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In PA-6, Pike starts staffing up

Still standing alone in the Democratic field for Congress, former Inquirer editorial writer Doug Pike is beginning to build his political team in the 6th Congressional District.

The campaign has hired Andrew Eldredge-Martin as manager and Amanda McKay as finance director, a campaign official told pa2010.com. Eldrege-Martin managed now-Congressman Chis Carney’s upset win against Don Sherwood in 2006. More recently, he managed Bob Lord’s Congressional challenge to John Shadegg in Arizona last year, when Lord lost by double-digits. He also worked in communications for John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign.

McKay has worked in development for various non-profits, and also was finance director for Congressman Dan Maffei (D-NY).

“I think it’s a very strong team, and we’ll be anouncing our consultant team soon,” said Abe Dyk, who has been serving as the campaign’s informal spokesman. “Andrew is one of the most qualified managers doing Congressional campaigns, if not the most qualified.”

No Democrats have declared their candidacy, and with Pike independently wealthy and having signaled his willingness to spend people out of a primary, he could well end up unopposed next spring. His potential general election opponent remains an open question—incumbent Congressman Jim Gerlach is considering a run for statewide office, and state Representative Curt Schroder (R-Chester) has said he’ll run if Gerlach doesn’t.

But the suburban-Philadelphia district has become increasingly hard for Republicans to defend, with Democrats now outnumbering GOP voters by more than 20,000. Even against a candidate widely seen as second-tier last year, Gerlach only won reelection by 4 points. Analysts consider the seat a likely pickup for the Democrats if Gerlach steps aside, but even if he stays, the race is sure to be a contested one.

“Whether [Gerlach] chooses to run for reelection or another Republican steps forward, we’re confident we can carry this district,” Eldredge-Martin said in a phone interview. “Doug got into this race early and has been doing all the right things.”

June 15, 2009 at 12:12 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Curt Schroder, Doug Pike, Jim Gerlach, PA-6

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