Pennsylvania Legislature
In preparation for the 1990 election against long time Democratic State Rep. Sam Morris, Gerlach visited 8,600 homes in the 155th District of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, building his campaign around what he saw as the incumbent's inattentiveness to suburban sprawl. According to a local newspaper, the Daily Local News, Gerlach charged that his opponent was "out of touch" with his constituency.
Gerlach proposed expanding open-space preservation by using zoning laws to encourage developers to incorporate open space into development projects, along with the creation of environmental protection authorities.
During the election, Gerlach's Democratic opponents accused the Western Pennsylvania native of moving to Chester County for the sole purpose of running against Morris. Gerlach denied that accusation and said he moved to Chester County because he and his wife saw it as "a great place to work and raise our kids."
Gerlach was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by 23 votes out of 17,000 cast. He won re-election in 1992 with 64 percent of the vote. Gerlach was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1994, with 67 percent of the vote, in the newly re-formed 44th district. He defeated Democrat Barry Robertson (whose campaign was heavily funded by Sam Morris, Gerlach's opponent four years earlier) in that election, and was re-elected in 1998 without opposition. While in the State Senate, he helped change the state's welfare laws.
While in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Pennsylvania Senate, Gerlach worked to sponsor legislation making it easier for the commonwealth's patchwork of townships to work together to preserve open space. Gov. Tom Ridge signed Gerlach's legislation into law in 2000.
Read more about this topic: Jim Gerlach
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