The DCCC scored another top recruit today to challenge Rep. Charlie Dent. According to the Allentown Morning Call:
Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan will run for Congress against Republican incumbent Charlie Dent in 2010, sources say, setting up a political battle the likes of which the Lehigh Valley hasn’t seen in 17 years.
The two-term mayor has made his decision clear to Democratic Party leaders in Pennsylvania and Washington and is preparing to put a campaign team in place. An official announcement is expected soon.
The DCCC tried to get Callahan to run in both 2006 and 2008 but was unsuccessful. This gives Democrats a strong opportunity to pick up the seat.
Josh Kraushaar at Politico thinks this development, along with other recruiting successes could “inoculate” Democrats from major losses in 2010.
Callahan’s decision, first reported by the Allentown Morning Call, means that Democrats have landed top-tier candidates to run for five of the six Republican-held seats that remain in solidly Democratic territory (seats Kerry/Obama won).
Reps. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) are both vacating suburban seats to pursue higher office. Democrats are bullish about Doug Pike’s campaign to succeed Gerlach in Pennsylvania, and have several promising candidates vying for Kirk’s seat.
Democrats also landed well-regarded candidates to run against Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.), Mike Castle (R-Del.) and now have their favored candidate against Dent.
The sixth seat is held by New Orleans Republican Joseph Cao, who is considered highly vulnerable no matter who emerges as his Democratic opponent.
The midterms are still more than a year away. If the political climate continues moving against Democrats, then top recruits will make little difference.