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Aug 25, 2009 7:42 pm US/Eastern
Jim Gerlach Seeks Support For Governor Campaign
ELLWOOD CITY (KDKA) ―
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Jim Gerlach was back home in Ellwood City to rally support for his campaign for governor on Tuesday.
CBS
Ellwood City native and now candidate for governor, Jim Gerlach, returned home seeking support for his campaign on Tuesday.
Gerlach ran and lost to former state representative Frank LaGrotta back in 1986. He then moved to Chester County near Philadelphia. While there, he won election to the State House, the State Senate, and then to Congress.
Now, he wants to be governor and he knows western Pennsylvania will be a key to victory.
"Growing up in this area, everybody had the concern and probably still have the concern that monies end up in other parts of the state and don't properly support what's needed for growth here," Gerlach said.
Gerlach took questions from a couple dozen supporters, calling himself a common sense Republican, who favors more local control rather than Harrisburg dictating to all.
"You get better response. You have better opportunities to take care of problems locally with local government than you do with county, than you do with state, than you do with federal," Gerlach said.
Gerlach, who has lived and represented suburban Philadelphia for nearly two decades, still roots for the Steelers.
"I'd love the Eagles to win the Super Bowl some day. But, if it's a head-to-head competition in the Super Bowl, then I stay with my boyhood allegiance and that's with the Steelers," Gerlach said.
To win the Republican nomination, Gerlach must defeat Attorney General Tom Corbett, whom the congressman says lacks his own breadth of experience.
Gerlach says the next governor needs more than anti-crime experience and he welcomes the debate.
"Let's get out there and talk to the voters and offer our ideas and our experiences and give them a choice. I think that's what people want rather than some party leaders just selecting one person a year out before there's even an election," Gerlach said.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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