PA-16

A few days ago, we compared the endorsement questionnaires that Lancaster Stands Up sent out to the PA-16 candidates.

Most of the top pick-up congressional districts have half a dozen of so Democratic candidates vying for nominations this cycle. And often there are multiple viable candidates, racing good money and putting together competitive campaigns. So how do you know who to support?

PA-16 is another of those bizarrely gerrymandered congressional districts courtesy of a Republican legislature that shouldn't be in the majority. Pennsylvania is a 50/50 state, perhaps with a slight Democratic lean. The state's PVI is EVEN, although the districts were drawn to yield 13 Republican seats in Congress and just 5 Democrats instead of 9 from each party.

In 2006, Blue America backed Kirsten Gillibrand for Congress when she ran against corrupt, drunken wife-beater John Sweeney. We helped her raise consciousness about what a crook Sweeney was and we helped her raise money and we even got the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Rickie Lee Jones to do a song for her campaign which got a ton of airplay on the local radio stations.

This afternoon, Democrat Tom Houghton announced his candidacy for the 16th Congressional District in Pennsylvania, challenging incumbent right-wing Republican Joe Pitts, who we're very familiar with from the Aryanna Strader campaign in 2012. Once again, Steve Israel is forcing the DCCC to ignore this very winnable (R+4) southeast Pennsylvania seat that President Obama won in 2008. And Tom has also been an electoral winner in this area.