A top recruit for House Democrats, Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, will attend President Barack Obama’s official event this Friday in the Lehigh Valley. Obama is visiting the Allentown, Pa., area as the first stop of his “White House to Main Street” listening tour on jobs and the economy.

“It is our understanding that we will be involved in an official capacity in the event,” confirmed Callahan campaign manager Justin Schall.

Democrats unsuccessfully wooed Callahan for several cycles to run against Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), who has easily won re-election against little-known challengers in recent cycles, even though Democrats on the national ticket won the district in 2004 and 2008. The Mayor of nearby Bethlehem decided to finally throw his hat in the ring this summer for the 2010 cycle, after receiving calls from Vice President Joe Biden urging him to get into the race.

Schall also insisted that Callahan’s likely official appearance with Obama was not part of the deal to get the mayor into the race against Dent.

“As a matter a fact, we were very pleasantly surprised when this announcement was made,” he said, referring to Obama’s trip to the Allentown area.

A spokeswoman for the White House, Jennifer Psaki, confirmed in an e-mail that the President will not be doing any fundraising events for Callahan on his official trip to the region.