Jim Gerlach

Infobox_Congressman
name = Jim Gerlach


date of birth = birth date and age|1955|02|25
place of birth = Ellwood City, Pennsylvania
state = Pennsylvania
district = 6th
term_start = January 3, 2003
preceded = Tim Holden
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Republican
spouse = Karen Gerlach
children = Katie, Jim, and Rob
religion = Non-denominational Protestant
residence= West Pikeland Township, Pennsylvania
alma_mater= Dickinson College
occupation= political assistant, attorney

James "Jim" Gerlach (born February 25 1955) is a politician from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, currently representing the state's 6th congressional district ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/pa06_109.gifmap] ) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Re-elected in November, 2006, Gerlach was one of the few Republican representatives targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee who retained his seat in Congress.

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. ["All in the Family," "Beaver County Times", 2007-11-15, p. A6.] In 1987, he returned to Chester County to work for the Lamb, Windle & McErlane law firm in West Chester, whose senior partner was 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 a local newspaper, the Daily Local News, Gerlach charged that his opponent was "out of touch" with his constituency.

Gerlach proposed expanding 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. [cite news
last = Rellahan
first = Michael
title = James Gerlach seeks office with a drive of a running back
work = Daily Local News
date = October 30, 1990 ]

During the election, Gerlach's Democratic opponents accused the Western Pennsylvania native of moving to Chester County for the sole purpose of running against Morris. Gerlach denied that accusation and said he moved 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 percent of the vote. He was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1994, with 67 percent 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.

Congressional career

Election campaigns

Gerlach was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2002 from the newly-created 6th District, sometimes called the "Pterodactyl District" because of its unusual shape. [ [http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/CandidateProfile.aspx?ci=244&oi=H PA-6 Campaign 2004] "USAToday.com", accessed October 18th, 2006] ) Although the district was drawn to be contestable for Republicans, [Larry Eichel, [http://www.fairvote.org/redistricting/reports/remanual/panews.htm#gop GOP Redistricting Gamble Looks Safe] . "Philadelphia Inquirer", October 16, 2002. Accessed October 18, 2006] he has had a somewhat difficult time holding onto it in elections. In 2002, he barely defeated Dan Wofford, son of former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, by 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent. [ [http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2002/pages/states/PA/index.html Election 2002 — State Races: Pennsylvania] , CNN.com, accessed October 18, 2005]

In 2004, Gerlach won a close re-election against Democrat Lois Murphy, by 51.0 percent to 49.0 percent.

In their rematch in 2006, Gerlach again beat Murphy by an even narrower margin of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent (unofficial results as of November 8, 2006). 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 then-unpopular 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, [ [http://dsf.chesco.org/election/lib/election/results/cumf.htm Chester County results] ] while Murphy carried the heavily Democratic Montgomery County portion of the district. [Dave Davies, [http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/15966912.htm For Gerlach, Murphy, geography was destiny] , Daily News; November 9, 2006] In all three contests, Gerlach only survived by swamping his Democratic opponents in his home Chester County, the only county to have bucked the recent Democratic trend in the Philadelphia suburbs.

In the 2008 election, he will face Democratic nominee Bob Roggio.

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 sponsored a new law mandating 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."Fact|date=February 2007

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. [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:2:./temp/~c109uUiCev:: H.R. 5313] ] This bill was never acted on by the Senate, and was re-introduced as [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?tab=main&bill=h110-1152 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 was recommended by the 9/11 Commission. [ [http://www.issues2000.org/PA/Jim_Gerlach_Homeland_Security.htm#2006-103 Jim Gerlach on Homeland Security ] ]

Gerlach voted against H. Con. Res. 63 which disapproved of The Surge, he said it was meaningless, fundamentally vague and would damage troop morale. [http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2007&rollnumber=99] saying that he opposed the resolution because it was "essentially meaningless", it was "fundamentally vague", and it would undercut troop morale. [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2007_record&page=H1811&position=all]

He was one of four Pennsylvania Republicans (the others were Todd Russell Platts, Charlie Dent, and Phil English) to vote to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the federal hate crimes bill.

Controversies

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 now disbanded political action committee ARMPAC. Following DeLay's indictment on money-laundering charges, Democrats criticized Gerlach for not returning the contributions or donating them to charity. [http://www.ourfuture.org/issues_and_campaigns/accountablecongress/delay/money9.cfm] Gerlach has stated that he would return the contributions if DeLay was convicted of the crimes for which he was indicted. [http://www.mainlinelife.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15719007&BRD=1597&PAG=461&dept_id=188818&rfi=8]

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 in America 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. [Justin Blum and Jonathan Weisman, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/07/AR2005100701811.html GOP Leaders Win on Energy Bill] , Washington Post October 8, 2005, accessed November 11, 2006]

References

External links

* [http://gerlach.house.gov/ Congressman Jim Gerlach] official U.S. House website
* [http://www.jimgerlachforcongress.com/ Jim Gerlach for Congress] official campaign website
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jim_Gerlach Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia
* [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=3177 Jim Gerlach] at OurCampaigns.com
* [http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/pre-election/bios/244.html? "Associated Press" profile] , accessed October 18, 2006