Search
Close this search box.

By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

State Senator Dave Argall is “99 percent” certain he won’t run for Congress against Democrat Tim Holden next year, he told PoliticsPA on Tuesday.

Many GOP insiders have speculated that Argall was considering a congressional campaign, at least in part because he’s a visible Republican well-positioned to campaign in a moderate district. The 17th Congressional District slightly favored John McCain during last year’s presidential race but has a Democratic representative, Holden, who easily cruised to victory last year by nearly 30 percentage points.

One Republican Party official told PoliticsPA he even thought Holden’s decision Saturday night to vote against the health care bill was directly tied to the threat of Argall’s candidacy.

Argall confirmed he had met recently in Washington with some members of Pennsylvania’s GOP congressional delegation, a meeting he called “interesting.” But even though he said he’s heard the rumors himself, he made it clear they weren’t true.

Argall, former minority whip in the House, won a seat in the Senate earlier this year after a special election. He is at the beginning of a four-year term.

One Response

  1. It would be too fast a transition for Argall to jump ship from his current position. Holden’s handlers would eat that up. Given Argall’s moderate tendencies, he might win some Democratic voters over, but it would best serve the Republican Party if a well financed and new-to-politics candidate can be unearthed. Despite his health care vote, Holden’s seat can be easily taken given the current angst among voters. Just link him to entitlements, taxes, and the DNC, and he’d be cooked. He may be a nice man, but Holden ultimately tows the company line.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Continue to Browser

PoliticsPA

To install tap and choose
Add to Home Screen