Hopefully some of you saw the good news that PA is the latest state where Dems have held or picked up a state legislative seat in a special election (good for so many reasons, including the not-that-far-off next round of congressional redistricting).
It's especially great news since the PA Rs have been using their majorities to block Governor Rendell's progressive initiatives and pass all sorts of awful bills he has to veto. And did I mention PA has 19 seats in the U.S. House? :-) But wait, there's another special election coming up in PA... More on the flip.
If you missed the good news,
PA Dems picked up a state House seat Tuesday in suburban Pittsburgh that the Rs had held for at least 40 years. Here's an article about that.
Now there's another special election coming up in PA (May 16, primary day) for the 2 1/2 years left in the term of the late GOP state Sen. Robert Thompson (Chester and Montgomery counties in suburban Philly). The state Senate is currently 29-20 Republican and winning this election would be a huge boost to Democratic momentum in PA. As a bonus, the 19th Senate district completely includes not one but TWO winnable state House seats that are open this fall due to Republican retirements (156th and 167th). So Democratic GOTV and voter education now can pay off for us again this fall.
We can win this district. It does have a Republican lean, but not as much as the congressional seat Paul Hackett almost won last year! Governor Rendell won it by about 18,300 votes in 2002, and our likely U.S. Senate nominee Bob Casey won it by about 10,400 votes in his race for state treasurer in 2004. Gore and Kerry both lost it, but Kerry cut Bush's margin to 2,500, a net gain of 6,500 for Dems over four years earlier in the current state Senate district.
Now, about the Democratic candidate for this seat. Andy Dinniman is a 15-year Chester County commissioner with a solid record and some issue positions that I think Kossacks will like. Check out his site: he goes beyond the usual list of issues (important as they are) and has a section on helping the hungry and the homeless. He also defies the Rs' stereotype of Dems by emphasizing fiscal responsibility.
I think this is a good race for the netroots to take on. Check out Andy Dinniman's website and if you agree, give him some money to fight the good fight! And please recommend this diary :-)