PA-6

Three House Republicans from Pennsylvania who had voted against the original $700-billion bailout bill on Monday changed course Friday to support an amended bailout package that had already passed the Senate.

House Republicans were largely blamed for the original legislation's demise, and some lawmakers may have been bending to changing public opinion after stock markets plummeted following Monday's vote.

U.S. Reps. Bill Shuster (R-Frankstown), Jim Gerlach (R-West Pikeland) and Charlie Dent (R-Allentown) all voted for the bill Friday after opposing it Monday.

None of the three is facing a particularly competitive reelection challenge-at least compared to other vulnerable incumbents. Shuster faces Tony Barr in the 9th Congressional District, Gerlach is running against Bob Roggio in the 6th Congressional District and Dent is being challenged by Sam Bennett in the 15th Congressional District.

No Democrats changed their vote.

Former New York Mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is in Pennsylvania today to campaign for Republican incumbents in Congress.

Giuliani will join U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-West Pikeland) in a visit to software developer Analytical Graphics Inc. in Exton, Chester County. Gerlach is running against Democrat Bob Roggio in the 6th Congressional District.

He will also rally for U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Allentown) in Bethlehem. Dent is running against Democrat Sam Bennett in the 15th Congressional District.

Democratic congressional candidate Bob Roggio on Tuesday assailed opponent U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-West Pikeland) for voting against Monday's $700 billion financial bailout, saying the congressman lacked the "courage" to vote for an unpopular but necessary bill.

"It's very easy to say to people, 'I'm not going to spend your money," Roggio told reporters on a conference call. "But a congressman has to have the courage to say to people" what needs to be done.

The criticism twists Monday's prevailing logic that lawmakers fighting for re-election needed to oppose the bailout to give themselves political cover for a widely unpopular bill. Roggio seized on Gerlach's "political posturing" to argue his inaction, symptomatic of a broken political system, destabilized the markets and led to a nearly 800-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Gerlach's campaign shot back that Roggio's criticism stems from pure political opportunism made necessary by a staggering campaign in the 6th Congressional District.

While campaign staff will continue to lay the groundwork for his reelection bid, a spokesman says U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-West Pikeland) will stay in Washington to address the financial crisis.

"Congressman Gerlach is already in Washington as Congress is in session, and has an important role to play as a member of the House Financial Services Committee," campaiogn spokesman Mark Campbell said.

"Jim always concentrates on the people's business, even to the detriment of his own political campaigns," Campbell added. "That's the way it’s always been, and the way it will continue to be. As Jim works to solve this problem, and get it done right, he will remain in Washington while the campaign staff continues to do their jobs back in Pennsylvania."

As Bob Roggio tries to raise the money needed to make his race against U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-West Pikeland) competitive, he's getting help from some prominent state Democrats.

Former U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford will headline a fundraiser for Roggio in Center City this evening, the Roggio campaign said. That follows a fundraiser with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) last week.

Roggio is trying to unseat Gerlach in the 6th Congressional District. 

The race between U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-West Pikeland) and Bob Roggio has turned nasty, with each campaign trying to paint the other as ethically suspect. Accusations have been leveled about both sides' finances, but no knockout blows have been landed.

In the process, a race that was supposed to be an afterthought during an election cycle filled with far more competitive Congressional battles has instead become one of the most heated campaigns in the state.

It started last month with the Gerlach campaign lodging a formal ethics complaint accusing Roggio of filing an incomplete and misleading federal financial disclosure form. That led the Roggio campaign to admit a minor error and amend the disclosure form to include income the candidate earned working for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey's 2006 campaign.

Things grew far more contentious when both the Gerlach campaign and the National Republican Congressional Committee started accusing the Democrat of having a "sweetheart deal" on his campaign office space in Malvern. In claiming that Roggio was paying below-market rent on the office space, the Gerlach campaign said it amounted to an illegal campaign contribution from the building owner, who is distantly connected to a neighbor and campaign contributor of Roggio's.

"There's been a deal cut," Gerlach political director Mark Campbell insisted in an interview last week. "There's a sweetheart scam going on here, and the fact is the Roggio campaign can't explain it. They can put up whatever smoke screen they like."

There is, however, no evidence to support the Gerlach campaign's assertion. Campbell had cited a brochure for the office complex advertising a rate of $22 per square foot, significantly more than the Roggio campaign has been paying. But Mitchell Reading, a broker for the building, said that rate was for "much higher-end" space on the third floor, as opposed to the first-floor offices occupied by the Roggio campaign, which he said goes for closer to the approximately $14 per square foot being paid by the campaign.

"It's definitely not a below-market rate," Reading told PolitickerPA.com.

Roggio campaign manager Liz Conroy has consistently accused the Gerlach campaign of playing "dirty politics."

Democratic presidential candidate has endorsed underdog candidate Bob Roggio in his race for the 6th Congressional District seat, the Roggio campaign announced.

Roggio, a political newcomer, faces the well-funded U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-West Pikeland).

“I enthusiastically endorse Bob Roggio for Congress,” Obama, the U.S. senator from Illinois said in a statement released by the Roggio campaign. “We need leaders like Bob who are committed to challenging the status quo and bringing a new voice of change to Washington. I am proud to support his candidacy.”

Publicly Congressman Jim Gerlach would deny ever even thinking about the future while engaged in an election to retain his PA-6 seat, but Inside Edge has talked  to more than one prominent Republican who admits Gerlach would like to take the next step up.

Gerlach, who by the nature of his district, will probably never have an easy reelection.  Running for Congress every two years in such a competitive district is a full time job in itself.  Gerlach may get a couple months off after a successful reelection, but then it's right back to fundraising for the Republican. Gerlach has had enough and would like to make a run for higher office.  But is Gerlach stuck?

There are two state-wide offices that Gerlach could look at, the first being U.S. Senate.  Republican insiders love the idea of Gerlach of running for state-wide office as they believe he could attract enough voters to make him a successful candidate.   His biggest roadblock though is Arlen Specter.  Specter has made no bones about it, he is running for reelection. 

Gerlach has floated his name as a potential gubernatorial candidate too.  But again Gerlach runs into a roadblock.  The likely candidates for the Republicans are Tom Corbett and Pat Meehan.  Corbett will likely have the support of the western Republicans and Meehan will have the backing of the Southeast Republican machine.  Gerlach, being from Montgomery County would need the support of the Southeast infrastructure and money to have a successful run and that support is already pledged to Meehan.  Southeast Republicans are making it known they will be united and they will be behind one candidate.  Meehan is that candidate so Gerlach would have a very hard time finding a winning game plan without that support.

So while Gerlach would love to make 2010 the year he moves up, he may have to wait until 2012 when the seat currently held by Bob Casey comes up.

Congressional candidate Bob Roggio: Campaign PhotoHoping to gain traction in his uphill race against U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-West Pikeland), Democrat Bob Roggio is embarking on a 50-town tour in the 6th Congressional District, one that will run from now until Election Day.

The tour kicked off this weekend in Norristown, and will include everything from door-to-door canvassing to impromptu meetings with voters at coffee shops, campaign manager Liz Conroy said. The tour continued today in Narberth, and will take Roggio everywhere from Lower Merion to Reading in the coming weeks.

The ambitious effort to visit a majority of townships in the district reflects the campaign reality that voters in the district know little, if anything, about Roggio, a political newcomer. With Gerlach well-funded and having survived two close races in the last two election cycles, many analysts see the incumbent as finally having a safe seat.

"The goal of this is really for Bob to get out and talk to people across the district about the issues that are on their mind," Conroy said.

With six U.S. House races in play this fall, Pennsylvania has the largest number of competitive congressional races than any other state in the country, a new Politicker.com report shows.

The Pindell Report, which launched today, aims to provide the country's most dynamic and richly reported ranking and analysis of U.S. Senate, U.S. House and gubernatorial races, plus presidential swing states.

The report, named for Politicker.com Managing Editor James Pindell, shows that of the 435 U.S. House races nationwide six -- the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 11th district races -- are among the top 59 the report is tracking. Two of those races, the 11th and 10th, rank in the top 20 of races.