This weekend, Pennsylvanians will have plenty of opportunities to see presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but they can also check out the top Republican in the House, as Minority Leader John Boehner takes a campaign swing through the state.

Boehner will join former Rep. Melissa Hart, who lost a close race to Democrat Jason Altmire in 2006, for a press conference this afternoon in Cranberry Township. Hart is looking to get her old job back in a district, encompassing many of Pittsburgh's northern suburbs, that voted for President Bush by narrow margins in both his contests, but Altmire has been one of the most prolific fundraisers among the House Democratic freshman class.

Later, Boehner will campaign for Republican Reps. Phil English and Tim Murphy, both of whom could face tight contests this year.

English represents the Third District, which encompasses Erie County and several smaller counties in the northwest corner of the state. He won election to his seventh term by twelve points in 2006, two years after beating the same challenger by twenty points. President Bush won relatively narrow six- and five-point victories in the district in his two races, and if the economy is a front-burner issue this year, Democrats might have a shot at upsetting English, whose district has been disproportionately hit by the economic slowdown that has plagued the Rust Belt. Four Democrats running in next week's primary have raised over $100,000 for their races.

Murphy's Eighteenth District surrounds Pittsburgh on the west, east and south, and gave Bush fewer votes than English's did. Murphy beat a business executive with 58% of the vote in 2006 after several better-known Democrats backed out of running. One of those potential challengers who backed out, former State Treasurer Barbara Hafer, is helping her daughter Beth, a businesswoman in the district, run this time, though she faces stiff competition from businessman Steve O'Donnell, who has outraised Hafer more than two to one.

Boehner's trip will be funded by his political action committee, The Freedom Project, which through February had $421,000 in the bank to help Republican candidates. In February, the group doled out $40,000 to candidates across the country, including a $5,000 contribution to John McCain's presidential campaign, and $5,000 each to failed Illinois Congressional candidate Jim Oberweis and that state's Republican Party. Through February, Boehner's PAC had spent about $208,000 on operating expenses and contributions.