By ALEX ROSE - Delco Times
arose@delcotimes.com

Former Delaware County District Attorney and U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan of Upper Darby raised nearly twice as much as his toughest competitor in the last quarter of 2009, ending the year with $694,207 cash on hand in Federal Election Commission filings released this week.

According to FEC documents, Meehan garnered $579,840 for the quarter and has raised $787,989 overall in his bid as a Republican candidate for the 7th Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Joseph Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont.

State Rep. Bryan Lentz, D-161, of Swarthmore, the Democratic frontrunner for the seat, ended the year with $459,691 cash on hand, raising just $294,859 in the last quarter. His total raised to date is $515,229.

Neither candidate had spent more than $100,000 on the race as of Dec. 31 2009, when the last cycle ended. Lentz’s disbursements totaled only $55,587, while Meehan has spent $93,782. Both spent the bulk of that in the last quarter.

Notable contributors to Meehan included Philadelphia Phillies President David Montgomery and talk show host Michael Smerconish, each of whom donated $500.

Lentz had his own high-profile contributors in the form of political action committees run by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, which donated a total $9,000.

The race has also begun to draw some national attention. Sam Jewler, writing for Time Inc.’s online special packages section, listed Meehan among the top 10 Republican congressional candidates who could follow in the footsteps of Massachusetts Sen.-elect Scott Brown in the 2010 midterm elections.

Brown pulled off a surprise GOP victory in the Massachusetts special election last month, gaining what was thought by Democrats to be the “safe” seat of the late Ted Kennedy.

Jewler noted Meehan has no fiscal policy background upon which Lentz could launch an assault and could run a strong race on his prosecutorial experience. Jewler added the 7th District has only had a Democrat in the seat for the past two cycles, while it stayed decidedly Republican for the prior two decades.

“The district went for Obama by 13 percentage points in 2008, but Pennsylvania Democratic ambivalence could help Meehan,” said Jewler.