Thanks to PAprogressive, who has been talking about this for a while now.

Rep. Jim Gerlach, a Republican who barely defeated his opponent in the November election, has agreed to pay a $120,000 fine to the Federal Election Commission.

Gerlach over-reported more than $2 million in contributions in 2004 and 2005, and misreported about $8,900 in refunded contributions in another report, the FEC said Wednesday. His campaign also failed to itemize contributor information in its 2004 year-end report, the agency said.

The congressman released a statement Wednesday saying the fine “is the direct result of clerical errors that were reported in the media over 17 months ago.”

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed congressional records from U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon of Delaware County as part of an escalating Justice Department corruption probe aimed at determining whether Weldon used his influence to win favors for family members, people familiar with the investigation said.

The previously unreported subpoena was issued by a grand jury in Washington before the November election, although it is unclear when Weldon received it.

Weldon, R-7th District, was at the time in a tight race to retain his Delaware County seat, which he subsequently lost to Democrat Joe Sestak, a retired Navy vice admiral.

House rules require members of Congress to promptly report the receipt of subpoenas to the leadership when Congress is in session.

A search of the record Thursday did not turn up evidence that Weldon had disclosed the subpoena.

Could you imagine the results of that election if Weldon had actually followed the rules and released that information?

Wearing an orange sweater in a sea of gray and blue suits, Rep. Jim Gerlach stood out earlier this month as the Republican Party gathered here to choose its leadership for the 110th Congress.

It was Gerlach, after all, who symbolized one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal election cycle for the GOP.

He was tagged by political observers as one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents in the country, let alone in Pennsylvania. But his victory over Democratic challenger Lois Murphy on Nov. 7

It's the Sunday after the Sunday after the election, but I've got to set aside time and space for the Sleazies.

These are my coveted awards that go to the candidates and campaigns that engaged in the lowest, dirtiest tactics of the election season.

The prize is depicted below. It is a lovely statuette of a forked-tongued snake, rising up from a swamp.

Remember the ground rules: Mere negative ads won't win one. To win a Sleazy, you must truly stoop to conquer - employ gross distortions and outright lies, get in the mud, and wallow, baby, wallow.

Sleazy-wise, this was a tough year because there were so many candidates. Weren't you just sick of the mailings, the ads, the robocalls by the time Election Day arrived?

The Sleazies after the jump. Tell us about the sleaziest ad/mailing or tactic
you saw in Pennsylvania this year in the comments.  read more »

Tuesday wasn't about the ascendancy of Democrats in the Philadelphia suburbs, said Edgar, "It was about moving the middle back to the middle."

Anger over the war in Iraq and the Bush administration temporarily neutralized the power of incumbency and allowed Democrats to expand their beachhead in the burbs. But it didn't sweep moderate Republicans from power.

U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.) claimed a narrow victory in the Sixth Congressional District over Lois Murphy, who had also came close in 2004. Republicans blanketed that district, which covers parts of Chester, Montgomery, Berks and Lehigh Counties, with ads hammering "Liberal Lois."

The voters in the SE are moderates. When one party goes too far in one direction, most of these folks will get pretty upset about it and start votin' em out.

Looking like a well-scrubbed Eagle Scout in a crisp dark suit, a local television camera filming his movements, Western Pennsylvania's newest congressman seemed fresh and ready for his first day at the Capitol.

Looks can be deceiving though. Jason Altmire was going on two hours of sleep, and his hoarse voice, sniffly nose, cough and red eyes gave away the strain of a tough campaign to topple a formidable incumbent, three-term U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart.

Mr. Altmire won't be entering Congress for two months, and foremost in his thoughts is a five-day vacation beginning Friday with his wife and two young daughters.

"Over the last week or so, my body was starting to break down. I started to get sick. Over the weekend I completely lost my voice," he said in his Springdale campaign headquarters between making thank-you phone calls yesterday. "It catches up on you. You get to the end, and you're just working so hard, and you're not sleeping, and you're not eating right, and you're wound up and you're stressed.

I remember the one campaign I did field coordination and I actually caught broncitis (spelling) b/c I wasn't resting. Rest well Congressman Altmire! You've earned it.

Democrat Jason Altmire defeated three-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart on Tuesday, helping his party take control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994.

Altmire, 38, a political newcomer and former lobbyist from McCandless, followed the national Democratic strategy of linking his Republican opponent to President Bush. A health care executive, Altmire also linked Hart -- the first Republican woman elected to Congress from Pennsylvania -- with embattled Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, who lost last night.

With 98 percent of the precincts reporting, Altmire led with 52 percent of the vote to Hart's 48 percent, The Associated Press reported.

This was a stunner to me. When PD pointed out that the Beaver County numbers were still to come in, it was clear that the upset was underway.

VOTERS ARE BY now accustomed to automated political-campaign calls, but many were stunned by one that hit households in Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia over the weekend.

The recorded voice was that of a distraught, tearful woman.

"I had an abortion performed on me," the woman said in a shaky voice, adding that she wanted to tell "the truth about Allyson Schwartz."

The call was paid for by Republican congressional candidate Raj Peter Bhakta, who is running against U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz.

Last minute desperation from a candidate that never really had a chance.