Art Halvorson announced Tuesday morning he will challenge Rep. Bill Shuster in this year’s 9th Congressional District election. 

Halvorson, who is a Tea Party Republican, lost a very close primary race to Rep. Bill Shuster.  However, he received more than 1,000 write-in vote which qualified him to be placed on the ballot as a Democrat.

Halvorson also lost to Shuster in 2014, but closed the gap in this year’s race. Halvorson was able to attract more voters who are upset with the same old politics in Washington.

According to a release from Halvorson he said he will remain registered as a Republican but added, “make no mistake about it, our current struggle isn’t Democrat vs. Republican, it’s Insiders vs. We the People.”

Bill Shuster for Congress released the following statement:

“By running for Congress as a Democrat, Art Halvorson has proved that he cares about one thing and one thing only – himself. Not only is he betraying Democrats by calling their party Godless while forcing them to accept him as their nominee, but he is also betraying the will of the Republican primary voters that have twice rejected his attempt to get a job in Congress.

Whether its selfish Art Halvorson saying offensive things about Democrats or calling the Republican nominee Donald Trump childish and reprehensible two things are clear – Art Halvorson’s Arlen Specter impression is out of touch with our region and he is a soon be a three-time loser to Congressman Bill Shuster, who unlike Art, will always be fighting for the people of the 9th Congressional District.”