"Gerlach is a pro-public-education member of Congress with a strong voting record on the issues that are important to our members," says Randall Moody, chief lobbyist for the NEA, which represents 2.8 million educators. Moody says the congressman has a positive voting record on legislation important to teachers, including efforts to reform the No Child Left Behind act, oppose merit pay, increase student financial aid, and provide more money for vocational and technical schools. Gerlach's overall grade from the group for the 2005 legislative session was a B.

A spokesman for the Murphy campaign downplayed the endorsement, saying that residents in the district, which includes the Philadelphia suburbs and cities like Reading, pay little attention to recommendations from national groups. "Regardless of what happens in Washington, the people in this district know that Lois Murphy is the right person to represent them," says spokesman Mark Nevins. "She's passionate about improving education, access to higher education, Head Start funding, and fixing No Child Left Behind."

While Murphy missed out on the teachers union endorsement, she has taken the lead in fundraising. Official campaign filings for the last quarter are still being compiled, but some early numbers are already in. From April 1 to June 30, Murphy raised some $740,000, compared with Gerlach's $453,000. Gerlach took in $150,000 from a fundraiser with President Bush on May 24.

Murphy has about $1.4 million on hand, compared with Gerlach's $1.3 million. "It is bad news that an incumbent is behind in the amount of cash on hand at this point in the campaign," says Nevins. "Gerlach relies heavily on PAC money, and that dries up eventually."

For the reporting cycle ending in April, Gerlach received $927,465 from political action committees and $793,980 from individuals. Murphy collected $260,350 from PACs and $1,152,069 from individuals. The race has raised the most money of all of the state's congressional contests.

Gerlach will hold a barbecue fundraiser with Arizona Sen. John McCain on Sunday night, perhaps an odd pairing given that Gerlach has been running television ads in the past few weeks skewering McCain's immigration legislation. Mark Campbell, political director for Gerlach, dismisses the idea, however. "Senator McCain and the congressman honestly disagree over the best way to solve an issue that has been raging nationally. They are both independent thinkers," he says.

The Murphy camp disagreed. "That's typical of the Gerlach campaign: disparage McCain's legislative actions but take his money," Nevins says.

Both Murphy and Gerlach plan to meet with seniors groups in the coming weeks to discuss Medicare, according to staffers.

Alex Kingsbury