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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

PA-06: Gerlach Can't Count - To the Tune of $2.2M

Posted by DavidNYC

A little background: Pennsylvania's 6th CD is one of our best pickup opportunities this cycle - Superribbie, for one, ranks it 6th overall. The district went narrowly for Gore in 2000. Our challenger is Lois Murphy; the incumbent is Republican Jim Gerlach.

Alright, so this is kind of an amazing story. At least, I can't recall anything quite like it. Just read:

A million here, a million there, and soon you have a real political war chest.

Or maybe not.

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.) conceded yesterday that Gerlach had overstated his campaign receipts for this year by $2.2 million.

But it was all a clerical and computer error, campaign spokesman Mark Campbell said.

A clerical error AND a computer error? Oh, that's good. Some flunky entered the wrong number into an Excel spreadsheet AND the software also malfunctioned. Guys, at least keep your phony excuses simple, okay?

The Murphy camp has filed a complaint with the FEC. Unfortunately, FEC "enforcement actions" are pretty toothless (if and when they ever happen). But the sheer embarassment of being off by $2.2 million should give this story the legs it deserves. At the very least, itll be good for a few snarky political ads and a good joke or two in any debate.

More on the Murphy complaint here and here.

Posted at 09:14 PM in 2006 Elections - House, Pennsylvania | Technorati

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