By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

The campaign for Democratic congressional candidate Manan Trivedi unveiled on Monday 16 endorsements from local Democrats, a list that included one Berks County official who had previously supported Trivedi’s inter-party opponent, Doug Pike.

Fred Sheeler, Berks County Recorder of Deeds, withdrew his endorsement of Pike in September after Trivedi, an Iraq war physician, entered the race. Sheeler said at the time the emergence of Trivedi, who is a family friend, forced him to reconsider his earlier endorsement of Pike, a former Philadelphia Inquirer editorial writer, because the race’s political landscape had changed. But he had not publicly switched his endorsement until Monday.

Pike and Trivedi are each competing for the Democratic nomination in the 6^th District, a southeast congressional seat considered a prime takeover opportunity for Democrats because the incumbent, Republican Jim Gerlach, is leaving to run for governor.

Sheeler’s switch comes a week after news broke that state Senator Daylin Leach had withdrawn his endorsement of Pike’s candidacy. Leach did not endorse Trivedi, but his newfound neutrality was a blow to Pike’s campaign nonetheless.

The senator’s decision, like Sheeler’s, indicates the Democratic campaign between Pike and Trivedi will be among the state’s most competitive next year. Pike had seemed to lock up the 6^th District Democratic nomination during the summer, when as an unopposed candidate he locked up the endorsements of several high-profile southeast party officials. But Trivedi’s endorsement has permanently changed the contest’s dynamics.

Trivedi also received the endorsement of Montgomery County Prothonotary Mark Levy. The other officials to endorse Trivedi on Monday include:

Michael Bedrick - Chester County Zone 4 Committee person
Lorraine Tindaro- Chester County - Caln Democratic Zone Leader
Linda Leighbody - Tredyffrin Democratic Committee Person
Don Arthur - 35th Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy
Candace Stitzman-Duley - PA Democratic State Committee Women’s Caucus Chairwoman
Vince Gillen - Plymouth Township Councilman
Teri Simon -  Executive Committee Member of the Lower Merion / Narberth Democratic Committee
Ron Sassi - Constable-Elect, Plymouth
Dennis Hess - Berks County Coroner
Sandy Green - Mayor of Kutztown
Bill Holmes – Vice Chair, East Whiteland Township Supervisors
Tyler Wren - East Nantmeal Township Supervisor
Tildy Wren - Chester County Democratic Committee person Zone 2
Jason Salus - Conshocken Borough Council (District 1) – Democratic Area Leader for Conshohocken, Plymouth & Whitemarsh

Tags: Doug Pike, Manan Trivedi

This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Front Page Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.