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Shea won’t challenge Altmire

Congressman Jason Altmire (D-4) appears to have avoided any serious political blow-back from his recent vote against health care reform legislation.

Labor leader Jack Shea, who had been mulling a run against Altmire, told pa2010.com Thursday that he decided against it. Shea had considered both a write-in campaign during the primary or a third-party challenge in November, either of which would have been daunting. Shea, the president of the Allegheny County Labor Council, said his campaign against Altmire ended before it even began.

“I’ve tried to be a little bit loose on this race to see what developed, but I am not planning to make a serious push,” Shea said. “In order for me to run in November I’d have to change parties or put together a write-in campaign. I’m not going to do either.”

Shea said he had been in contact with a host of potential supporters since rumors of a campaign surfaced weeks ago—many expressing anger with Altmire’s vote against health care reform and Republican candidate Mary Beth Buchanan’s stance on the issue.

Despite the encouragement, Shea saw the task of  getting on the ballot as an independent or launching a successful write-in campaign as too steep a hill to climb.

“I was flattered that so many hard-working people would support me, but I have too many obligations between now and November to mount an effective campaign,” Shea said. “The last thing we need is to do is build another mountain for labor to climb, and that’s exactly what my campaign would be.”

And though Shea hardly seemed ready to swing for the fences on behalf of Altmire, he didn’t withhold his support either, saying it was imperative not to let Republicans capture the western Pennsylvania seat.

“If Democrats in the 4th want to write my name in that’s fine,” Shea said. “One thing is for certain, we can’t let Buchanan win the seat. We need a candidate who will be truthful and support the middle class.”

April 8, 2010 at 1:28 pm

--John Manganaro

Tags: Jack Shea, Jason Altmire, Mary Beth Buchanan, PA-4

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