For more than a century, no Democrat ever held the state Senate's 19th district seat in the Republican stronghold of Chester County. That is, no Democrat until longtime Chester County Commissioner Andrew Dinniman.
 
In a year that proved disastrous for Republicans both throughout the state and the nation, Dinniman in 2006 scored one of the biggest upsets in recent memory, trouncing favored Republican Carol Eichele by 13 points in a special election. It was a watershed moment for a county that, like others in the Philadelphia suburbs, has gradually been leaning more Democratic in the last decade. Political watchers on both sides of the aisle were shocked by the margin of victory, as Dinniman attracted bipartisan support from voters that knew him well.
 
"It is hard to analyze because it is unprecedented," Valentino DiGiorgio told The Inquirer at the time.
 
Two years later, as Dinniman prepares to defend his seat, his challenger, lawyer and former Navy Reserve Admiral Steve Kantrowitz, is determined to take back what some Republicans believe is their rightful office.
 
"I still think of this seat as the Bob Thompson seat," Kantrowitz told PolitickerPA.com, referring to the late GOP senator, whose death that year prompted the special election to complete his term. Thompson's widow Nancy is Kantrowitz's honorary campaign chair.
 
"People in this district still want that," he added. "They want that kind of leadership and integrity ... someone who will advocate for them and who is a driver for getting the commonwealth of Pennsylvania on the right track."
 
But recapturing the seat from the Democrats may prove even harder than it was to wrestle it away from a GOP that had held it since the late 1800s.
 
Dinniman's name recognition as a longtime Chester County elected official far exceeds that of the political newcomer Kantrowitz. The district, which includes part of Montgomery County, continues its leftward tilt, especially in Chester County. And the Kantrowitz campaign ended May shouldering modest debt, while Dinniman's campaign had over $340,000 in the bank.
 
"If the local Republican Party saw me as vulnerable, they would have put up a member of their A-Team and they would be making sure that the candidate who they put up has significant amount of money," Dinniman said.
 
"No one knows Steve," he added. "That's his biggest problem. No one knows who he is."
 
Kantrowitz acknowledged his newcomer status, but said he hoped to turn it to his advantage.
 
"I think people are interested in having a citizen legislator, someone who's not a career politician, someone who wants to go to the legislature to do the right thing for himself, his family and other families," he said.
 
As for the fundraising gap that will be difficult to close, "that has not been my focus," Kantrowitz said. "My focus at the beginning has been going out and meeting people," he said, adding that while he intended to work hard to close the gap, "it's not my first priority."
 
And he brushed off Dinniman's "A-Team" comment. "I guess I should feel I've been insulted but I don't," Kantrowitz said. "I've always been a member of the A-team. I retired from the Navy. I'm a successful businessman. I don't think you need to have been in politics your entire life to be on the A-team."
 
Chris Borick, a pollster and political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, said that with the district long being a Republican stronghold, the time was ripe to unseat a young incumbent.
 
"It's clearly a seat that's still very competitive given the partisan splits in that district," he said. "This should be a place where republicans, given their long history and given the overall partisan mix ... should still be in a place where they can field competitive candidates. And the best time to knock off an incumbent is their very first reelection try.
 
"If I'm a Republican, I still have optimism," he added. "If you look at the map across the state and you're looking for pickups, this has to be one where you have a realistic chance to take a seat."
 
Jen Holman, executive director of the state Senate Republican Campaign Committee, said the district could still be retaken by the GOP.

"I still think that's a district that wants to vote Republican if given a good candidate, and Kantrowitz is a good match down there," she said.

Dinniman, for his part, seems relaxed as he fights for his first full term in Harrisburg.
 
"I feel like I'm getting tremendous support across the board," he said.