In many ways, the 6th Congressional District was made for Jim Gerlach and yet in his second re-election campaign he is being labeled as one of the most endangered incumbents in the country.

Gerlach was a state senator when Republican lawmakers created the 6th District after the 2000 census. The district, running from the wealthy suburbs of Philadelphia out to the former manufacturing towns of Reading and Pottstown, was carved out with the idea of bolstering the number of Republicans in Congress from Pennsylvania.

What was created instead was one of the nation's few truly swing districts and a Congressional seat that Gerlach, a moderate Republican, has had to battle constantly to continue to control.

But Gerlach is quick to point out that many of his elections have been hard fought affairs. After settling in Chest County after graduating from Dickinson University and later law school, he ran for the state House in 1990. The campaign was a close one and in the end Gerlach was elected by 23 votes. But he soon had his sights on a seat in the state Senate which he ran for and won four years later.

By 2002, Republicans made the state senator the obvious beneficiary of the new 6th District. Yet Gerlach's campaign to win the new seat turned out to be another bruising affair as he faced off against Dan Wofford, a political newcomer who had headed the Philadelphia Education Fund's College Access Program and was also the son of still-popular former U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford.

Gerlach centered on his accomplishments in the state legislature, including his work to pass welfare reform and to make it easier for low-income seniors to get prescription drugs. Wofford countered he was too conservative for Pennsylvanian voters and that he was a "career politician" who believed 12 years in Harrisburg meant an "automatic ticket to Washington."

National Republicans poured more than $1.5 million into advertising on behalf of Gerlach and the GOP state senator spent another $1.3 million. Democrats countered with their own spending spree, but in the end, Gerlach came out ahead, by some 5,500 votes.

Two years later, Democrats targeted Gerlach as one of the nation's most vulnerable freshmen. Wofford passed on the rematch and Lois Murphy, who had run Gov. Ed Rendell's campaign in Montgomery County and had worked in the Washington and Pennsylvania offices of an abortion rights group, stepped up to run. Murphy earned the backing of national Democrats and EMILYS List, a political action committee dedicated to electing women who support abortion rights to Congress among others. Her uphill battle to gain name recognition and oust Gerlach fell just short, despite spending more than $1.9 million.

After surviving two closely fought races, Gerlach has turned to national leaders and received noticeable help in his 2006 reelection campaign.

In March, President Bush attended a $1000-a-head fundraiser, where Gerlach garnered $150,000 of the $470,000 he raised in the last quarter.

"I am so honored to be standing next to two of the young stars of the United States Congress," President Bush said. "Jim Gerlach and Mike Fitzpatrick are really talented congressmen, and they deserve to be re-elected."

The president added that Gerlach has been a thoughtful member of Congress during the last four years.

"He is an independent voice, which is good for the people of his district," Mr. Bush said.

But with the president's popularity sagging in the district, Gerlach has also called on more popular Republicans like Sen. John McCain of Arizona, to bolster his campaign.

"This is a man who has served with distinction," McCain said of Gerlach. "This is a person I think we can all look up to and be proud of because of his integrity, because of his honesty, and because of his continuous 24-7 work on behalf of the people of this district."

In addition to the support of key GOP leaders, Gerlach has been able to garner the backing of the National Education Association's political wing, a group that backed opponent Lois Murphy in 2004.

Linda Cook, president of the Southeastern Region of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said Gerlach had a "strong record for students and for public education."

For Gerlach, who grew up in western Pennsylvania between Pittsburgh and Youngstown, Ohio, the core issues of education, tax reduction and support for most of the president's Iraq policy may hold the key for another close electoral victory.

-- Compiled by Lee Banville for the Online NewsHour