Looks like Pennsylvania Republicans will have a contested primary to determine their nominee in the state's 6th District, a political battleground near Philadelphia that GOP Rep. Jim Gerlach is leaving open to run for governor.
Republican lawyer Ryan Costello, the recorder of deeds in Chester County, announced Thursday that he will join the race.
"We need independent thinkers who will seek to find the middle ground, work together, and who will support commonsense solutions to the problems facing our nation, not tout the party line, and most importantly not raise taxes as a way to remedy runaway spending and government waste," Costello said.
Costello is joining a Republican primary race that already includes state Rep. Curt Schroder. The primary election will be held next May.
Costello's home county of Chester is one of four from which the 6th draws population in suburbs and exurbs west and northwest of Philadelphia. In the 2008 election, about 40 percent of the 6th District vote came from Chester.
The likely Democratic nominee is Doug Pike, a forrmer editorial writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. Pike's campaign circulated news of Costello's candidacy to reporters, saying that the prospect of a "hard-fought, war-chest-draining Republican primary" would help Pike.
CQ Politics assigned a preliminary rating of Leans Democratic to the Pennsylvania 6 contest, mainly because the district strongly backed Barack Obama in the 2008 election and incumbent Gerlach is leaving the seat open after winning four races by very close margins. The rating is subject to change.
To follow the 2010 House races, check out the CQ Politics election map
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