27 Facts About Jim Gerlach

James William Gerlach was born on February 25,1955 and is the former US Representative for, serving from 2003 to 2015.

Jim Gerlach was born in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania to Helen Lorraine and Jack Allen Jim Gerlach.

Jim Gerlach's father was killed by a drunk driver when he was five years old, leaving his mother to raise three children on her own.

Jim Gerlach earned his JD degree from Dickinson School of Law in 1980.

On March 6,2020, the board of directors from the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance announced that Jim Gerlach had been named president and CEO of the organization.

Sam Morris, Jim Gerlach visited 10,000 homes in the 155th District of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, building his campaign around what he saw as the incumbent's inattentiveness to suburban sprawl.

Jim Gerlach proposed expanding open-space preservation by using zoning laws to encourage developers to incorporate open space into development projects, along with the creation of environmental protection authorities.

Jim Gerlach was reelected in 1992 with 64 percent of the vote.

Jim Gerlach was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1994, with 67 percent of the vote, in the newly re-formed 44th district.

Jim Gerlach defeated Democrat Barry Robertson in that election, and was re-elected in 1998 without opposition.

Jim Gerlach was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2002 from the newly created 6th District, sometimes called the "Pterodactyl District" because of its unusual shape; it twisted and wound its way through the outer western suburbs of Philadelphia.

The farmland-preservation and open-space advocacy that Jim Gerlach became known for during his tenure as a state legislator has continued during his congressional career.

In 2003, Jim Gerlach sponsored a new law mandating a new veterans cemetery in the Philadelphia area within four years.

In 2009, Jim Gerlach opposed HR 2454, which was designed to amend several laws related to energy and the environment, and included a "cap-and-trade" program to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr Jim Gerlach opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have amended the constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Jim Gerlach has advocated the passage of legislation that would expand federal regulation of so-called "puppy mills," and cosponsored medical liability legislation.

Jim Gerlach is a member of two moderate political groups: the Republican Main Street Partnership, which supports government-funded embryonic stem-cell research; and Republicans for Environmental Protection.

In 2015, Jim Gerlach was announced as the new president and chief executive officer of BIPAC, the Business-Industry Political Action Committee.

Jim Gerlach is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.

In 2004, Jim Gerlach won a close re-election against Democrat Lois Murphy, by 51.0 percent to 49.0 percent.

Jim Gerlach was the only member of the "Philly Trio" of vulnerable Republican Congressmen to survive the 2006 election.

Jim Gerlach overcame a negative political climate that included the then-unpopular war in Iraq, an unpopular president and a well-liked Democratic governor.

Geography played a factor; similar to the previous two cycles Jim Gerlach carried Chester County, Berks County, and Lehigh County by significant margins, while Murphy carried the heavily Democratic Montgomery County portion of the district.

In February 2009, Jim Gerlach formed a committee to explore a run for Governor of Pennsylvania in the 2010 election.

Jim Gerlach ended his campaign for governor on January 7,2010.

Jim Gerlach had been mentioned as a potential candidate for the United States Senate seat held by Arlen Specter after John Cornyn, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, contacted him following Specter's May 2009 party-switch.

Jim Gerlach got a substantial assist from the post-census redistricting.