draws notional attention and Jaclyn LaPlaca With national party leaders watching closely, Republican Rep. Jon Fox and Democratic challenger Joseph Hoeffel will face off today in a hotly contested race for Montgomery County's U.S. House of Representatives seat. Political analysts have highlighted the 13th District as a key seat for either party to control the House. Libertarian Patrick Burke and the Natural Law Party's Bill Ryan are also in the race, though they lag in the polls. Negative advertising has dominated both the Fox and Hoeffel campaigns, and independent polls show 18 percent of registered voters still undecided on their preference. Hoeffel ads have portrayed Fox as overly loyal to House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), while Fox ads call Hoeffel a tax-and-spend liberal. Fox won the seat in 1994 from University alumna Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky (D). In 1992, Margolies-Mezvinsky defeated Fox by one percentage point for the district's seat. In this Republican-dominated district, voters are concerned primarily with the expense of Medicaid and Social Security, as well as balancing the federal budget. Hoeffel spokesperson Matt Pinsker said the race has been "neck and neck" but believes that Hoeffel, currently the Montgomery County commissioner, has enough momentum from recent public visibility to carry him to victory. Representatives from the Fox campaign were unavailable for comment.
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