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6th DISTRICT CONFIDENTIAL: Inside the Democratic endorsement fight

When state Senator Andy Dinniman (D-Chester) said last August that he wouldn’t run for Congress in the 6th District, it seemed like the Democratic primary was Doug Pike’s for the taking. There were no other challengers in public view, and numerous Democrats lined up behind Pike, seeing a clear field for the former Inquirer writer as their best chance of finally capturing the seat held by incumbent Republican Jim Gerlach.

Then, Manan Trivedi showed up.

Although Pike campaign insiders later said they saw Trivedi coming from miles away, the candidacy of the Reading doctor and Iraq War veteran quickly changed the complexion of the primary. Dozens of Democrats who had endorsed Pike early—in part because they thought he was the only candidate—had to decide whether to give the new contender a fair hearing. A prominent area liberal in state Senator Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) got back on the fence. An elected official from Trivedi’s Berks County switched sides. Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8) said he was staying put. The primary grew more heated, and while a prevailing narrative painted the Pike campaign as “bleeding,” it has continued to build on its early head-start, putting together a high-powered finance team and piling up powerful backers within organized labor groups. The Trivedi campaign has simultaneously built up its own base of support.

And all the while, behind the scenes, Democratic insiders have been mulling over their place on Pike’s endorsement list. Most appear content to stay there, and in reality, the individual endorsements mean far less than the local party endorsements that will be made early next year. But interviews with numerous party insiders reveal leaders and rank-and-file members alike increasingly agnostic about their support for Pike. Over the course of the last few weeks, pa2010.com has identified about half-a-dozen Pike endorsers—a small fraction of his total—who are thinking of pulling their support from the man who remains the primary front-runner. Some say they are waiting to hear more from both candidates. Some say they are just waiting to make a final decision. Others say they won’t be removing their names from Pike’s list of supporters, but will be functionally neutral in their actions. And whether they’re sticking with Pike or heading elsewhere, nearly all of them say they endorsed Pike partly because they thought he was the only candidate and were eager to win a seat that has evaded them this whole decade.

At the same time, a cordial but tangible behind-the-scenes lobbying effort has been spawned, as surrogates for Trivedi look to gently goad Pike supporters back onto the fence. The Trivedi campaign itself is officially abstaining from such actions, leaving it to supporters like Bob Roggio, last year’s Democratic nominee in the district and the first to endorse Trivedi. Pike’s campaign, for its part, appears to have put absolutely no pressure on its supporters to close ranks, engaging only in correspondence that is routine for any campaign and its supporters.

But if Pike hoped that Leach would be the last one to jump ship, he is likely to be disappointed.

“I probably came out too early,” Berks County Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt said recently. “I guess it’s one of those lessons to learn. I’m probably going to come out [soon] and go neutral. Maybe I should be a little more pensive in the future.”

Pike’s support appears to be softest in Trivedi’s native Berks County, and strongest in Montgomery County. Party insiders in Chester County seem to be the most conflicted about it, simultaneously impressed with Pike’s party outreach and hesitant to cross Dinniman, the most powerful Democrat in county politics and a Trivedi supporter. There is a growing perception that Leach’s decision has given Democrats further down the ladder some political cover to go neutral, though he waves off such a notion.

“What I am trying to do is walk a middle line, allowing both sides to play fairly,” said one Chester County insider who’s thinking of going neutral.

Reading City Council President Vaughn Spencer said he was sticking with Pike—for now.

“I owe it to myself to find out with these candidates are about,” Spencer said. “I haven’t changed my mind as of now … but after I speak to everyone that might change.”

His City Council colleague Marcia Goodman-Hinnershitz seems more likely to withdraw her support from Pike.

“I need to really rethink everything,” she said. “I didn’t know that Manan was running.”

No one seems poised to switch sides or go neutral in Montgomery County—though whether that changes if Lower Merion Township Commissioner Brian Gordon enters the race remains to be seen.

“I stick to my word,” said state committee member Joanne Olszewski, who’s also a vice-chair in the county party. “If my brother or sister were to run, that might be a different story.”

Several insiders have been contacted by Roggio, who lost to Gerlach by about four points last year and has served as Trivedi’s earliest emissary in the district.

“Manan has a lot of respect for all the officialks in the district,” Trivedi’s senior political adviser Daren Berringer said. “In the course of the campaign, if someone’s endorsed Doug, that doesn’t mean Manan won’t talk to him. We want to run an inclusive campaign.”

Pike e-mails his supporters regularly to keep them apprised of what’s happening inside the campaign, but none report feeling pressured to maintain their support for him.

“The on-the-ground fundamentals of this race have not changed,” Pike’s campaign manager Andrew Eldredge-Martin said. “Doug Pike will be the Democratic nominee because he’s the clear leader in fundraising and political support, and he has the backing of 12 progressive labor organizations, who know Doug will fight for working families. Manan’s campaign has not yet demonstrated a route to victory in the primary or an ability to be financially competitive with the Republicans in the general election.”

Some Democratic insiders who will technically remain Pike supporters will prove less valuable in practice.

“I will not apply my resources to help Doug’s campaign,” one Pike endorser said. “I’m going to see what Doug can do on his own.”

And even Reading Mayor Tom McMahon, who remains on Pike’s list of supporters, has been introducing Trivedi at local events, according to people who have been in attendance. McMahon could not be reached for comment.

One factor that handicapped Trivedi early among some insiders was his relatively late entry into the race. He was unable to formally declare until he was no longer under active duty status with the Navy.

“I think he should have gotten the word out earlier on that he was running, and I understand why he couldn’t,” said Reading City Council Member Donna Reed, a Pike supporter. “But he could have done that through surrogates and been more politically savvy about it.”

For his part, Pike has shored up his own support, in part, by consistently showing up at party functions and helping in party efforts. Chester County Democratic Party Treasurer Kevin Fitzpatrick, who says he’s sticking with Pike, recalled him working the phones last month for a close Downingtown mayoral race that the Democrats won.

“I was really impressed with Doug Pike and the fact that, on Election Day, he came down and spent several hours making get-out-the-vote calls …. for a race that was still on the bubble,” Fitzpatrick said. “He gets a lot of respect from me for that.”

December 17, 2009 at 12:00 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Doug Pike, Manan Trivedi, PA-6

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