The Philadelphia suburbs will play host to one of the most competitive open seat contests of the 2010 election cycle.
Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district includes almost all of suburban Delaware County as well as slivers of Montgomery and Chester counties. Over 70% of the district's population resides in Delaware County, just to the west of Philadelphia. This suburban district is older and more well-established than many suburban districts in the country.
These relatively affluent slices of suburbia were long favorable to Republicans from Lincoln to Reagan. Delaware County favored GOP Presidential candidates in nearly every election from 1856 to 1988. As Philadelphians have moved out into the suburbs and the Republican Party has moved toward social conservatism, these Philly suburbs have turned toward the Democrat Party. George W. Bush lost this district 53%-47% in 2004 and Barack Obama carried the 7th resoundingly 56%-43% in 2008.
The Democratic tilt of the 7th's Philadelphia suburbs resulted in the ouster of 20-year GOP incumbent Curt Weldon by Democrat Joe Sestak in 2006. Sestak, a retired three-star Navy admiral with a moderate voting record, easily won re-election in 2008 and seemed well-positioned to hold the seat indefinitely. In August 2009, to the surprise of most political observers, Sestak announced that he would challenge party-switching Democrat Senator Arlen Specter in the May 2010 Democratic Primary. Sestak, despite the opposition of the Obama White House, defeated Specter and now faces Republican Pat Toomey in the November general election.
Sestak's surprise decision to forego re-election in the 7th left an open seat contest in a competitive district. Both parties were able to avoid intraparty squabbles and nominated their respective candidates without primary competition.
The Democrat's standard bearer is Bryan Lentz. Lentz is a retired Army veteran, former prosecuting attorney, and two-term member of the Pennsylvania State House. Lentz is running on a moderate platform and is emphasizing his status as a Washington outsider.
The Republican nominee is U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan. Meehan is well-known in the 7th as a tough prosecutor who often goes toe-to-toe with the Philadelphia political establishment. He is running as a fiscal conservative.
The increasingly Democratic nature of this district makes it a difficult seat for the GOP to win. However, Meehan has outraised Lentz and has, thus far, proven to be one of the strongest Republican House candidates in the country. To win, Meehan will have to appeal to moderates in the 7th, who have increasingly been voting Democratic. He seems to have the personality and political stances to make this across the aisle pitch. Republicans are bullish on Meehan's chances to return this district to the Republican column and he enters the home stretch as the slight favorite.
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