Pennsylvania Democrat John Callahan, the mayor of Bethlehem, has made it official: he’s waging a 2010 campaign against three-term Republican Rep. Charlie Dent in the state’s 15th District in the Lehigh Valley.

John Callahan

Callahan released a statement Monday morning that he was running for Congress because “because while the challenges our country is facing have never been larger, the lack of leadership from our Congressman has also never been greater.”

Callahan’s entry was widely expected. He’s been talking for months with Democratic members about making the race, and the Morning Call newspaper in Allentown last week cited sources that said the mayor would make a run.