Background
Bryan Lentz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Martin and Bonnie Minehart Lentz. His father was mobilized in 1962 to help desegregate the University of Mississippi.
Bryan Lentz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Martin and Bonnie Minehart Lentz. His father was mobilized in 1962 to help desegregate the University of Mississippi.
A fourth generation army veteran, Lentz attended Valley Forge Military Academy and College and earned a degree in philosophy Georgetown University in 1986 on a full army scholarship.
He is the former Pennsylvania State Representative for the 161st legislative district (2007–2010), and he was the 2010 Democratic nominee for United States. Representative for Pennsylvania"s 7th congressional district. He is an Iraq War veteran and former prosecutor. Following graduation, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States. Army infantry and was assigned to the Second Battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Lentz served overseas in Iraq, where he commanded a Civil Affairs unit assisting with improving the infrastructure and rebuilding civil governance of Mosul, Iraq.
Lentz also served with the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai Peninsula and with North Atlantic Treaty Organization peacekeeping missions in Bosnia.
Lentz earned a law degree from Temple University School of Law in 1993. He has worked as attorney in private practice and for six years as a prosecutor in the Philadelphia District Attorney" General’ s Office.
In 2006, he planned to run for the United States House of Representatives in the Pennsylvania"s 7th congressional district against Curt Weldon. After discussions with party officials, however, Lentz decided to bow out in favor of Rear Admiral Joe Sestak.
Instead, he ran for the State House.
He defeated incumbent Tom Gannon with 51.5% of the vote. Lentz ran against Republican nominee Pat Meehan and American Congress Party nominee Jim Schneller. On November 12, 2009, Lentz announced his candidacy for Pennsylvania"s 7th congressional district.
He sought to replace Joe Sestak, the two-term Democratic incumbent who ran for the United States Senate.
Lentz ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the Democratic primary on May 18, 2010. Tea Party controversy
Lentz said he did not encourage Schneller to enter the race, and that he does not believe that assisting Schneller circulate his petitions was improper.