Jim Gerlach

HARRISBURG — U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach said Tuesday he will run for governor, as the fourth-term congressman and former state legislator from suburban Philadelphia became the first of three Republican candidates who are anticipated to run in 2010.

As part of the announcement, Gerlach, 54, said he will not seek a fifth term in Congress.

The GOP primary next year could be a three-way race: Attorney General Tom Corbett and former Philadelphia federal prosecutor Patrick Meehan also are considering vying for the Republican nomination to succeed Ed Rendell.

Gerlach, of Chester County, considers himself a moderate on social issues and touts himself as a fiscal conservative, saying he is devoted to cutting taxes and the bedrock Republican ideal of making government smaller.

"I think our pathway to victory is simply getting out there, communicating our ideas for Pennsylvania from jobs to smaller government to less taxes to less spending and demonstrating we have the ability to be effective when we work on those issues," Gerlach said in a Tuesday conference call with reporters.

Gerlach cited his welfare reform legislation and efforts to improve government efficiency while in the Pennsylvania Legislature as some of his accomplishments. In Congress, he pointed to his work to secure federal support for Pennsylvania's low-cost drug program for seniors as part of Medicare's new pharmaceutical benefit.

Rendell, a Democrat in his second of two four-year terms, cannot run again for the office because of constitutional term limits.

Gerlach, a lawyer, grew up in Lawrence County on Pennsylvania's western border, a connection he has tried to highlight since the GOP's strength is growing in the region.