GOP Rep. Gerlach Quits PA-GOV Race, Could Potentially Save Party From Open-Seat Problem

House Republicans may have gotten some good news today, with Pennsylvania Rep. Jim Gerlach dropping out of the gubernatorial race -- and possibly saving the party from dealing with a highly vulnerable open seat.

Gerlach had been badly trailing state Attorney General Tom Corbett in all the polls for the Republican nomination. Gerlach's district is a blue district that voted 58%-41% for Barack Obama in 2008, and 51%-48% for John Kerry in 2004. Gerlach himself has had close races throughout his time in Congress -- his best result was winning 52.1% of the vote in 2008 -- but if Gerlach runs again it would intuitively seem to be better for Republicans than dealing with an open blue seat.

It is not immediately clear whether Gerlach will actually run for another term, which would shut down the campaigns of the four local Republicans who had already been running. But a GOP source expressed some optimism to us: "If Jim Gerlach gets in, he'll hold the seat."