New Pennsylvania Congressional map means U.S. Rep. Fred Keller faces a competitive GOP primary

In the new 9th District, it appears Keller will face Republican incumbent Dan Meuser in the primary.

• Anne Danahy
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Anne Danahy has been a reporter at WPSU since fall 2017. She was a reporter for nearly 12 years at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania, where she earned a number of awards for her coverage of issues including the impact of natural gas development on communities.
  
  She earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and a master's in media studies from Penn State.
  
  She worked as a writer at Penn State, including with the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. She’s a volunteer host at C-NET, Centre County's government-education access station.

 Ed Mahon / PA Post

Republican congressional candidate Fred Keller speaks with Ben Taylor of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on May 2, 2019. The chamber endorsed Keller during an event at Allison Crane & Rigging, outside Williamsport.

(State College) — Pennsylvania’s new Congressional map puts Republican congressmen Glenn “G.T.” Thompson and Fred Keller in the same north central district, but Keller announced Wednesday that rather than running there, he will run in a neighboring district where he’ll likely face another Republican incumbent in the primary.

Thompson will run for reelection in the new 15th district, which covers all or parts of 18 counties. That includes all of Centre County, where Thompson lives, and Snyder County, where Keller lives. But Keller does not plan to run there.

Keller’s old district had neighbored Thompson’s, but it was largely broken up in the map the Pennsylvania Supreme Court picked Wednesday for the state’s Congressional districts.

Instead, Keller is running in the neighboring 9th district. He could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. His announcement notes the new 9th district includes Northumberland County, and says that’s where he was raised and ran a small business and goes to church. Members of the U.S. House must live in the state they represent, not necessarily the district.

In the 9th, it appears Keller will face Republican incumbent Dan Meuser in the primary.

The new 9th district stretches from Potter and Susquehanna counties on the New York border down to Lebanon County in the southeast.

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