Seventh District

The race to succeed Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak, who is running for Senate, is still targeted for attention and cash by both national parties. Polls suggest Republican voters across the nation are more energized this year, but Sestak's position atop the ticket may help in the district, which covers most of Delaware County and parts of Chester and Montgomery Counties.

State Rep. Bryan Lentz, the Democrat, must overcome not only a national frustration with the Democrats running Washington, but also a Republican opponent who is practically a household name in Delaware County. Patrick Meehan, a former district attorney and former U.S. attorney, has no votes to defend, while Lentz, after two terms in the state House, has already had to defend tax increases.

Meehan "is an identifiable persona," said St. Joseph's University political historian Randall Miller. "So he doesn't have to depend upon the Republicans nationally."

And Lentz, Miller said, has "been in Harrisburg, which for some people is worse than being in Washington."