This may not interest you, but my congressman, Jim Gerlach, is retiring. This comes as quite a surprise to me because, with the new congressional maps drawn after the 2010 Census, Gerlach was finally blessed with a safe district. Throughout the aughts, he struggled to win reelection every two years, and he barely survived in 2006.
Rep. Gerlach is pretty popular around here. His office is good at constituent services and he almost never makes waves. You are unlikely to see him quoted in the paper; you won’t see him on television, and I can’t remember him doing any of the conservative radio programs. He just kept his head down and avoided alienating people, and his right-wing voting record largely went unnoticed. This made him a very difficult target. I am sure he could have served out the rest of the decade without really having to break a sweat.
I would not assume that this seat is winnable for the Democrats. Mitt Romney carried it with 51% of the vote, which may not sound like much, but it indicates just how wealthy the district has become. On the whole, this is a Democratic area, but the college towns and small cities have been carefully avoided in the design of the 6th District. Maybe that’s why the Democrats are running the CEO of a mining company as their candidate. Michael Parrish has an impressive resume, with his business experience and degrees from West Point, Stanford, and the Wharton School of Business. He had a strong 14-year career in the Army.
Another potential candidate is Katie McGinty, who would have to drop her uphill candidacy for governor if she wanted to replace Gerlach in the House. She an environmentalist who used to work for Al Gore when he was a senator, and she might provide an interesting contrast to Mr. Parrish on energy issues, including fracking in Pennsylvania. I don’t know where Mr. Parrish stands on such issues, although his day job concerns me.
Regardless, I am glad that Rep. Gerlach is leaving because he proved himself to be a deft politician, and we were probably never going to get rid of him unless he took his ball and went home.
