State Rep. Michael Diven, of Brookline, has been a member of the Democratic Party for all of his voting life.

	Michael Diven

But that's going to change. During a spaghetti dinner at Resurrection Church in Brookline last night, Diven told about 200 constituents and supporters that because of his growing dissatisfaction with the state House Democratic leadership, he's changing his party registration to Republican.

That's not all he's up to. He hasn't made a public announcement, but he's all but certain to disclose plans soon to run as a Republican candidate for the 42nd District state Senate seat. It's the seat just vacated by Jack Wagner, of Beechview, who is now the state auditor general.

"I decided to change to the Republican Party because I will be better positioned to serve my constituents," Diven said in a phone interview.

Republicans control both the state House and Senate. With Diven's switch, there will be 110 Republicans in the House and 92 Democrats, with one vacant seat from Eastern Pennsylvania to be filled next month.

Allegheny County Republican officials are expected to meet within two or three weeks to pick their candidate for the May 17 election to fill the seat of Wagner, who is a Democrat. Some GOP leaders in Harrisburg like the idea of Diven's candidacy, saying Diven has a well-known name in a district where Democrats hold a majority.

Allegheny County Democrats also will soon choose a candidate to run in the special election, which will be held at the same time as the May 17 primary election. County Treasurer John Weinstein and County Council member Wayne Fontana are potential Democratic candidates.

Diven's switch to the GOP isn't a big surprise to legislators and other state officials. He's clashed for some time with state House Democratic leaders. They supported a challenger to Diven in the April 2004 primary, when Diven was seeking re-election to the House seat, but he won.

"The Democratic Party spent thousands of dollars against me," Diven said. "They squandered resources in a primary fight against me, a Democratic incumbent, instead of saving that money for the general election battles."

Diven said that the Democrat leadership yesterday cut the phone lines to his Brookline office and fired his staff who work there.

He said he had been unable to get Democratic leaders interested in issues he wants to pursue, including making health care benefits less expensive for school districts.

When he tried to get legislation approved merely to study the health-care idea, Democratic House leaders "moved to table the bill," he said. "I have not had much success in getting them to push my issues."

Diven is the son of legendary Pittsburgh figure Joey Diven, of Oakland, whom Sports Illustrated once called "the world's toughest street fighter."

Michael Diven once had a job as a driver for former Allegheny County Commissioner Tom Foerster, one of the most powerful Democrats in the county. Diven, as a Duquesne University senior in 1993, ran but lost a race for City Council, and he narrowly lost a race for the state House in 1996.

He ran against the Democratic Party organization in that race, when former Rep. Frank Gigliotti, D-Brookline, was re-elected. In 1997, Diven was elected to City Council, and in 2000, he took over Gigliotti's seat in the House after Gigliotti went to prison.