Houghton wins Lancaster County nod for Dem. nomination for Congress

(Harrisburg) — Republican Congressman Joe Pitts now has an opponent for the general election in November, butthere are questions about how formidable his challenger will be.

Democrat Tom Houghton captured about 56 percent of the vote in the 16th congressional district, which covers most of Lancaster County, southern Chester County, and a sliver of Berks County.

Houghton, a Chester County attorney, says he’s not daunted by taking on the incumbent in November.

“I know how to win in really red districts, having been the first Democrat to win election to my town election Board of Supervisors in Limerick Grove township. I was the first to run in 41 years back in 2001 and I won in two landslides.”

Houghton acknowledges he won’t raise as much money as the conservative Congressman Pitts.

“We just have to have an effective strategy to raise as much funds as possible from here on out. We’re not going to outraise Representative Pitts, we don’t expect to outraise an incumbent. But we can still raise enough funds to get our message out.

The latest financial reports show Houghton finished the most recent period with about $9,000 on hand.

Pitts has more than $427,000.

In the other major congressional race in the 9th district, Congressman Bill Shuster secured victory over challenges from conservatives Art Halvorson and Travis Schooley. Shuster was not made available for comment.

That district includes Bedford, Blair, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, and Indiana counties, plus parts of Cambria, Greene, Huntingdon, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland.