GOP candidate Rothfus sets sights on Altmire

May 20, 2010
By Jeremy Boren
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

It took almost all the money Keith Rothfus raised in the Republican primary to go from unknown to underdog.

Now the Edgeworth attorney, cancer survivor and father of six faces a well-prepared U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire in a general election that will test his ability to distinguish his conservative beliefs from those of his opponent, a Democrat who is anti-abortion, once won a National Rifle Association endorsement and voted against President Obama's health care reform bill.

"He is still really an enabler for the Democratic Party," Rothfus, 48, said Wednesday, a day after defeating former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan by a 2-to-1 margin in the 4th Congressional District primary. "The health care bill still passed, and he voted for the ($787) billion stimulus package. He can't back away from that."

Altmire, 42, of McCandless declined to comment.

Rothfus said he tried to portray himself during the campaign as a family man and "the guy next door" who wants to ratchet down government spending and regulation of energy use, businesses and health care.

That worked in the primary, but more money and a different strategy will be required to win in November, said Keith Schmidt, a Pittsburgh-based political consultant.

"The only thing that resonates with people right now is the health care debate, and Altmire voted the right way," Schmidt said. "It's going to take a lot of money to invent a new issue."

In Rothfus' favor is the anti-incumbent mood among voters and the fact that he turned out to be a better fundraiser than the better-known Buchanan.

If the economy significantly improves or Obama regains popularity by November, it could make defeating Altmire difficult, Schmidt said.

Rothfus said he will focus on Altmire's role in creating "wasteful" government spending and debt. Altmire is in his second term in the suburban district.

Democrats hold a clear advantage in the 4th, which has about 229,630 registered Democrats and 175,500 registered Republicans. Even so, Obama lost the district by 11 percentage points in 2008 to Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.

That shows it's a swing district and should convince Altmire that he must campaign hard to keep his job, Schmidt said.

Rothfus raised more than $277,000 during his campaign as of April 30, records show. That includes $125,000 of his money.

Battling low name recognition in a district that runs from Mercer County past Murrysville with radio and TV ads was expensive.

"We needed to spend most of it to get our message out," Rothfus said.

In January, Altmire's campaign announced he had almost $1 million on hand and was ahead of the fundraising pace he set in 2008, when he raised $3 million to defend his seat against his predecessor, Melissa Hart, whom he defeated in 2006. The Federal Elections Commission says Altmire raised $1.6 million and had about $1.2 million in cash on hand as of April 28.

Rothfus, who once worked as a lawyer in President George W. Bush's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, won in each of the six Western Pennsylvania counties the district touches. He outpaced Buchanan 2-to-1 in populous Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties.

His narrowest victory was in the district's southern portion of Mercer County, where 420 votes were cast. He won there by 5 percentage points.

Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or 412-320-7935.