Former Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan will decide within the next couple weeks whether she will seek the Republican nomination for a House seat in Western Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported today.

Mary Beth Buchanan (Steve Pope)

Buchanan, who served as the Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney from 2001 until November 2009, told the newspaper that she was “very encouraged” by meetings she had with local Republicans about seeking the 4th District seat just north of Pittsburgh that is held by Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), who is running for a third term.

“The common message I’ve been hearing, consistently, is that most voters feel the current administration is forcing its agenda and programs on people who don’t want them, who don’t feel like paying for them and who are not willing to leave this tax bill for future generations,” Buchanan told the Tribune-Review.

The ex-U.S. Attorney would likely challenge lawyer Keith Rothfus in the Republican primary, according to the newspaper. Congressional Quarterly rates the district as “likely Democratic” for the 2010 election.

Beaver County GOP Chairman Marty Matthews told the Tribune-Review that Buchanan would face an “uphill battle” if she runs. The former U.S. Attorney has received harsh criticism for her unsuccessful prosecution of former Allegheny County medical examiner Cyril Wecht.

Her office dismissed all charges against the prominent Democratic defendant after a federal judge threw out evidence that he ruled was improperly obtained. Wecht’s supporters accused Buchanan of targeting him because of his politics. And former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh asked Attorney General Eric Holder to discipline Buchanan for “vindictively� suggesting at a news conference that Wecht was guilty, but nothing ever came of the request -– at least publicly.

“Personal opinion, I think if there were another candidate who had the recognition that Mary Beth Buchanan has, it would be the better choice,” Matthews told the newspaper. “It’s the Wecht thing, primarily.”

We reported last week that Buchanan also came out on the losing end of an apparent political skirmish over a rescue mission for 53 Haitian orphans. She was trying to organize efforts to help Haitian children stranded in an orphanage destroyed by this month’s earthquake. But Altmire and Gov. Ed Rendell (D) planned their own rescue mission and kept the Bush U.S. Attorney mostly out of the loop.

Two other former U.S. Attorneys from Pennsylvania who served during the administration of George W. Bush have already declared their candidacies for House seats.

Tom Marino, who was the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania from 2002 to October 2007, is running for the seat held by Rep. Chris Carney (D). Patrick Meehan, who led the Eastern District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s Office from 2001 to 2008, is seeking the seat that is being vacated by Rep. Joe Sestak (D), who is running against Sen. Arlen Specter in the state’s Democratic Senate primary.

The Republican former U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh, Mary Beth Buchanan, has been thinking of running for Congress. And perhaps it’s cynical to link her ambitions to a heartwarming rescue plan she’s been trying to organize for Haitian children stranded in an orphanage destroyed by last week’s earthquake.

Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) outmanuevered his potential rival by pulling off the humanitarian mission first. (Getty Images)

Except that Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) — whose House seat Buchanan has been eyeing —  have made the connection for us.

While Buchanan was still planning her mission (and a nice photo op for a future campaign?), the governor and Altmire swooped in and rescued 53 orphans, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. The governor and the Democratic congressman accompanied a group of doctors and others on an airplane to the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince. The politicians and the orphans arrived today at Pittsburgh International Airport.

Mary Beth Buchanan (Steve Pope)

Buchanan, who served as the Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney from 2001 until November 2009, had been trying to arrange for a private plane to shuttle the Haitian orphans to the United States. She was also in contact with an immigration lawyer and found a doctor to help care for the children.

Americans Jamie McMurtie Heckman and Alison McMurtie, who lived at the orphanage and hail from Pittsburgh, told The Associated Press that the children had been living in the orphanage’s yard without any food or water after the quake struck the impoverished Caribbean nation last Tuesday.

Buchanan sounded a bit peeved in a statement to the Tribune-Review. ”I had little prior knowledge of the attempted air rescue mission that departed from Pittsburgh today, though I have since been advised that some of the resources aboard the flight were collected through the efforts of myself and others.”

She added: ”Now that it is underway I am hopeful for the best, and continue to pray for the safety of young Jamie and Ali, this group of Haitian orphans and all of the people suffering in Haiti.”

Spokespersons for Rendell and Altmire didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from Main Justice.

Patrick Meehan (doj)

Former U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan’s (R) expected bid for the seat in Pennslvania’s 7th congressional district just got a little easier.

Businessman Steven Welch, who was thought to be Meehan’s competition in the Republican primary, announced he is switching races. A blog called Pa2010.comreported that Welch instead will run for the 6th congressional district seat currently held by Rep. Jim Gerlach (R), who is running for governor. Welch yielded to pressure from Republican leaders to step aside for Meehan, who is thought be a more viable candidate, the blog said.

Tom Corbett

The 7th district seat’s current occupant, Rep. Joe Sestak (D), is challenging party-switching Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary.

Meehan, Philadelphia’s top federal prosecutor from 2001 to 2008, previously dropped plans to run for governor. But another former U.S. Attorney is now stepping into that race.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett is scheduled to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor tonight, The Associated Press reported. Corbett was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania by President George H.W. Bush in 1989. He served until 1993. Gov. Tom Ridge (R) named Corbett, a long-time advisor, to complete the term of Pennsylvania Attorney General Ernie Preate in 1995. Preate was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud in connection with illegal campaign contributions from video-poker operators.

Possible Democratic candidates include businessman Tom Knox, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and state Auditor General Jack Wagner. Current Gov. Ed Rendell (D) is term-limited and can’t run for re-election.

The Department of Justice top leadership is joining Vice President Joe Biden in Philadelphia on Tuesday to hold another big press event announcing law enforcement stimulus grants, this time in the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Last month, the venue was Michigan. Read our previous report here.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli will represent the DOJ at the Philly news conference, where they will appear alongside embattled Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey. Polls show Corzine, who is running for reelection in November, trailing his Republican challenger, former New Jersey U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.

The Associated Press’s Devlin Barrett got the scoop on where the money will go in advance of the official annoucement. Barrett led with the news that New York, Seattle, Pittsburgh and Houston had been left out of the COPS program sweepstakes, in which the federal government picks up salary and benefits for local police for three years.

But we found it equally interesting that places like Mobile, Ala., and Salt Lake City, Utah, are getting COPS funds. Mobile is the home town of the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, while another Senate Judiciary Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch, is from near Salt Lake. Both Sessions and Hatch have announced they will oppose President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

According to The AP, around 1000 localities are getting COPS money to pay for 4,699 officers.

The roughly 1,000 places getting COPS aid also include: Mobile, Ala., Mesa, Ariz., Tulare County, Calif., Monroe County, Fla., the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Baltimore, Providence, R.I., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Huntington, W.Va

Under the COPS program, the federal government pays the officers’ salary and benefits for three years, after which the local government is responsible for the costs.

Also slated to appear at Tuesday’s press conference are Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter — Democrats all. The Philadelphia police commissioner, Charles Ramsey, who is a former District of Columbia police chief, will also be there.

The $787 billion stimulus package, known as the  American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, was signed into law in February. It contained $4 billion for the Department of Justice to distribute to local and tribal law enforcement and the COPS program.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell called on the Justice Department to file federal charges against two Pennsylvania teens who fatally beat a Mexican immigrant in 2008, The Associated Press reported this afternoon

Brandon Piekarsky was acquitted of ethnic intimidation and third-degree murder by a Schuylkill County, Pa. jury earlier this month, according to The AP. The jury also acquitted Derrick Donchak of ethnic intimidation and aggravated assault, The AP said. The two were only convicted of simple assault, The AP reported.

Rendell called the death of Luis Ramirez “senseless and cowardly,” according to The AP. In a letter sent today, the Pennsylvania governor urged Attorney General Eric Holder to file civil rights charges against the white teens, The AP said.