By Kevin Flowers [2]
kevin.flowers@timesnews.com

It's on to November for Kathy Dahlkemper.

Dahlkemper, a first-time candidate for public office, handily won a four-way fight for the Democratic nomination for the 3rd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday's primary.

The 49-year-old director of the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park will square off against longtime Republican incumbent Phil English and Independent Steven Porter in November's general election.

English, of Erie, was first elected to the U.S. House in 1994 and is seeking his eighth two-year term.

According to unofficial district-wide vote totals from the Pennsylvania Department of State, Dahlkemper received 43.9 percent of the vote. Erie County Councilman Kyle Foust finished second, with 26.4 percent; Erie lawyer Tom Myers got 18.9 percent of the vote; and community-outreach worker Mike Waltner received 10.7 percent.
"Obviously this is an unbelievable night," Dahlkemper told a crowd of more than 200 cheering, whistling, fist-pumping supporters during a victory celebration at the Saga Club, 3828 Washington Ave., Tuesday night.

Foust called the cell phone of Dahlkemper's campaign manager, Tina Mengine, at 10:03 p.m. to concede the race. News of that telephone call quickly spread among the Dahlkemper faithful, spawning cheers of "KFC! KFC!" -- which stands for "Kathy for Congress."

Dahlkemper thanked her family and campaign workers, then promised to work hard to unseat English, who has faced just one serious re-election challenge during his congressional tenure.

Many local Democrats and political observers are convinced that English is in for his toughest election since he narrowly edged Democrat Ronald DiNicola in 1996.

English won 51 percent of the vote to DiNicola's 49 percent in that race.
"It's going to be tough, I admit that," Dahlkemper, in an interview, said of beating English. "But I'm going to continue to travel throughout this district to talk to people about their concerns because in the end, I want them to know I care about this constituency."

Dahlkemper said she believes that her hard campaigning throughout the 3rd District -- not just Erie County -- was key to her victory. The 3rd District includes Erie County, most of Crawford County, and parts of Armstrong, Butler, Mercer, Warren and Venango counties.

Dahlkemper, who has raised $212,223 for her campaign through April 2, according to Federal Election Commission filings, predicted she will need at least $1.5 million for the general election.

English, by contrast, has raised more than $1.1 million so far, FEC filings show.

"He's got a huge jump on me," Dahlkemper said of English. "Some of our strategy, obviously, will have to change for the fall. More media, and TV and direct mail" advertising.
Foust, 40, said Tuesday night he will support Dahlkemper in the fall, and said he had no regrets about the campaign he ran.

"You either win or lose, and there's nothing in between," Foust said. "We did the best with what we had, and I'm proud of that."

English, 51, who said Tuesday night that he has never met Dahlkemper, said his strategy for winning re-election will follow the path of prior campaigns, although he expects that Democrats will pump money into Dahlkemper's campaign and continue to attack him.

During the primary campaign -- during which all four Democrats raised over $100,000 -- each of the candidates aggressively attacked English's support of the Iraq war and accused English of being in lock step with the political philosophies of an unpopular President Bush.

"I've been an individual voice in Congress. I've delivered for the community," English said. "I'm the only candidate in this race that can point to real accomplishments in government. That's the message that will carry me into the fall."
Michael Federici, a political science professor at Mercyhurst College, said Tuesday night that although English is vulnerable -- in large part because of widespread public dissatisfaction with the Republican Party -- English will still be tough to beat in November.

Federici said English is an adept fundraiser and benefits from a long incumbency and strong name recognition, and "he can make the claim that he is the most experienced candidate," Federici said.

"Just as the Democrats feel (English) is vulnerable, Republicans know that too, so they're likely to throw support his way as well," Federici said. "They don't want to lose that seat."

Dahlkemper, though, hopes to play the spoiler come November.

"We're going to go on, we're going to win in the fall, and we're going to beat Phil English!" Dahlkemper told her cheering supporters Tuesday night.
KEVIN FLOWERS can be reached at 870-1693 or by e-mail.