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Meehan To Run In 7th District
By Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin
Former U.S. attorney and former Delaware County district attorney Pat Meehan announced Monday he will seek the Republican Party’s nod to run for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th district.
He officially kicked off his campaign with a series of visits to spots Delaware, Montgomery and Chester counties, all partly covered by the district.
“Many of the challenges confronting us here at home transcend state lines — whether it’s strengthening the economy, keeping down health care costs, or helping small businesses —and the solutions will be determined in Congress,” Mr. Meehan said in a statement. “I am formally announcing my candidacy for U.S. Congress because I want to restore integrity to our nation’s capital and ensure that the voice of local voters is heard on critical issues like taxes, jobs, health care, and restoring fiscal responsibility to the federal government.”
Joe Sestak, a Democrat, currently represents the 7th district in Congress but has chosen to mount a primary challenge to Arlen Specter’s reelection bid for the U.S. Senate. Democrats hoping to succeed him include state Rep. Bryan Lentz, who has made his congressional bid official. State Rep. Greg Vitali is also considering a run.
Another Republican, businessman Steve Welch, was contemplating a run in the 7th as well, but he announced today that he will instead seek the GOP nomination to run in the neighboring 6th district. In order to run for that seat in the general election, he’ll need to defeat state Rep. Curt Schroder in the primary.
“I think Pat is a great guy,” Mr. Welch said. “I think he’s done a lot to clean up corruption in government,” he added, referring to Mr. Meehan’s investigations of corrupt government officials like former state Sen. Vince Fumo, D, of Philadelphia.
Republican Jim Gerlach represents the 6th district in Congress, but he is currently running for governor. Democrats have eyed the district for years. Among them, former Philadelphia Inquirer editorialist Doug Pike and Iraq War veteran Manan Trivedi are seeking the nomination to run for the seat.
Mr. Welch, founder of the Mitos Group biotech manufacturing company, emphasizes that while he does not live within the boundaries of the 6th district, his Phoenixville home is so close to it he “could throw a baseball” into it.
“My back yard nearly backs up against the district line,” he said, adding that his children attend school in the 6th district and that he has worked in the district.
The candidate said he felt impelled to run when President Barack Obama and other federal lawmakers coalesced to enact an $800-billion spending package this winter. He said it worried him that many of those who voted for the massive “economic stimulus” had not even read the bill.
“It was kind of the capstone that said, ‘Hey, we need to get involved,’” he explained.
Many observers are predicting that Mr. Welch will make a more fiscally conservative legislator than the centrist Mr. Gerlach. Mr. Welch has himself described Mr. Gerlach as “certainly not a perfect congressman but certainly somebody who did a very good job.”
Mr. Schroder, however, has also articulated a conservative approach to government and has voted for low spending and low taxes as a state legislator. He is a sponsor of legislation to ban forced unionism and has been on the center-right on social issues as well.
Schroder campaign manager Kyle Whatley said Mr. Schroder’s priorities in Congress will be keeping taxes, spending and regulations limited to grow the American economy and create jobs.
“It’s pretty well universal among not only Republicans but the majority of voters in the sixth district that those are the issues that they’re concerned with,” Mr. Whatley said.
He said Mr. Schroder will be focusing on the issues rather than drawing attention to Mr. Welch’s residing outside the district. But he added that informal conversations with residents of the 6th district reveal that some of them think Mr. Welch’s run “smacks of opportunism” since he had long talked about running in his own 7th district.
Bradley Vasoli can be reached at bvasoli@thebulletin.us
He officially kicked off his campaign with a series of visits to spots Delaware, Montgomery and Chester counties, all partly covered by the district.
“Many of the challenges confronting us here at home transcend state lines — whether it’s strengthening the economy, keeping down health care costs, or helping small businesses —and the solutions will be determined in Congress,” Mr. Meehan said in a statement. “I am formally announcing my candidacy for U.S. Congress because I want to restore integrity to our nation’s capital and ensure that the voice of local voters is heard on critical issues like taxes, jobs, health care, and restoring fiscal responsibility to the federal government.”
Joe Sestak, a Democrat, currently represents the 7th district in Congress but has chosen to mount a primary challenge to Arlen Specter’s reelection bid for the U.S. Senate. Democrats hoping to succeed him include state Rep. Bryan Lentz, who has made his congressional bid official. State Rep. Greg Vitali is also considering a run.
Another Republican, businessman Steve Welch, was contemplating a run in the 7th as well, but he announced today that he will instead seek the GOP nomination to run in the neighboring 6th district. In order to run for that seat in the general election, he’ll need to defeat state Rep. Curt Schroder in the primary.
“I think Pat is a great guy,” Mr. Welch said. “I think he’s done a lot to clean up corruption in government,” he added, referring to Mr. Meehan’s investigations of corrupt government officials like former state Sen. Vince Fumo, D, of Philadelphia.
Republican Jim Gerlach represents the 6th district in Congress, but he is currently running for governor. Democrats have eyed the district for years. Among them, former Philadelphia Inquirer editorialist Doug Pike and Iraq War veteran Manan Trivedi are seeking the nomination to run for the seat.
Mr. Welch, founder of the Mitos Group biotech manufacturing company, emphasizes that while he does not live within the boundaries of the 6th district, his Phoenixville home is so close to it he “could throw a baseball” into it.
“My back yard nearly backs up against the district line,” he said, adding that his children attend school in the 6th district and that he has worked in the district.
The candidate said he felt impelled to run when President Barack Obama and other federal lawmakers coalesced to enact an $800-billion spending package this winter. He said it worried him that many of those who voted for the massive “economic stimulus” had not even read the bill.
“It was kind of the capstone that said, ‘Hey, we need to get involved,’” he explained.
Many observers are predicting that Mr. Welch will make a more fiscally conservative legislator than the centrist Mr. Gerlach. Mr. Welch has himself described Mr. Gerlach as “certainly not a perfect congressman but certainly somebody who did a very good job.”
Mr. Schroder, however, has also articulated a conservative approach to government and has voted for low spending and low taxes as a state legislator. He is a sponsor of legislation to ban forced unionism and has been on the center-right on social issues as well.
Schroder campaign manager Kyle Whatley said Mr. Schroder’s priorities in Congress will be keeping taxes, spending and regulations limited to grow the American economy and create jobs.
“It’s pretty well universal among not only Republicans but the majority of voters in the sixth district that those are the issues that they’re concerned with,” Mr. Whatley said.
He said Mr. Schroder will be focusing on the issues rather than drawing attention to Mr. Welch’s residing outside the district. But he added that informal conversations with residents of the 6th district reveal that some of them think Mr. Welch’s run “smacks of opportunism” since he had long talked about running in his own 7th district.
Bradley Vasoli can be reached at bvasoli@thebulletin.us
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