from 1991 to 2001. She was later appointed co-chair of the Platform Committee for the 2004 Republican National Convention. She convened a task force to rename the Pittsburgh region’s highway system of I-279S/US-22/30W/PA-60N to extend and become a part of federal highway I-376. This initiative was researched and supported by local governments and the commonwealth as a tool to attract outside development to the region. This was supported by site selection professional who participated as well as the Southwest PA Regional Planning Commission. Hart co-chaired the Republican Party platform of 2004. In 2005 she was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee. Hart played an active role in the race for majority leader in early 2006. As a top whip for the successful candidacy of Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), she worked to secure votes for him in the race. She was one of a handful of GOP members who called for a full set of new leadership elections for whip, conference chair, and other offices below the majority leader position, but that motion narrowly failed the day before the majority leader race. Had this motion passed, Hart may have challenged Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH) for House Republican Conference Chairman, the No. 4 leadership spot. In December 2002, Hart was a candidate for Conference Vice-Chair, the No. 5 leadership spot, but lost to Jack Kingston (R-GA). In a 2002 PoliticsPA feature story designating politicians with yearbook superlatives, Hart was named amongst those "Most Likely to Succeed." 2006 election As the 2006 campaign season approached, Hart's congressional seat was not considered vulnerable, and Hart was described in media accounts as a "rising star" in Republican politics, who had never lost an election and who had demonstrated a unique ability to appeal to non-conservative voters even while maintaining a generally conservative voting record. In late 2005, her predecessor in the House of Representatives, Democrat Ron Klink, publicly mulled over the possibility of challenging Hart for his old seat. However, in late December, Klink announced that he would not run. Jason Altmire, a 38-year-old health care executive and political unknown (and, by coincidence, a neighbor of Hart's brother), ultimately won the Democratic nomination for the seat. For most of 2006, the Altmire campaign was viewed as a long shot, but as the campaign wound down his poll numbers surged and Hart's dropped. An October, a Susquehanna poll showed Hart with what was then