They voted for the health care bill. With enough money behind the opposition, could they be voted out of office next year?

Republicans aim to find out with a new effort to raise campaign funds for challengers to two dozen House Democrats who voted for the health care bill earlier this month.

Reverse The Vote Victory Committee was established this week with the Federal Election Commission as a joint fundraising committee that will collect contributions to distribute among 24 GOP challengers.

It's still months until the first nominees will be formally selected in primary elections, so the committee for the time being will give campaign funds to 24 separate "congressional victory committees" that in turn will deliver the funds to party nominees once they are determined.

Republican Lou Barletta, the mayor of Hazelton, Pa., is getting close to announcing a third attempt to oust Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, according to a Republican source who has been following the impending campaign. That announcement could come by the end of the week, the source said.

Barletta gave Kanjorski a close fight in 2008, and though he ended up losing 52 percent to 48 percent; six years earlier, Kanjorski won by a margin of 56 percent to 42 percent.

Barletta's entrance into the race makes this a top-tier contest for Republicans, who are hoping to pick up a couple Pennsylvania seats in the 2010 cycle.

National Republicans see Barletta as their best choice to defeat Kanjorski in northeast Pennsylvania's 11th Congressional District. "Kanjorski is feeling pressure on both sides -- with a primary on his left and potentially a looming general election battle," Tony Mazzola, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a written statement.

Dozens of House Democrats bucked their party on Saturday's health care vote. But how about those who might have taken a political risk by siding with their party?

Let's look at the Democrats from Republican-leaning districts who voted for the bill and Republicans from Democratic-friendly districts who opposed it.

Of the 49 House Democrats that represent districts that John McCain won in 2008, 18 of them voted for the bill.

The Democrat narrowly defeated by Arlen Specter in the 1992 Senate race is still against him despite the party switch.

Lynn Yeakel is scheduled to endorse Sestak Nov. 12 in Philadelphia.

A little-known businesswoman at the time, Yeakel challenged Specter after seeing him question Anita Hill during the Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings. Specter won that race by a slim margin of 49 percent to 46 percent.

"I¹ve known Joe for four years and he has the character and integrity to represent our party and our Commonwealth in Washington," Yeakel said.

A top Republican senator who once dismissed former Rep. Pat Toomey's chances of winning the Pennsylvania Senate race will host a fundraiser for him in late November.

After Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., announced last April that he was switching parties to run for re-election as a Democrat, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, publicly rebuffed Toomey's chances of winning the Senate seat.

"I don't think there is anybody in the world who believes he can get elected senator there," Hatch was quoted as saying on April 29.

Now Hatch is scheduled to headline a high-dollar fundraising lunch on Nov. 17 "in support of" Toomey, according to a copy of the event invitation.

"Our campaign has worked hard and succeeded in persuading a great many people of Pat Toomey's prospects in this race, and now every public poll proves it," said Toomey campaign spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik. "Pat is very pleased to have Sen. Hatch's support and looks forward to working with him throughout the campaign and serving with him in the Senate."

Specter said he was changing parties because he could not defeat Toomey in the GOP primary.

CQ Politics currently rates the race Leans Democratic.

Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire this week drew his first Republican challenger for the 2010 campaign. And that candidate, lawyer Keith J. Rothfus, may soon have company for the GOP primary next May.

Republican state Rep. Mike Turzai told CQ Politics Wednesday that he's considering a bid to challenge Altmire, a two-term incumbent, in the western Pennsylvania's 4th District. It would be a return to House politics for Turzai, who lost the 1998 race in the 4th District to then-Democratic incumbent Ron Klink.

Turzai, however, emphasized that he's concentrating for the time being on trying to end a budget impasse in Harrisburg, the state capital. Turzai, who is his party's state House whip, and his GOP colleagues are resisting proposals to increase taxes.

"I have a job to do on behalf of my constituents and the citizens of Pennsylvania," Turzai said. "Until that budget battle settles, I'm just really not going to make any decisions up until then."

Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire, a two-term Democrat, has drawn his first Republican challenger for the 2010 campaign.

Keith J. Rothfus, a lawyer, confirmed to CQ Politics Tuesday that he recently filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. He issued a press release later Tuesday announcing his candidacy and outlining some of his reasons he is running in the 4th District, which includes suburbs of Pittsburgh and other territory in western Pennsylvania.

"We need policies that focus on lowering the tax burden on employers, not policies that add new costs, such as the health care and 'cap and trade' bills pending in Congress," Rothfus said.

Altmire, however, voted against cap-and-trade, which refers to a provision in an energy bill, passed by the House and pending in the Senate, that would limit emissions related to global warming -- a concept supported by many Democrats but opposed by most Republicans on economic grounds.

A political consultant and Democratic activist with ties to the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and to Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak wants to succeed Sestak in the House.

E. Teresa Touey told the Pennsylvania political blog pa2010.com that she will relocate from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania's 7th District, of which she is a native.

Touey said that she feels "real strongly that economic development is what needs to happen in Delaware County over the next decade." Delaware County, located west and south of Philadelphia, accounts for more than 70 percent of the vote in the 7th, which also includes parts of Chester and Montgomery Counties.

Former Pennsylvania Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel is joining what has become a very crowded 2010 Democratic primary for governor.

Hoeffel, who is an elected commissioner in Montgomery County near Philadelphia, on Sunday told the Pennsylvania political blog pa2010.com, "I do intend to run. I'm going to move forward aggressively. I'm in the race and ready to ride."

Hoeffel represented Pennsylvania's 13th District in the House from 1999 through 2004, when he was the losing Democratic nominee for Senate against then-Republican incumbent Arlen Specter.

The conservative Family Research Council's political action committee plans to target 16 congressional races in 2010. The group's president, Tony Perkins, said the PAC has a goal of raising $1 million to boost grassroots activity in targeted races.

The group wants to spend money to help favored candidates take over the seats now represented by:

Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat who is running for a full term in Colorado after his appointment this year;

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, a Democrat who is running for re-election in Connecticut;

New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, a Republican who is retiring;

Missouri Sen. Christopher S. Bond, a Republican who is retiring;

Rep. John Boccieri, a Democrat who represents Ohio's 16th District;