Hank Clarke has an interesting post today at The Clarke Report about the future of the 29th state Senate District in Pennsylvania.

Longtime state Sen. James Rhoades was expected to win re-election on Nov. 4, but Rhoades died over the weekend in a car crash.

His name is on the ballot and if Rhoades wins, a special election will be held early next year to fill the seat. The candidates for the special election will be determined by a nominating process involving all the counties that make up the 29th District -- Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Schuylkill.

There is a chance that Schuylkill County may not get to pick the candidate unless John McCain wins the county by a large margin, Clarke says.

From Clarke's post:

So, this means that even though Schuylkill County has the largest area geographically in the district and holds 60% of the district’s voters, we are NOT guaranteed a majority of the delegates. Without a big showing for John MCCain on Nov. 4th, another county like Carbon or Monroe that have well organized get out the vote efforts could sneak in and steal enough delegates to nominate an non-Schuylkill County politician.

The bottom line is: If you want to keep the 29th District Senate seat in Schuylkill County hands and maintain the influence that comes with having a senator live here, Skooks need to get to the polls on Election Day and punch their ballot for John McCain.

The best way to ensure a good showing for McCain here is to volunteer your time NOW and on Nov. 4th. McCain headquarters needs people to make phone calls on behalf of Sen. McCain to family members and friends. The national campaign needs people to canvass neighborhoods handing out fliers. The local party needs people to monitor the polls and hand out schwag to voters on Election Day. We would appreciate ANY time you can give to help us get out the vote for Sen. McCain.

Click here to read the full post.