Pa: purple state

Timothy McNulty | October 7, 2009

Apologies for the lack of posts today -- we've been covering sports and politics in the mayor's office and running about town with Dok Harris.

But Chris Briem is always working, and he points us to this story on Pa politics from The Hill:

In the last two cycles, few states have seen turnover like Pennsylvania. Nearly a tenth of all Democratic gains in the House have come from the Keystone State. But party strategists on both sides of the aisle say there is still competitive ground to fight over.

"We're kind of like a purple state more than a blue or a red state. Either a Republican or a Democrat can win the state, even though registration favors the Democrat," said Ed Mitchell, a longtime adviser to several Democratic members of Congress.

As the Democratic Party was on its way to scooping up 52 seats in the 2006 and 2008 elections, the party picked up five wins in Pennsylvania. Reps. Joe Sestak, Patrick Murphy, Jason Altmire and Chris Carney all beat out Republican incumbents in 2006, while Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper defeated GOP incumbent Phil English two years later.

Now Democrats have their eyes on two more GOP-held seats, which would give the party pickup opportunities in a year when many see the political terrain favoring Republicans.

Rep. Jim Gerlach (R), a perennial Democratic target who has survived three tough-fought elections, is vacating his exurban Philadelphia seat in order to run for governor. Gerlach's district has voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the last three cycles, and retired newspaper editor Doug Pike (D) is off to a strong fundraising head start.

Republicans face a primary between Chester County Recorder of Deeds Ryan Costello, venture capitalist Steven Welch and state Rep. Curt Schroder, with Schroder the early front-runner. The eventual GOP nominee will be a tough competitor in the general election, but running against a non-incumbent may give Democrats the leg up to finally capture the elusive seat.

Meanwhile, Democrats solicited the aid of Vice President Joe Biden in convincing another top-tier recruit to join a race. Biden called Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan (D) to urge him to run against Rep. Charlie Dent (R), a three-term incumbent who won with 59 percent of the vote in 2008.
But Republicans also have the chance to make headway.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is heading recruitment efforts for the National Republican Congressional Committee, pointed to Pat Meehan, a former U.S. attorney running for Sestak's open seat, as an example of the party's efforts to attract top-notch candidates.

Chris also put together the awesome graphs showing Pa party registration by county, above and below. As he says, does he really have to spell out which is for Democrats and which Republicans?