The Green Party candidate for Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District is looking for some political leverage from the Democratic Party.

Two representatives from the Green Party read a letter from Bill Belitskus, the Green Party candidate in the race, to Penn State College Democrats last night.

Belitskus is running against Libertarian candidate Thomas Martin and Republican U.S. Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa. Peterson is the incumbent in the race and does not face a democratic challenger.

The lack of a democratic opponent in the race is giving the Green Party an opportunity to look toward democrats in endorsing Belitskus.

Jim Frazee, the Democratic Coordinator for Central Pennsylvania said there are a few reasons for the lack of a candidate in the Democratic Party.

"Some of the most conservative areas in the country are in Pennsylvania," Frazee said, referring to the difficulty a democrat would have of winning this district's congressional race

Frazee also said finances play a huge role in whether a democrat becomes a challenger. Frazee said incumbents, such as Peterson, can raise a tremendous amount of money, providing themselves with a stronger voting base.

Jeff Wetzel (senior-political science), and College Democrats President, said finances are crucial to a successful campaign. "Money has to go to candidates that have a chance of winning," Wetzel said.

Frazee also said in this part of Pennsylvania, where democrats are facing a 2-to-1 ratio in republicans versus democrats who are registered voters, democrats may find themselves up against fierce odds.

"They'll be going in, knowing it'll be uphill from the beginning," Frazee said.

Hoping to gain democratic votes because of the absence of a democratic candidate, Brian Hoskins (junior-political science), the campaign manager in Centre County for Belitskus and Will Donovan (senior-letters, arts, and sciences), a representative for Belitskus said they are hoping for democratic support in this particular race. Donovan said whether the democrats publicly announce their endorsement is another issue.

Bob Shepard, the local representative of the coordinated campaign of the Democratic Party said there is no public or official endorsement of Belitskus by democrats.

Alison Altman (senior-political science), and Vice President of College Democrats, said that in general "democrats do support him (Belitskus) because he better fits our ideals."

The 5th Congressional District in Pennsylvania is the second largest district east of the Mississippi River and includes all or parts of 17 different counties.