State Senator Rob Wonderling will face a challenge in the 24th district from Quakertown borough councilman and businessman David Wilsey, who owns the hot-air balloon outfit at Quakertown Airport and a trucking company.
GWB's performance edge in the 24th shrank from 7.2% against Gore to under 4.5% against Kerry, while Democrats continue to slowly catch up in district registration. Even so, this will clearly be an uphill battle for Wilsey.
Wilsey has withdrawn from the Senate race in order to spend enough time with his children. Will there be time to get a Democrat to run and on the ballot in May, or will a write-in campaign be necessary? The only way Rep. Bob Freeman would consider running for this district would be in a special election. It's too bad that Emmaus Mayor Winfield Iobst won't run.
I didn't say that Freeman was considering running this year. What I meant was that the only scenario under which he'd run is if Wonderling would retire for some reason without finishing a term, resulting in a special election in which Freeman would probably face Andrew Lewis, who had considered running for the GOP nomination in 2002, but bad timing with his divorce compelled him to stay out. If such a special election wouldn't coincide with an even-year November election, Freeman would have his House seat to fall back upon.
Meanwhile, Freeman is considering running against Easton Mayor Phil Mitman in 2007. If that happens, I think Freeman would win, but that would result in a special House election, where the 136th district could easily come into play.
