Who is Jake Towne? You may have seen his campaign signs around the Lehigh Valley asking that very question. Towne is a chemical engineer by trade who has climbed his way into the 15th District Congressional Race.

The state accepted Jake Towne's signature petition this week making him an official candidate for Congress. As long as the state's decision sticks Towne will square off against two local political powerhouses.

His campaign signs ask, what many have been wondering: Who is Jake Towne? Well, he is a Lehigh Valley resident, running for United States Congress as an Independent in Pennsylania's 15th Congressional District.

Towne says he's tired of the two party system. So as it stands right now he'll be on the ballot in November as an independent candidate squaring off against incumbent Republican Charlie Dent and Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan. Towne says he shares Tea Party values, but doesn't call himself a Tea Party candidate.

Towne says that what he does believe and what he does, share with that particular group is against big government and also to follow the Constitution.

Towne has been on the campaign trail for about a year. and has had his share of controversy. He recently grabbed headlines when Charlie Dent learned the band Poker Face, which the Anti- defamation League has criticized for making anti-Semitic comments, would be playing at a Towne event.

At the time, Dent said he would refuse to debate him.

Towne says that he looked into what these bands had said and found their remarks to be extremely offensive and they were removed from the concert.

Towne was also criticized for initially accepting an invitation to speak at a Jefferson Davis picnic. Davis was the president of the Confederacy.

Towne says they invited him to a picnic with 100 people there, so he agreed to come and speak and meet with people. He says that as soon as he found that it was being promoted as something other than just the picnic, he declined the invitation.

Towne says he has a long road ahead of him, but he plans to continue to raise funds for the fall and hit the town talking to voters. &

Towne tells us his opponents have until next Monday to challenge the signatures he submitted to the state.