Biography:

Jim Gerlach is a native of western Pennsylvania whose schooling and career kept moving him east. He was born in Ellwood City, Pa., north of Pittsburgh, and headed to the Harrisburg area for college and law school at Dickinson College.

Continuing eastward, Gerlach settled in Chester County and practiced law before he was elected to the state House in 1990 and to the state Senate in 1994 and 1998.

Gerlach serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Brandywine Hospital & Trauma Center, as well as the Board of Directors of MECA (Mission for Educating Children with Autism).

He previously served on the Board of Trustees of Dickinson College, the Chester County Agricultural Development Council, and the West Brandywine Township Zoning Hearing Board.

Gerlach was named a "Guardian of Small Business" by the NFIB for his work in protecting and preserving the future of free enterprise in small business in the Commonwealth during the past two legislative sessions.

Past Campaigns:

In 1990, Jim Gerlach was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by a margin of 23 votes out of 17,000 votes cast in the 155th State Representative District. He defeated the 18-year incumbent.

In 1992 he was re-elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by a margin of 64 to 34 percent.

In 1994, he was elected to Pennsylvania State Senate by margin of 67 to 33 percent. In 1998, he was re-elected without opposition to 2nd term in Pennsylvania State Senate.

He was elected to Congress in 2002 with 51 percent of the vote in an open race against Democrat Dan Wofford, the son of former Sen. Harris Wofford. The seat was drawn for Gerlach, and includes 50,000 more registered Republican voters than Democrats.

Gerlach ran unopposed in the 2004 Republican primary and faced Democrat Lois Murphy in the fall general election.

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