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Jim Gerlach

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Jim Gerlach
Jim Gerlach.jpg
U.S. House, Pennsylvania, District 6
Incumbent
In office
2003-Present
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position 10
PartyRepublican
PredecessorTim Holden (D)
Compensation
Base salary$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
Last electionNovember 6, 2012
First electedNovember 5, 2002
Next electionNovember 4, 2014
Campaign $$14,059,089
Term limitsN/A
Prior offices
Pennsylvania Senate
1995-2002
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
1991-1994
Education
Bachelor'sDickinson College
J.D.Dickinson School of Law
Personal
BirthdayFebruary 25, 1955
Place of birthEllwood City, Pennsylvania
ProfessionAttorney
Net worth$154,003
ReligionProtestant
Websites
Office website
Personal website
Campaign website

Contents

James "Jim" Gerlach (b. February 25, 1955) is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Pennsylvania. Gerlach was first elected by voters from Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district in 2002. He ran for re-election in 2012 and won.[1]

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Gerlach is a "moderate Republican leader".[2]

Biography

Gerlach was born in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. He earned his B.A. and J.D. from Dickinson College in 1977 and 1980, respectively.[3]

Career

Before entering public service, Gerlach worked as an attorney in private practice.

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Gerlach serves on the following committees:[5]

2011-2012

Gerlach served on the following committees:[6]

Issues

2012

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Jim Gerlach endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. [7]

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Voted "Yes" Gerlach voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 85 Republicans that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[8]

2012 Congressional campaign themes

As laid out on his official campaign website, Gerlach's primary focuses for the 2012 campaign include, but are not limited to the following issues:

  • Jobs and the Economy:

Gerlach plan to improve the economy include "cutting government red tape so businesses can create jobs... working on bi-partisan effort to shore up American manufacturing" in addition to providing unemployment benefits and fighting national energy taxes.[9]

  • Health care:

Excerpt: "Jim has co-sponsored legislation that would not only repeal [the Affordable Care Act], but also replace it with patient-driven, private sector solutions that contain costs and protect the quality of care Americans have come to expect with their health care system... The system is broken because of rapid increases in costs that make health care unaffordable for employers, families and individuals."[9]

  • Energy:

Gerlach wants to make America energy independent by supporting "further safe and clean off-shore drilling particularly in the Outer Continental Shelf, and advancing projects like the Keystone XL pipeline which would have provided tens of thousands of American jobs and a reliable flow of oil from Canada to the United States."[9]

  • Veterans:

Gerlach highlights his congressional record of supporting bills aimed at improving the quality of life for veterans, such as a bill to "increase funding to aid homeless vets and mandates every VA medical center in the country cover post-traumatic stress disorder." He also voted to give veterans a time cushion against home foreclosure, more resources to help veterans transition back into the civilian workforce, and provide employers incentives to hire National Guardsmen.[9]

  • Taxes and Spending

Excerpt: "Raising taxes during an economic downturn is the last thing that government should be doing. Congress should be cutting spending, putting more money back into the pockets of families, seniors and job creators, and taking a serious approach to reducing and eliminating our $16 trillion national debt."[9]

Endorsements

Campaign Media


Gerlach's first ad touts his record of supporting American business growth in contrast with his opponent, who supported the stimulus plan that created jobs in China


Campaign shows interview titled "Trivedi Not Telling the Truth About Out of State Residency and Employment"

Elections

2012

See also: Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district elections, 2012

Gerlach ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing Pennsylvania's 6th District. He was unopposed in the April 24 Republican primary and defeated Democrat Manan Trivedi in the November 6 general election.[12]

The Washington Post listed the House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania in 2012 as one of the states that could determine whether Democrats would retake the House or Republicans would hold their majority in 2013.[13] Ohio tied with Pennsylvania for 9th on the list.[13]

U.S. House, Pennsylvania, District 6 General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Manan Trivedi 42.9% 143,803
     Republican Green check mark.jpgJim Gerlach Incumbent 57.1% 191,725
Total Votes 335,528
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Full history


Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Gerlach is available dating back to 2002. Based on available campaign finance records, Gerlach raised a total of $14,059,089 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 17, 2013.[19]

Jim Gerlach's Campaign Contribution History
Year Office Result Contributions
2012 US House (Pennsylvania, District 6) Won $2,234,892
2010 US House (Pennsylvania, District 6) Won $2,120,901
2008 US House (Pennsylvania, District 6) Won $2,370,625
2006 US House (Pennsylvania, District 6) Won $3,353,282
2004 US House (Pennsylvania, District 6) Won $2,357,299
2002 US House (Pennsylvania, District 6) Won $1,622,090
Grand Total Raised $14,059,089

2012

Breakdown of the source of Gerlach's campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Gerlach won re-election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, his campaign committee raised a total of $2,234,892 and spent $2,108,953.[20]


2010

Gerlach won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Gerlach's campaign committee raised a total of $2,120,901 and spent $2,063,892.[21]

His top 5 contributors between 2009-2010 were:

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Gerlach missed 278 of 7,680 roll call votes from January 2003 to April 2013. This amounts to 3.6%, which is worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving as of April 2013. [22]

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Gerlach paid his congressional staff a total of $813,145 in 2011. Overall, Pennsylvania ranked 34th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[23]

Net worth

See also: Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Gerlach's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $63,007 and $245,000. That averages to $154,003 which is significantly lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2011 of $7,859,232. His average net worth did not change from 2010.[24]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Gerlach's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $63,007 to $245,000. That averages to $308,007 which was lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2010 of $7,561,133.[25]

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. In 2012, Gerlach ranked 216th among Republican Representatives in the conservative rankings.[26][27]

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Gerlach was ranked 199th among Republican members of the U.S. House in the conservative rankings.[28]

Percentage voting with party

The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Jim Gerlach voted with the Republican Party 85.3% of the time, which ranked 228 among the 242 House Republican members in December 2011.[29]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Jim + Gerlach + Pennsylvania + House

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Jim Gerlach News Feed


Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found


Personal

Jim Gerlach is married to his wife, Karen. They have 3 children.

External links

References

  1. ↑ Politico "2012 House Race Results"
  2. ↑ Gov Track "Gerlach" Accessed May 18, 2012
  3. ↑ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress "GERLACH, Jim, (1955 - )"
  4. ↑ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress "GERLACH, Jim, (1955 - )"
  5. ↑ CQ.com, House Committee Rosters for the 113th Congress
  6. ↑ Congressman Jim Gerlach, Serving Pennsylvania's Sixth Congressional District "Biography"
  7. ↑ The Hill, "2012 GOP Lawmaker Endorsements for President," retrieved December 22, 2011
  8. ↑ U.S. House "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Official Campaign Website, "Issues-Jobs," accessed October 4, 2012
  10. ↑ The Center for Public Integrity, "Hospital PAC backs GOP House candidates," October 1, 2012
  11. ↑ Official Campaign Website, "Home," accessed October 4, 2012
  12. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State "2012 General Primary Unofficial Returns," April 24, 2012
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Washington Post "The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012" Accessed April 25, 2012
  14. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010"
  15. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 2008"
  16. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2006"
  17. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2004"
  18. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002"
  19. ↑ Open Secrets "Career Fundraising for Jim Gerlach," Accessed April 17, 2013
  20. ↑ Open Secrets "Jim Gerlach's 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed March 4, 2013
  21. ↑ Open Secrets "Jim Gerlach 2010 Election Cycle," Accessed November 16, 2011
  22. ↑ GovTrack, "Jim Gerlach," Accessed April 17, 2013
  23. ↑ LegiStorm, "Jim Gerlach," Accessed September 24, 2012
  24. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Jim Gerlach (R-Pa), 2011"
  25. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Jim Gerlach (R-Pa), 2010," Accessed September 24, 2012
  26. ↑ National Journal, "TABLE: House Liberal Scores by Issue Area," February 21, 2013
  27. ↑ National Journal, "TABLE: House Conservative Scores by Issue Area," February 21, 2013
  28. ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012
  29. ↑ Open Congress "Voting With Party"
Political offices
Preceded by
Tim Holden 		U.S. House of Representatives - Pennsylvania, District 6
2003–Present 		Succeeded by
'
Preceded by
' 		Pennsylvania Senate
1995-2002 		Succeeded by
'
Preceded by
' 		Pennsylvania House of Representatives
1991-1994 		Succeeded by
'
v • d • e
Pennsylvania's current delegation to the United States Congress
SenatorsCongressLogo.png
Representatives
Allyson Schwartz (D) • Bill Shuster (R) • Chaka Fattah (D) • Charles W. Dent (R) • Glenn Thompson (R) • Jim Gerlach (R) • Joseph R. Pitts (R) • Keith Rothfus (R) • Lou Barletta (R) • Matt Cartwright (D) • Michael F. Doyle (D) • Michael G. Fitzpatrick (R) • Mike Kelly (R) • Patrick Meehan (R) • Robert A. Brady (D) • Scott Perry (R) • Tim Murphy (R) • Tom Marino (R)
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