Maybe it’s time to give Rep. Jim Gerlach his due.

A survivor of near-death political experiences in the last two elections, the Republican from Chester County certainly has proved he can take a punch.

His titanic battles with Democrat Lois Murphy in 2004 and 2006 were subjects of national – even international – attention. TV crews from France and Japan followed him around, and leaders of both parties in Washington directed millions of dollars into the races, which were ranked among the handful of most competitive in the country.  read more »

Chester County retired businessman Bob Roggio was overwhelmingly endorsed by members of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee tonight in the race for the Democratic nomination for the Sixth Congressional District.

The winner of the April 22 primary will face Republican Jim Gerlach in November.

Roggio, of Charlestown Township, won 59 of the 76 ballots cast, defeating attorney Robert Rovner of Bryn Mawr and Lower Merion developer Mike Leibowitz.

“I’m thrilled to have gotten the Montgomery County vote. It adds to the momentum and it shows that people believe my experience will allow me to do well in Washington,” Roggio said.

The 6th congressional district looks to get interesting.

Mike Leibowitz, a Montgomery County real estate executive, is preparing to announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 6th Congressional District, a seat currently held by Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-Montgomery County.

“I know the 6th District needs a change,” said Mr. Leibowitz, who also sought the Democratic nomination in 2006. “I believe many voters in the district have grown weary of Republican policies and have become more open to Democratic values.”  read more »

National Journal’s Hotline is speculating that the lack of opponents for Jim Gerlach, Patrick Murphy, and Joe Sestak may mean they get free rides in 2008. As they say…with the price of a campaign approaching $3 million in those districts, is there even enough time to mount an effective challenge at this point? It seems like a valid concern to me, but what do you think?

And more specifically, who are the viable candidates to challenge Gerlach, Murphy, or Sestak next year?

Ask someone at one of the parties’ congressional campaign committees why they haven’t recruited candidates yet in Pennsylvania’s 6th and 8th districts and they’ll say an announcement is coming shortly. The likely message between the lines: We’re struggling to find anyone to commit.  read more »

Rep. Jim Gerlach outspent every other Pennsylvania House Republican in his 2006 re-election effort, burning through $3.4 million in his narrow victory. That pace hasn’t slowed.

In the year since he defeated Democrat Lois Murphy, Gerlach has forked out $600,000, according to the Federal Election Commission, more than half of what he’s raised during the cycle. Only a handful of lawmakers in the country have spent more.  read more »

Philadelphia magazine editor Larry Platt says he’s considering a run for the 6th District congressional seat that Jim Gerlach has held since 2003.

‘‘I’m seriously looking at it,’‘ said Platt, 44, on Wednesday. ‘‘When you are a journalist you spend all this time wringing your hands about what other people do and at some point you say, ‘What are you doing with yourself?’‘’  read more »

Dent, R-15th, and Gerlach, R-6th, made clear in interviews with me last week that they are not willing to endorse Democratic-sponsored legislation to demand a withdrawal from Iraq. But their letter Tuesday, just a week ahead of a much-anticipated Iraq progress report from the U.S. military’s top commander in the country, seemed to indicate that they do favor a plan for withdrawal of some kind…

Dent and Gerlach have both voted against legislation demanding a withdrawal by April 2008, a timetable that Dent said Wednesday “was militarily unrealistic and would have exposed our troops to danger.” Withdrawing troops, he said, would take much longer.  read more »