It looks like Pennsylvania 18, a rather competitive congressional district that George W. Bush carried with 51 percent of the vote in 2000 and 54 percent in 54, should be on the map in 2008 as its Representative, Republican Tim Murphy, comes under federal investigation. KDKA's Andy Sheehan has the scoop.

A federal investigation is underway after allegations surfaced against US Rep. Tim Murphy.

Sources tell KDKA federal agents have begun interviewing former Murphy staffers on whether they did political work for the congressman on government time.

As a refresher, here is the original report from KDKA:

Back when this story first broke during the waning moments of the 2006 campaign, Democrats were ill-prepared to fully capitalize on it. While there was a Democratic candidate running in the race -- Chad Kluko -- so Murphy was not one of the 10 unopposed Republican Congressmen this year, Kluko was never able to gain much traction in the race. Murphy was not targeted from the outset of the campaign, little outside money went into the race from the Democratic side and as of the last three weeks of the campaign Kluko had only spent $80,000 to Murphy's $1.45 million. With numbers like these it's no wonder that Kluko only managed to get within 16 points of Murphy on election day.

But 2008 should be different. As noted above, PA-18 is a relatvely competitive district with the slightest of Republican leans (in the range of 2-3 PVI points). What's more, the trend in both Pennsylvania and throughout the Northeast is one moving away from the Republicans towards the Democrats, with House and Senate seats flipping to the Democrats in the state as well as the lower chamber of the state legislature. With these regional and statewide trends in place, the FBI investigation into Rep. Murphy's activities could help tip the balance in the Democrats' favor. Now, the Democratic Party needs to take the time and effort to find the right candidate for the district so that they can put Pennsylvania's 18th district in the blue for the 111th Congress.