After seeing Lois Murphy pour everything she had into two attempts to knock off Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach and fall short both times, potential candidates for 2008 have so far been reluctant to dip their toes in the water. However, it looks like Democrats have at least one candidate on tap so far. From Roll Call:
Philadelphia magazine editor Larry Platt is planning a bid against Rep. Jim Gerlach (R) and an announcement is forthcoming next month, according to a Pennsylvania Democratic operative with knowledge of the race.
"He's certainly moving ahead and finishing his due diligence, but we certainly expect that he will be running," the Democrat said. [...]
Local Democrats are hopeful that Platt's connections in the wealthy Philadelphia suburbs will be the ticket to defeating Gerlach in a district that voted for Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004. Platt's office did not return requests for comment.
"Larry certainly would be the kind of candidates that we're looking for in running," said Marcel Groen, who chairs the Democratic Party of Montgomery County, part of which is in the district.
