright </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_CARTWRIGHT-TAB-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Cartwright </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>About Matt Cartwright</strong></p><p>&#8226; U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright represents Pennsylvania&#8217;s 17th Congressional District, which includes Schuylkill County and portions of Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, and Northampton counties.</p><p>&#8226; Cartwright serves on the House Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Cartwright not concerned about ‘targeting’ by GOP Congressional Committee