Lentz joins race for U.S. House

State Rep. Bryan R. Lentz yesterday opened his campaign for the Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Pennsylvania's Seventh District with a populist note, pledging to "stand up against powerful interests and stand up on the side of regular people."

Lentz, an Army Airborne veteran of Bosnia and Iraq and a former assistant prosecutor in Philadelphia, announced his candidacy in an Upper Darby American Legion Hall packed with 125 supporters.

The Delaware County-based seat is coming open next year because Democrat Joe Sestak, rather than seeking reelection, is challenging Sen. Arlen Specter. Lentz, with backing from most party leaders in pivotal Delaware County, is considered the frontrunner in the Democratic primary.

The winner will face the expected Republican nominee, Patrick Meehan, a former U.S. attorney and Delaware County district attorney, in what handicappers already figure will be one of the premier House races in the nation. Both national parties are targeting the swing district.

Polls suggest growing concerns about the economy and federal spending, boosting Republican hopes of big gains next year.

"The people are clear: They are angry, legitimately angry, at a government that can bail out huge banks and corporations but struggles to keep people in their homes," said Lentz, 45. "People are angry at a government that spends too much on too many things, while hardworking families are forced to tighten their belts."

Later, in an interview, Lentz said he would have supported the bank bailouts, had he been in Congress, as a necessary step to prevent economic collapse. He said popular anger was motivated by rampant greed that government had failed to check.

"We need to pass tough financial regulations so that kind of greed that cost people their 401(k)s and their homes can never happen again," Lentz said.

Lentz has raised more than $250,000 and has sewn up the endorsements of more than 70 local elected Democrats and party officials. The Delaware County AFL-CIO also is backing him.

Just under 70 percent of the district's voters live in Delaware County, with the rest divided between slices of Chester and Montgomery Counties.

This is Lentz's second bid for the seat. He started a campaign in 2006 and then stepped aside for Sestak and ran instead for the state House. He defeated a 28-year GOP incumbent by about 800 votes and was reelected last year.

Though he announced yesterday, Lentz had been gearing up for months. He assembled a campaign team that includes Neil Oxman, the Philadelphia media consultant who worked on the winning campaigns by Gov. Rendell, Mayor Nutter, and Sestak.

Like the rest of the Philadelphia suburbs, the Seventh District has been trending Democratic in recent national elections, but the GOP held the seat for decades until Sestak won it in 2006.

Barack Obama carried the district with 56 percent of the vote in last year's presidential election. Democrats Al Gore and John Kerry also won the district, which twice gave overwhelming majorities to Rendell and supported Democrat Bob Casey over Republican Sen. Rick Santorum in 2006.

Several other Democrats are in the mix for the May primary. On Tuesday, environmental lawyer Gail Conner, based in Newtown Square, announced her candidacy. She also was a 2008 Democratic Convention delegate for Obama. Political consultant E. Teresa Touey is also running in the primary, and longtime Democratic State Rep. Greg Vitali of Haverford Township is thinking about the race.

"Though I have not ruled it out, I'm not actively campaigning," said Vitali, who is working on an alternative-energy bill. "I'm very focused in on the legislative side of things."