Less than 24 hours after Rep. Jim Gerlach (Pa.) dropped his gubernatorial bid, the four-term Republican will announce Friday that he will run for re-election to the House instead. According to a source familiar with Gerlach’s decision, the Congressman is expected to announce he will run for re-election at noon Friday. The same source also confirmed that Gerlach will almost immediately receive the backing of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Gerlach announced last summer that he was running for governor, leaving his highly competitive southeastern Pennsylvania House seat up for grabs. Republicans lured businessman Steve Welch (R) to run for the GOP nomination. Welch was originally running for the neighboring open seat being vacated by Rep. Joe Sestak (D), but GOP strategists persuaded him to switch races in order to avoid a competitive primary with former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan, also a former candidate for governor in Pennsylvania.Democrats have long viewed the 6th district race as a prime pickup opportunity, and the party has targeted Gerlach in previous cycles without any success. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recruited former editorial writer Doug Pike to run in the 6th district this year, plus physician Manan Trivedi and Lower Merion Township Commissioner Brian Gordon are also running for the Democratic nod.