For lawyer Lois Murphy, the campaign for the 6th Congressional District seat never ended after she narrowly lost to freshman U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach in 2004.
 Two years later, she is outpacing Gerlach in the latest fundraising numbers by some $300,000 and is poised to potentially oust the two-term Republican from a moderate suburban Philadelphia district.
Murphy, a longtime Democratic activist, emerged in her first federal campaign as a voracious organizer and more than capable fundraiser.
Although a first-time candidate, she was already a battle-tested campaigner. Prior to her run in 2004, she had managed the 2002 campaign of then-Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell in the populace Montgomery County outside the city. The campaign carried the county by some 90,000 votes and helped propel Rendell into the governor's mansion.
For Murphy it was only the latest in a long history of activism and work for Democratic causes. Following her graduation from Harvard and Radcliffe College and then Harvard Law School, Murphy clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeal in New York and then headed to the Justice Department before joining the National Abortion Rights Action League, serving as an associate legal counsel and working to ensure a woman's right to an abortion.
Her work in NARAL lead her to serve as president and as a board member of NARAL Pro-Choice Pennsylvania.
Following her work for Rendell in 2002, the governor appointed her to the state Commission on Women and helped back her run for the House in 2004.
During the campaign she raised nearly $1.9 million to take on one of the most endangered incumbents in the country. But her campaign, bolstered by help from EMILYS List and other pro-women and often pro-Democrat groups, failed to oust Gerlach, falling 2 percent and about 6,000 votes short.
Although she was unable to defeat Gerlach, she continued to speak out against Republican policies and translated her new-found name recognition into continued fundraising. By late 2005, she was well positioned to take on Gerlach again.
This time around, Murphy has stuck to the more traditional Democratic issues of a higher minimum wage, and better access to healthcare as well as support for abortion rights and environmental causes.
"The minimum wage hasn't been raised in a decade by the U.S. Congress," Murphy said in one recent press conference. "In that period of time, Congress has given itself a raise five times."
Murphy was also quick to capitalize on a growing anti-incumbent surge that followed the state legislature's enactment of a pay raise for itself. The vote angered many Pennsylvanians and caused a record 14 incumbents to lose in primaries in May. Murphy responded by signing a pledge to forgo any salary increase they might receive if elected until Congress votes to raise the minimum wage.
But even more than local issues, Murphy's campaign has hammered on Gerlach's support for the president.
Murphy has repeatedly labeled Gerlach an extension of the Bush administration, pointing out that the Republican has voted with the president 80 percent of time. When President Bush came to the region in March for a fundraiser, Murphy's campaign was ready with a press release.
"This fundraiser just goes to show what a loyal member of the Bush team Jim Gerlach has been," the campaign said in a prepared statement. "Jim Gerlach has pushed the Bush agenda on Capitol Hill for the last four years, and he is now being paid back in the form of a ritzy fundraiser at a downtown hotel."
Although her campaign has stuck to largely Democratic themes, she has stressed domestic security and fiscal restraint to broaden her reach in conservative parts of the district.
One recent ad accused Gerlach of voting with the president and "the special interests, for CAFTA and unfair labor laws, with the drug companies to stop Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices, and for big tax breaks for big oil."
Analysts say if Murphy is going to achieve what she was unable to two years ago, she will need to expand her base and capture a pivotal seat in the Democrat's effort to recapture the House after 12 years of Republican rule.
-- Compiled by Lee Banville for the Online NewsHour
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