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Gerlach says he’s got half-a-million in commitments; only $5K on hand

Congressman Jim Gerlach’s (R-6) campaign on Friday tried to show that refilling his federal campaign coffers after he decided to seek reelection would be a cinch, saying that $525,000 in fundraising “commitments” had already been received.

After embarking on a run for governor, Gerlach decided earlier in January to run for another term in the 6th District again. The numbers his campaign provided were impossible to independently verify, since they referred to money committed, not money received. His campaign account was mostly emptied in anticipation of the gubernatorial bid, and he doesn’t have to file another campaign finance report until the end of March. He had only about $5,300 in cash on hand at the end of the year, after giving another $37,000 to his state campaign account, according to campaign finance data. All in all, Gerlach moved more than $100,000 from his federal PAC to his state PAC, money that can’t be transferred back under federal rules.

But with wealthy Republican Steven Welch readying a primary challenge and saying he has $650,000 in cash on hand, the announcement by Gerlach’s campaign was clearly meant to demonstrate that outspending an incumbent in a primary will require Welch to reach deep into his own pockets. Another Republican in the race, Walt Hufford, had only about $30,000 in cash on hand at the end of the year, including a $25,000 loan from the candidate, according to campaign finance data.

“The out-pouring of support has been tremendous these last three weeks and I am humbled by the faith many have in my ability to win in the fall and continue the hard work we do everyday for taxpayers across Berks, Chester, Lehigh and Montgomery counties,” Gerlach said in a statement. “I’m proud to count thousands of volunteers and donors as friends who believe in me and our campaign. I think folks understand that in order to really see change on health care, reducing government spending and a lasting push to create jobs, we’ve got to keep this seat in Republican hands by nominating a candidate who has a long record of public service and a proven record of winning. The strong fundraising since January 8th shows that we are in the best position possible to do that.”

January 30, 2010 at 4:42 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Jim Gerlach, PA-6, Steven Welch, Walt Hufford

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