—
In October 2008, 19 months after undergoing abdominal surgery to eradicate a rare form of cancer, Keith Rothfus ran his first marathon.
Two years later, in his first run for elected office, he came within a few percentage points of unseating a two-term congressman.
The Republican from Allegheny County is no stranger to the kinds of challenges he’ll face this year as he campaigns in a reshaped but still-Democratic 12th Congressional District that stretches from Cambria County to the Ohio border.
Asked last week about several trips he already has made to the Johnstown area, Rothfus offered a prediction: “I look forward to opening an office there in January 2013.”
In the spring campaign for the 12th, all eyes will be on the Democratic side of the ticket: Redrawn legislative maps placed U.S. Reps. Mark Critz, D-Johnstown, and Jason Altmire, D-Aliquippa, into the same district, and they’ll be fighting for their political lives in the April 24 primary.
Rothfus, on the other hand, may have a relatively quiet spring.
The 49-year-old father of six may be the only Republican to file for the 12th district when nomination petitions are due this week.
Early speculation had Republican state Rep. Mike Turzai, Pennsylvania’s House Majority leader, running in the 12th. But Turzai rejected the idea a few weeks ago.
Obviously, that doesn’t bother Rothfus.
“It’s always great to be able to avoid a primary,” he said.
That was not the case in 2010, when Rothfus – a Pittsburgh-based lawyer – decided to run in Altmire’s 4th Congressional District. A fiscal conservative who is fond of quoting Ronald Reagan, Rothfus did not like the fact that Altmire supported President Barack Obama’s economic-stimulus package.
“I thought, who is going to challenge these folks who are spending our kids’ and grandkids’ money?” Rothfus recalled.
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