By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com
UPDATED: 8:45 p.m.:
Schroder elaborated much more about his decision in a post on his Facebook account.
The lawmaker said his campaign “could not have been going any better” and was “on the cusp” of receiving the endorsement of the Chester County Republican Committee.
“All of that changed without warning last week,” Schroder wrote.
He said: “The sudden and unexpected re-entry into the 6th District race of the current incumbent presented a new and potentially insurmountable obstacle to my effort to be your next Congressman. Since Friday morning when I first learned of it through a Washington, DC on line newspaper, I have spent days and some sleepless nights agonizing over the decision of whether to continue. Let me be clear: Every one of my grassroots supporters have strongly urged me to continue. The vast majority of Republican Committee people in Chester County pledged their continued support for me. I am extremely grateful and humbled by your overwhelming expression of confidence and support. I believe I would have secured a majority of committee votes at the Chester County GOP convention.
The bigger problem though is how to raise the money needed to run against an incumbent Congressman who will have the complete financial resources of the Washington DC establishment behind him. After speaking with many donors and people I highly respect such as Congressman Bob Walker and Pat Toomey, it became clear that the prospect of adequate finances to convey my positions and strong convictions to the public were diminished. While I know for certain that I have the passion, energy, and commitment to do the job, I cannot answer the question of where the resources would come from to win this campaign in light of this development.”
Read the full Facebook post here.
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Curt Schroder abruptly ended his congressional campaign Monday evening, issuing a two-sentence statement that said he is now only seeking to run again for his state House seat.
“Curt Schroder has ended his campaign for the 6th Congressional District,” the campaign said. “He plans to continue serving in the Pennsylvania House and will run for re-election in the 155th District.”
The news comes three days after Gerlach, who late last week dropped out of the gubernatorial race, announced he was seeking re-election in the 6th Congressional District.
Only geologist Walt Hufford and businessman Steve Welch remain in the race, although Welch’s campaign has indicated he might drop out. Former Revenue Secretary Howard Cohen and Scott Zelov, who was considering a campaign, also ended any interest in the seat.
The news from Schroder is a bit of a reversal from comments he made immediately after news of Gerlach’s rumored re-entry into the campaign surfaced. The lawmaker indicated to PoliticsPA he expected to remain in the race even with the incumbent’s arrival.
Later, Schroder wrote on his Facebook account a more detailed response to Gerlach’s campaign that again seemed to indicate he wanted to stay in the race.
I announced for Congress almost six months ago under assurances from the incumbent that he absolutely would not be running for Congress again,” Schroder wrote. “Now the incumbent has re-entered the race for congress, his third race in the past year! The response from committee people and grass roots supporters to my campaign has been overwhelming and positive. I believe real change is needed in Washington. People want bold new direction and leadership.
“We need a congressman who will actually FIGHT to reverse the slide into a European style social welfare state,” he continued. “The 6th District deserves a Congressman who actually wants to do the job, not one who sees it as a consolation prize for a failed attempt at becoming Governor! Let me know what you think.”
Gerlach appears to have the support of national and local Republican leaders for his re-election campaign, making it difficult for fellow GOP candidates to challenge him in the primary.
