Jim Gerlach

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Jim Gerlach
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Tim Holden
Born	February 25, 1955 (1955-02-25) (age 53) Ellwood City, Pennsylvania
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Karen Gerlach
Children	Katie, Jim, and Rob
Religion	Non-denominational Protestant

James "Jim" Gerlach (born February 25, 1955) is a politician from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, currently representing the state's 6th congressional district (map) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Gerlach was re-elected in November, 2006; one of the few Republican representatives targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee who retained his seat in Congress.

[edit] Education and early career

Gerlach was born in the western Pennsylvania community of Ellwood City. He graduated from Dickinson College where he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and the Raven's Claw Honorary Society, with a B.A. in Political Science. He also earned his law degree from Dickinson School of Law in 1980. After graduation, Gerlach worked as a legislative aide in the Pennsylvania State Senate.

In 1986, Gerlach moved back to Ellwood City to challenge Frank LaGrotta in the race for state representative, but lost.^[1] In 1987, he returned to Chester County to work for the Lamb, Windle & McErlane law firm in West Chester, the firm belonging to then-Chester County Republican Chairman William Lamb.

In preparation for the 1990 election against long-term Democratic State Rep. Samuel Morris, Gerlach visited 8,600 homes in the 155th District of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, building his campaign around what he saw as the incumbent's inattentiveness to suburban sprawl. According to the Daily Local News, Gerlach charged that his opponent was "out of touch" with his constituency.

Gerlach proposed encouraging open-space preservation by using zoning laws to encourage developers to incorporate open space into development projects, along with the creation of environmental protection authorities.^[2]

During the election, Jim Gerlach's Democratic opponents accused the Western Pennsylvania native of moving to Chester County for the sole purpose of running against Morris. Jim denied that accusation, saying he came to Chester County because he and his wife saw it as "a great place to work and raise our kids."

Gerlach was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by 23 votes out of 17,000 cast. He won re-election in 1992 with 64% of the vote. He was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1994, with 67% of the vote, and re-elected in 1998 without opposition. While in the State Senate, he helped change the state's welfare laws.

While in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Pennsylvania Senate, Gerlach worked to sponsor legislation making it easier for the commonwealth's patchwork of townships to work together to preserve open space. Gov. Tom Ridge signed Gerlach's legislation into law in 2000.

[edit] Congressional career

[edit] Election and re-election

Gerlach was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2002, representing Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District, (6th congressional district), an unusually-shaped district (sometimes called the "Pterodactyl District"^[3]) designed for Gerlach to win.^[4] He defeated Dan Wofford, son of former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, 51.4%-48.6%.^[5] In 2004, Gerlach won a close re-election against Democrat Lois Murphy, 51.0%-49.0%. In a rematch in 2006, he again beat Lois Murphy by an even narrower margin of 50.6% to 49.4% (unofficial results as of November 8, 2006). In the 2008 elections, he will face Democrat Bob Roggio.

[edit] Political positions and actions

Gerlach is a member of two moderate political groups, The Republican Main Street Partnership, which supports embryonic stem-cell research, and Republicans for Environmental Protection. He is on the Financial Services, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees. The liberal Americans for Democratic Action rated Gerlach's 2005 voting record at 35 points out of 100; the American Conservative Union gave him 56 points.

In 2003, Gerlach succeeded in getting a law passed that specified there would be a new veterans cemetery in the Philadelphia area within four years. The nearest military cemetery to accept casket burials was located 90 miles from Philadelphia.

Gerlach has strongly supported Schuylkill Valley commuter rail. At one point he said of the Bush administration's plan to cut federal money for construction costs from 80 percent to 50 percent: "There's just not going to be enough state and local funds to do the project. It will be a dead project."^{[citation needed]}

The farmland-preservation and open-space advocacy that Gerlach became known for during his tenure as a state legislator has continued during his congressional career. On Sept. 27, 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Gerlach-sponsored bill H.R. 5313 that would make federal funds available to municipalities around the country to purchase conservation easements.^[6] This bill was never acted on by the Senate, and was re-introduced as H.R. 1152 in March 2007.

Gerlach has advocated the passage of legislation that would expand federal regulation of so-called "puppy mills," and cosponsored medical liability legislation.

Gerlach voted to make the Patriot Act permanent, and for continued intelligence gathering without civil oversight as recommended by the 9/11 Commission.^[7]

Gerlach voted against H. Con. Res. 63 (which disapproved of President Bush's decision to send 20,000 troops to Iraq) [1] saying that he opposed the resolution because it was "essentially meaningless", it was "fundamentally vague", and it would undercut troop morale. [2]

He was one of four Pennsylvania Republicans (the others being Todd Russell Platts, Charlie Dent, and Phil English) to vote to adding gays and transgenders to the federal hate crimes bill.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] DeLay's ARMPAC contributions

In his three congressional campaigns Gerlach has received a total of $30,000 in contributions from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political action committee ARMPAC, now disbanded. Following DeLay's indictment on money-laundering charges, Democrats criticized Gerlach for not returning the contributions or donating them to charity.[3] Gerlach has stated that he would return the contributions if DeLay was convicted of the crimes for which he was indicted.[4]

[edit] Refinery vote

Gerlach cast a controversial vote on HR 3893 in October 2005. HR 3893 provided $2 billion in subsidies to oil companies to build refineries and tax breaks that would cost an additional $3 billion, and weakened environmental protections. Gerlach initially voted against the bill, but the acting majority leader Blunt and DeLay held the vote open for 39 additional minutes, at which point Gerlach changed his vote from No to Yes, allowing the bill to pass.^[8]

[edit] 2006 re-election campaign

Main article: Pennsylvania 6th Congressional District election, 2006

In 2006, Gerlach was not opposed in the primary. In the general election, he again faced Lois Murphy. This race was among the most competitive in the House in 2006. (See Notable U.S. House elections, 2006 — Pennsylvania.) In a year that saw a strong tide for Democrats, especially in competitive suburban districts like Gerlach's, Gerlach survived, beating Murphy by 3,001 votes out of more than 234,613 cast (unofficial results, not including provisional and absentee ballots).

Gerlach was the only member of the "Philly Trio" of vulnerable Republican Congressmen to survive the 2006 election. He overcame a negative political climate that included the war in Iraq, an unpopular president and an extremely well-liked Democratic governor. Geography also played a factor; similar to the previous two cycles Gerlach carried: Chester County, Berks County, and Lehigh County by significant margins,^[9] while Murphy carried the heavily Democratic Montgomery County portion of the district.^[10]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Congressman Jim Gerlach official U.S. House website
• Jim Gerlach for Congress official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia

• Jim Gerlach at OurCampaigns.com
• Associated Press profile, accessed October 18, 2006