Democrats once again eyeing PA-6

Regardless of whether Republican Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-Chester County) decides forgo reelection in favor of a run at the Governor’s Mansion, several Democrats seem well positioned to once again fight for the 6th District seat that the GOP and Gerlach struggled to win since its creation six years ago.

Doug Pike, a former editorial board member at The Philadelphia Inquirer, is the only Democrat to officially declare his candidacy for the seat, which includes areas of Chester, Montgomery and Berks counties. But at least three others are considering the race, including two have challenged Gerlach before. The district has consistently been one of the most competitive in the state. And while Democrats think they can win even if Gerlach stays put, most analysts consider the seat a lock to switch parties if he pursues the governorship instead.

“He’s had a tenuous hold on it,” said G. Terry Madonna, a pollster and political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College. “Somehow, he’s found a way to win. I think it gives the Democrats a huge opening should he actually run [for governor].”

April 19, 2009 at 6:15 pm | Comments (0)

Even under scruity, few see Murtha as vulnerable

With Congressman John Murtha (D-12) embroiled in a lobbying scandal, under fire from military groups and again facing the same challenger who opposed him last year, it’s easy to see the longtime incumbent as vulnerable in 2010. But with more than three decades of political entrenchment on his side, even many Republicans are hesitant to say his days are numbered.

“The problem is he’s done personal favors for just about every man, woman and child over the years, and that makes him tough to beat,” GOP political consultant Charlie Gerow said.

April 19, 2009 at 6:08 pm | Comments (0)

State GOP to bring on full-time coordinator for 2010 House races

Faced with their smallest Congressional delegation in decades, state Republicans are preparing an aggressive push to win back House seats in 2010. With the goal of being competitive in at least seven districts, the party will for the first time bring on a full-time liaison to Congressional campaigns, state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason said.

“We’re going to have a full-time, experienced person whose only job is going to be recruiting for and managing Congressional races,” Gleason told pa2010.com. “We’ve never had that before. We’ve left it up to whoever shows up to see what kind of campaign they want to run.”
Republicans have lost five Congressional seats in the Keystone State in the last two elections, four of them in 2006. The party’s best hope for picking up a Democratic seat last year was scuttled when a wave of voters for Barack Obama helped longtime Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) win what late-campaign polling had depicted as a losing campaign. The GOP now controls only seven of the state’s 19 Congressional districts, a low-point even some Democrats think can’t get any worse for the GOP.

April 19, 2009 at 6:02 pm | Comments (0)