Republican candidate to replace Fattah bows out

A long-shot Republican candidate to replace U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Philadelphia) dropped out his race for Congress this afternoon, blaming the local, state and national Republican parties for failing to support him.

Michael Livingston, a professor at Rutgers School of Law in Camden, announced his departure from the race in an e-mail to reporters.

"From the beginning of my candidacy, it has been clear that, as a moderate Republican in a primarily urban district, the state, local, and national parties had little interest in my success," he said in a statement. "Despite investing a substantial amount of my own time, energy, and money in the race-and despite raising a larger amount than any recent Republican in the district-I was unable to garner meaningful support from the Party and, as a result, unable to be taken seriously by the media and other opinion-makers. If the Republican Party wishes to be competitive in Pennsylvania and the Northeast, it must take more moderate positions and make a more serious commitment to its candidates and their success."

Livingston had little chance of defeating incumbent Fattah in a district where Democrats far outnumber Republicans. His frustrations are a familiar story to many other current and former Republican candidates in Philadelphia, a city where the GOP has rarely had any political traction over the last half-century.

Livingston was especially angry at the national party's congressional campaign wing.

"The NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) spent $1 million on a by-election in Louisiana but could not even provide me with a weekend of candidate training."

Fattah, now unopposed for reelection, represents the 2nd Congressional District, which includes West Philadelphia and Cheltenham Township in the suburbs.