Tim Murphy is getting some time in the sun. He’s been a leading voice in the investigation of Solyndra, but he’s also taking heat over his support of similar programs in the past.

Today, Gerlach threw his support behind former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential hopeful who many say stands the best chance to compete in the collar counties around the City of Brotherly Love.

Sen. Pat Toomey is staying out of the intra-party struggle brewing in western Pennsylvania. The Senator’s office said that although he attended a fundraiser for Rep. Tim Murphy Thursday morning, he would not take sides in his upcoming primary.

The League of Conservation Voters and the National Resources Defense Council Action Fund plan to spend $350,000 on an ad indicting Rep. Jason Altmire’s environmental voting record, the groups announced today.

Republicans are tinkering with the idea of merging the Philadelphia-area districts of Reps. Chaka Fattah and Allyson Schwartz says a legislative source close to the redistricting process. Their motive: to make life more difficult for Schwartz.

We’ve got next week’s local elections covered, next year’s congressional races are starting to heat up and battle lines are being drawn over the state’s legislative districts.

Doylestown Supervisor Cynthia Philo, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully against state Senator Chuck McIlhinney in 2010, is considering a run for Congress in Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District, according to a report published by Roll Call on Tuesday.

Last week, four of the most moderate legislators in Congress introduced bipartisan and bicameral legislation that would update and add to existing federal law regarding the loss of nationality for American citizens who engage in terrorist activities directed against the United States.

U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican majority leader in the U.S. House, canceled his scheduled speech at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business because if was going to be open to the first 300 people who showed up. Given that hundreds of Occupy Philadelphia protesters were planning to march from City Hall to the campus to protest the speech, that could have been lively audience. UPDATED with statement from Pa. Dems.

Republican Rep. Lou Barletta holds a significant financial advantage over Democrat William Vinsko Jr, in the the race for the 11th congressional district. But in the third quarter, Vinsko racked in the cash and nearly equaled Barletta’s haul.