John Callahan
In a 2010 election cycle in which they will be playing more defense than offense, Democrats are making a pitched effort to win
the six districts that voted Democratic for president in 2004 and 2008 but are represented by Republicans in the House.
The Democrats already have announced candidates in five of those districts. The exception is Pennsylvania's 15th, a district in the Lehigh Valley that is represented by three-term Republican Charlie Dent and where Democrats have struggled to get a top-flight candidate.
But Democrats are hoping to land Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, who seems to be warming to the idea of running for Congress. The Morning Call newspaper in Allentown reported Wednesday that Callahan has "approached party leaders in Pennsylvania in recent weeks to broach the idea" of running against Dent.
Democratic leaders talked with Callahan in previous cycles about a congressional bid, but he demurred. Callahan was elected mayor in 2003 and re-elected to a four-year term in 2005, so he's up for re-election this year.
Dent is not an easy target. According to CQ's "Politics in America 2010" almanac, only 12 House Republicans voted against the majority GOP position on party-line votes more frequently than Dent, who served in the state legislature for 14 years prior to his election to Congress in 2004.
In 2006, a good Democratic year, Democrats didn't even field a candidate by the filing deadline. Democrat Charles Dertinger, a county councilman, entered the race late and lost by 54 percent to 43 percent.
In 2008, Dent trounced Democratic activist Sam Bennett by 59 percent to 41 percent even as Barack Obama was beating John McCain in the district by 56 percent to 43 percent.
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