Tag Archives: Rep. Jim Gerlach

House: The New Outlook

Since Dec. 17, seven US House members in rapid-fire succession – three Republicans and four Democrats – announced their retirements or resigned from Congress in order to accept an Obama administration appointment. The cumulative effect of the moves changes the projections for Election 2014.

Right now, the House stands at 232 Republicans and 201 Democrats with two vacancies – one from each party. The newest mid-term resignation, from Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC-12) who is leaving his safely Democratic congressional seat for purposes of accepting an appointment to join President Obama’s administration as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will remain unoccupied until the November general election. The previous vacancy, that of the late Rep. Bill Young (R-FL-13), will be filled in a March 11 special election. The Florida seat appears headed toward consensus Democratic candidate Alex Sink, the former state chief financial officer and defeated 2010 gubernatorial  Continue reading >

Rep. Gerlach (R-PA-6) to Retire

PA-6

Six-term Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA-6), who took five election campaigns to even break 52 percent of the vote, announced today that he will not seek a seventh term from his Philadelphia suburban congressional district.

Aside from spending what will be 12 years in the US House at the end of the current Congress, Gerlach also served a dozen years in the Pennsylvania legislature. He is tenth in Republican seniority on the Ways & Means Committee, serving on the Health and Select Revenue Measures subcommittees.

As Gerlach’s 53 percent career average win  Continue reading >