James R. Matthews is Democrat turned Republican
By PATRICK CROWLEY
12/20/2005

A Philadelphia-area mortgage broker is running for lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania.

James R. Matthews, the founder and president of Keegan Mortgage Corp. in Oreland, Penn., and a county commissioner in Montgomery County, is the first Republican candidate to enter the statewide race.

Matthews is the brother of Chris Matthews, host of Hardball, a political talk show broadcast on MSNBC cable. He could not be reached to comment, but his candidacy was confirmed to MortgageDaily.com by Kenneth Davis, chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party.

Davis said Matthews' candidacy will be helped by his business background and from the fact that he hails from the third largest county in the state in a populous region of Pennsylvania.

"As a mortgage broker, Jim understands business and why home ownership contributes to the economic stability of Pennsylvania," Davis said in an e-mail to MortgageDaily.com. "He has been active in his community and in politics for a long time, so he enters this campaign with tremendous experience.

"As a speaker and campaigner, he is top-notch. And coming from the southeast part of the state, with a large portion of voters, he will be a valuable asset to any gubernatorial campaign," Davis said.

Matthews formally announced his candidacy on Dec. 7.

"As a lifelong resident of Pennsylvania, I am concerned deeply about the direction of our state," he said in the announcement. "Once a symbol for prosperity and promise, the Commonwealth, which gave birth to the 'American Dream,' has grown to become synonymous with unfulfilled expectations and lost opportunities. I am running for Lt. Governor to help Pennsylvania meet its potential and help its citizens once again attain that dream."

In Pennsylvania, lieutenant governor candidates compete in a primary. The winner is then paired with the party's nominee for governor.

Other Republicans have also indicted they may run for office as they GOP gears up to defeat incumbent Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat who plans to seek a second term next year.

Matthews is serving his second term on the county board of commissioners, where he serves as chairman. A former Democrat, Matthews became a Republican in 1973.

According to his biography posted on the Montgomery County GOP's Web site, Matthews mortgage firm "directly originates approximately $60 million per year in VA-guaranteed, FHA-insured and conventional residential mortgages for the southeastern Pennsylvania housing market."

A U.S. Navy veteran, Matthews has worked "mortgage loan servicing" and served a stint as "lending chief at the Veterans Administration Regional Office in Philadelphia," according to the biography.

"He supervised approximately $400 million in loan approvals, and oversaw all servicing and foreclosure claim actions in the region," it says.

Matthews opened his own mortgage firm in 1990. He has been married for 34 years and is the father of four sons. He is active with the Boy Scouts, Little League baseball, the Knights of Columbus and the Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.

In his candidacy announcement, Matthews cited over-regulation and heavy employer taxation as the primary culprits contributing to the state's worsening economic outlook. "By lowering taxes and cutting burdensome regulations on employers, both large and small, we can attract better paying jobs and today's cutting-edge enterprises."

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