High-stakes endorsements loom for 6th District Dems

For months, the Democratic candidates in the 6th Congressional District have been battling over each and every individual endorsement, sometimes to a point of ridiculousness. But in the coming weeks, they will jockey over endorsements that could be far more significant: the backing of the three county parties.

The results will help determine which candidates are on sample ballots handed out by Democratic leaders at the local levels. And they carry particularly high stakes for the two candidates with significantly less campaign cash to work with. The endorsements begin when Chester County Democrats meet Saturday morning in West Chester, in what is expected to be a closely contested vote (county Republicans will be meeting at the same time in Kennett Square). The process continues March 11 when Montgomery County Democrats vote on their endorsement in Plymouth Meeting. And while Berks County Democrats have opted against endorsing a candidate for the district in recent years, Reading physician Manan Trivedi, who sees the area as his base, will surely be looking for Democrats there to express their opinion in one way or another.

The stakes are especially high for Trivedi, who faces a $1 million deficit compared to former Inquirer editorial writer Doug Pike, who has put about that much money into his own campaign. Winning the support of the county parties would give him an organizational boost that could help make up for some of the financial disadvantage. And while surveys of party insiders late last year showed Pike’s support strong in Montgomery County with Chester County as a tossup, more recent interviews indicate a distinct possibility that Trivedi could eventually be backed by all three county parties. His campaign has gotten to this point in part because of high-profile backers like former state Senator Connnie Williams in Montgomery County and state Senator Andrew Dinniman in Chester County.

“I think that the county endorsements are a very strong indicator of how the grassroots is feeling about a candidate going into the primary,” Trivedi campaign manager Ed Niles said. “We think it’s a very good way to take the temperature of things.”

In an interview, Pike campaign manager Andrew Eldredge-Martin said the county endorsements were just one piece of the puzzle.

“At the end of the day it’s going to be the voters who are going to decide which candidate’s the strongest going into the general election,” he sad, “and we feel we have a very good case to make not only that he’s the strongest, but also that he’s got a very good contrast to make with [incumbent Jim] Gerlach.

“Everyone’s going to be contesting a lot of stuff over the coming months,” he added. “I’m sure he’ll win some and I’m sure we’ll win some. But our focus all along has been to run a strong, professional campaign across all aspects of the campaign.”

For the latest entrant into the race, Lower Merion Township Commissioner Brian Gordon, the expectations appear to be lower. Few party insiders expect him to win even the backing of his home base in Montgomery County, and there may be pressure on him to drop out of he doesn’t garner that endorsement.

“The past few weeks have been the first chance for most committee people to learn about the candidates themselves,” Gordon said, citing a debate this week in Tredyffrin.

“I don’t know,” Gordon said about what he would do if he didn’t win the local endorsement. “I haven’t made any decisions one way or the other. My instinct and my desire is to press on.”