Pennsylvania: Sixth District

Rep. Jim Gerlach (R)

Jim Gerlach (R) Elected 2002, 3d term up
Born:	02-25-1955, Ellwood City
Home:	Upper Uwchlan Township
Education:	Dickinson Col., B.A. 1977, J.D. 1980
Religion:	Presbyterian
Marital Status:	divorced
Elected  Office:	PA House of Reps., 1990-94; PA Senate, 1994-2002.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1980-2002.
DC Office	308 CHOB, 20515 202-225-4315 Fax: 202-225-8440 Website: www.house.gov/gerlach/
State Offices	Exton:610-594-1415; Trappe:610-409-2780; Wyomissing:610-376-7630;
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The gentle hills of southeastern Pennsylvania, settled in the 18th century by Quaker townsmen, Welsh farmers, German peasants, and members of pietistic sects who became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, were America’s first polyglot interior. Before and after independence, a diverse lot looking for tolerance in the area above Philadelphia and the Delaware River and below the first chains of the Appalachians found a land that yielded riches, first in crops, then in ironworking and other industry. Here are places like Valley Forge, where General George Washington and his men spent the terrible winter and spring of 1777–78, while the British luxuriated in Philadelphia 25 miles away. In Revolutionary times, this area was countryside, a long day’s ride from the markets and docks of Philadelphia. In the years after, the great rail lines were built from Philadelphia: the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad headed west to industrial Pittsburgh and the Midwest, and the Reading Railroad headed northwest to Reading and the anthracite coalfields beyond. Factories were built in some of the towns here, and many farms continued to thrive, but by the late 19th century some of this land had become commuter territory. The most lavish Philadelphia suburbs were built on the Main Line, where in mansions shaded by huge trees Philadelphia’s captains of commerce could get respite from the rowhouses and narrow streets of the city. By the late 20th century highways spread over the area and giant shopping centers sprung up: this was affluent suburbia for the masses, or a large part of them. Prosperity even came to some of the factory towns. Reading, the decaying industrial town described in John Updike’s Rabbit novels, in the 1970s was the site of the first factory outlet store, when a company called Vanity Fair began selling seconds and overruns of stockings and lingerie at wholesale prices in what had been the Berkshire Knitting Mills; it grew to more than 300 outlets there selling deeply-discounted goods on the polished wood floors of converted brick mills. But by 2004, most of the original shops were boarded up, and Vanity Fair had opened a smaller outlet center a couple of miles away. With hundreds of such outlets now spread across the countryside, the original had become a victim of its own success.

The 6th Congressional District of Pennsylvania includes parts of this countryside in Chester, Berks and Montgomery Counties. Chester County has the highest median income levels in Pennsylvania and is its fastest growing major county, though mushroom farming remains abundant. The boundaries of the 6th District are irregular. Geographically, the main body of the district is northern Chester County, including Coatesville, Downingtown and Phoenixville, and southern Berks County. The district also includes a salient that runs northward in eastern Berks County, with its rapidly growing exurbs. There is another salient, much more heavily populated, reaching south into Montgomery County from Pottstown to Lower Merion Township, which is home to some of Philadelphia’s wealthiest people. The district includes Valley Forge, with its American Revolution Center, part but not all of Reading, and most of the Main Line suburbs—Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, part of Paoli—some old money, and some new. Until the 1990s the area had been heavily Republican, and this district was drawn for a Republican. But the suburbs of Philadelphia, like those in the nation’s other very large metropolitan areas, have trended to the Democrats, especially since 2000. Al Gore won the district 49.2%-48.7% in 2000, Democratic Governor Ed Rendell twice carried it easily, and John Kerry carried it 51%-48% in 2004. With Montgomery leaning Democratic and Chester leaning Republican, Berks is the swing county that often determines the district outcome.

The congressman from the 6th District is Jim Gerlach, a Republican first elected in 2002. He grew up in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, midway between Pittsburgh and Youngstown, Ohio. He graduated from Dickinson College and its law school, just west of Harrisburg. He continued moving east, settled in Chester County and practiced law. He was elected to the state House in 1990 and to the state Senate in 1994. When Republicans in 2002 created a new district in suburban Philadelphia, Gerlach was the obvious intended beneficiary. He had spirited competition from Democrat Dan Wofford, a former adviser to Governor Bob Casey. Wofford had not previously run for office, but his name was well known; his father Harris Wofford was elected to the Senate in a 1991 special election. Gerlach ran on his legislative accomplishments, including votes to expand Pennsylvania’s prescription drug program for low-income seniors. Wofford attacked Gerlach as a career politician; they disagreed on abortion and Medicare. Polls showed the race close and national Republicans spent more than $1.5 million on ads for Gerlach. The outcome was not clear until the early morning hours; Gerlach won 51%-49%.

In the House, Gerlach’s voting record was mostly moderate though more conservative on foreign policy. He was a strong supporter of middle-class tax cuts and eliminating the marriage penalty, but he opposed personal retirement accounts in Social Security. George W. Bush signed his bill to create a new veterans cemetery in the Philadelphia area, but officials subsequently struggled to find an acceptable site. In April 2005, the House passed his bill to improve access to services for non-members, as well as members, of federal credit unions. In October 2005, his late vote helped Republican leaders to win narrow passage of a bill to facilitate construction of new oil refineries.

In 2004, Gerlach was a prime Democratic target. After Dan Wofford decided not to run again, local Democrats settled on attorney Lois Murphy, who managed Rendell’s 2002 campaign in Montgomery County. A former staffer in both Washington and Pennsylvania for NARAL ProChoice America, she received strong support from EMILY’s List and criticized Gerlach for his lack of leadership in Congress, especially on fiscal issues; she attacked him for being supported by Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Gerlach defended his support for the Republican agenda as consistent with the views of his constituents. Despite her initial low name identification, the well-financed Murphy made this an unexpectedly close contest; but, like Wofford, she fell just short. Gerlach won 51%-49% again, with 56% of the vote in Chester County, 52% in Berks County and 43% in Murphy’s Montgomery County base. In 2006, Murphy ran again with strong encouragement from the DCCC and EMILY’s List. She was better-known and the issues were similar, but the campaign rhetoric was even harsher than in 2004. Gerlach may have benefited from more aggressive attacks by his campaign on alleged inconsistencies in Murphy’s agenda. His ads said that her “dirty little secret” was her support for a tax increase on the wealthy. For the third consecutive election, Gerlach won 51%-49%. He won 55% of the vote in Chester County, 54% in Berks County, and 41% in Montgomery County.

Democrats likely will give Gerlach another vigorous challenge in 2008, but Murphy voiced little interest in a third challenge. 

Committees

• Financial Services (21st of 33 R)
  Capital Markets, Insurance & Government Sponsored Enterprises; Financial Institutions & Consumer Credit.
• Transportation & Infrastructure (19th of 34 R)
  Railroads, Pipelines & Hazardous Materials; Aviation; Highways & Transit.

Presidential Vote

District Demographics (More Info)

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 2
• Area size: 819 square miles
• Urban Population: 85.8%
• Rural Population: 14.2%
• Population 2000: 646,221
• Population 2005 (est): 707,551
• Median Income: $55,611
• Poverty Status: 6.1%
• Military Veterans: 12.6%
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 86.3% White; 6.7% Black; 2.0% Asian; 0.1% Native Am.; 0.0% Hawaiian; 1.0% Two+ races; 0.1% Other; 3.7% Hispanic Origin;
• Ancestry: 18.9% German%; 12.6% Irish%; 9.8% Italian%;
• Occupation: Blue collar 20.0%; White collar 68.1%; Gray collar 11.9%;