Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta is expected to make an announcement about whether he will challenge Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) next week.

“Mayor Lou Barletta will announce his decision on whether to run or not run for Congress in 2010 a week from today on Wednesday, December 9th,” wrote Barletta 2008 campaign manager Vince Galko in a Wednesday e-mail to reporters.

Just last week, Barletta’s campaign committee asked donors to help him retire his debt, which amounts to about $260,000 over the course of his campaigns. Barletta has unsuccessfully challenged Kanjorski two times, losing most recently by a four-point margin.