As local pollster David Polk notes, this is not your father's York County.

Yes, we're still mostly Republican, according to the results of a survey the Polk-Lepson Research Group performed for The York Dispatch.

But we're not nearly as red as some people seem to think. Not anymore.

A local tea party group, the 912 Patriots, took retiring U.S. Rep. Todd Platts to task for supposedly not being "conservative enough" for the 19th Congressional District, now the 4th District.

The group's members made that claim despite the fact Platts is an incredibly popular congressman and handily defeated all comers in his re-election bids. He's not seeking re-election this year because of a self-imposed six-term limit.

Unfortunately, most of the Republican candidates hoping to succeed him appear to have bought the Patriots' message and spent the primary season racing each other to the right.

But the loudest don't necessarily speak for the majority.

When the poll results were released last week, it showed 56.5 percent of registered Republicans had yet to make up their minds by early April. And 65.3 percent of those undecideds considered themselves "liberal" Republicans.

What they seem to want, despite the Patriots' claim to the contrary, is someone like Platts. (When asked, even half of the decided voters said they'd prefer Platts over their chosen candidate.)

Manchester Township attorney Sean Summers fits that bill -- an "old-school," fiscally conservative Republican, but one who shows a willingness to buck the party in favor of his own principles.

At a time when rigid ideology has paralyzed Washington, the former Army ranger and Bronze Star recipient is the only one of the seven GOP candidates who doesn't seem to regard "compromise" as a dirty word.

In our opinion, Summers will fight for what's right for the residents of the 4th District, even if it puts him at odds with party "leaders" or special interest groups.

Summers is not unfamiliar with a tough, but just, fight. He took on a local case -- pro bono -- against the hateful Westboro Baptist Church, arguing it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Although he lost the case, he won the respect of veterans and military families across the country.

The York Dispatch generally doesn't endorse in primary elections. But if history is any indicator, the contest for the 4th Congressional District likely will be all but decided on April 24.

The last time voters in this district chose a Democrat was 1965 and Lyndon B. Johnson was in the White House.

Whoever wins the Republican primary Tuesday probably will be heading to Washington.

We suggest that person be Sean Summers.

-- The York Dispatch will endorse a Democrat in the 4th District Thursday.