PA-05: Republican Rep. Pat Meehan announced he would retire in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal, and the GOP's hopes of holding his seat pretty much went up in smoke after they saw the new map. While Meehan's old and very gerrymandered 7th District, which was likened to Goofy kicking Donald Duck, backed Clinton just 49-47, the new 5th supported her 63-34. Fourteen Democrats ended up filing for the seat, which includes all of Delaware County and small portions of Philadelphia and Montgomery. To say there is no clear frontrunner would be an understatement.
Several Democrats who had been running against Meehan decided to run here. Attorney Dan Muroff, who took fourth place with 10 percent of the vote in a 2016 primary for the old Philadelphia-based 2nd District, and bioengineer Molly Sheehan both did some self-significant funding in 2017. Each of them had around $185,000 on-hand at the end of 2017, which does at least give them a head start over their rivals.
Former CIA officer Shelly Chauncey got into the race against Meehan just as his troubles were starting to become public, and at the time, an unnamed Delaware County political insider told the Philadelphia Inquirer that "one or two" major donors were supporting her. However, it's unclear how much support she'll have now that this race has changed dramatically. Former federal prosecutor Ashley Lunkenheimer reported raising $70,000 during her first days in the race, and her mother is prominent in local business and civic circles.
A few local elected officials in Delaware County are also in, but some look more viable than others. Thaddeus Kirkland is the mayor of Chester, a city of 34,000 people. But state Rep. Margo Davidson is running despite being charged with crashing her taxpayer-funded car twice this year while driving while her license was suspended. Davidson also angered progressives with votes for abortion restrictions and school vouchers, and she only won her 2016 primary 54-46.
State Rep. Greg Vitali initially dropped out of the race complaining about how much fundraising he'd have to do, but he jumped back in a little while later. Vitali's decision helped ruin his longtime friendship with teacher Larry Arata, who had planned to run for Vitali's state House seat and decided to keep running for this congressional district after Vitali reversed course. Vitali also seems unpopular with legislative leaders, who last year denied him a sought-after top spot on an environmental committee.
All these candidates live in Delaware (though Muroff used to be a Philadelphia ward leader), which could help give one Philadelphia candidate a big opening. Rich Lazer was Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney's right-hand man, and the former deputy mayor is a close ally of several local unions. Philly only makes up about 16 percent of this seat to Delaware's 80 percent, but there's definitely a path to victory for Lazer if he does well in the city while the many Delaware candidates split the vote there.
However, financial planner Lindy Li also lived in Philadelphia, and she may have the resources to compete. Li had sought two different seats in the suburbs in the 2016 cycle, and while she failed to make the ballot, she still had $181,000 in her campaign account at the end of 2017. Four other Democrats are in, and while they don't look like they have the name-recognition or resources to compete, anything could happen in a race this packed.