Harris Wofford

As Bob Roggio tries to raise the money needed to make his race against U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-West Pikeland) competitive, he's getting help from some prominent state Democrats.

Former U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford will headline a fundraiser for Roggio in Center City this evening, the Roggio campaign said. That follows a fundraiser with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) last week.

Roggio is trying to unseat Gerlach in the 6th Congressional District. 

With party conventions approaching and the presidential campaign in Pennsylvania swinging into full gear, Pennsylvania's elected officials are getting into the action, stumping for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in a variety of locales, but usually keeping their campaign work limited to economic issues.

It seemed to start in earnest Sunday, when U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Philadelphia) stumped for Obama on the economy in front of Philadelphia City Hall. Obama endorsed Fattah in his unsuccessful mayoral primary bid last spring, and Fattah was one of the few Pennsylvania politicians who supported Obama during his primary battle against U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) in April.

A day later former U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford criticized Obama's opponent, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), for running what he said had become a "negative, nasty and dishonorable campaign," The Morning Call reports.

"... [T]he John McCain I am seeing in this campaign is not the John McCain I knew," Wofford told reporters during a campaign conference call.

The Pennsylvania surrogates continue their work today, with U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz scheduled to take part in a conference call with reporters. Joined by Allegheny County Councilman Jim Burn, Schwartz will discuss McCain's energy plan, "or lack thereof," the campaign said today.

PolitickerPA.com will continue to closely cover which local politicians are stumping for which candidates and what they're saying.

WASHINGTON - In 2004, Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Upper Uwchlan Township) campaigned with George W. Bush in a difficult re-election race for his 6th Congressional District seat.

In the end, Bush lost the district to John Kerry (D-Mass.) by almost 11,000 votes. But Gerlach would go on to defeat his Democratic opponent, attorney Lois Murphy, by a more-than 6,000 vote margin. By the time the dust settled, Murphy had spent almost $2 million, accusing Gerlach of misleading of fiscal issues and tying the incumbent to then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

Two years later, Murphy was back for a rematch. In a favorable Democratic environment, Murphy doubled her expenditures and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and liberal-aligned women’s group EMILY’s List engaged. Democrats would go on to win 31 seats and the House majority in 2006, but Gerlach proved hard to beat. The Republican dispatched of Murphy by a margin of more than 3,000 votes.