WASHINGTON—Three House Republicans from Pennsylvania were among those who switched course Friday and voted for legislation providing $700 billion in relief to ailing financial institutions—even though they opposed a similar measure earlier this week.

Reps. Bill Shuster, Jim Gerlach and Charles Dent were among the new supporters of the bill that passed 263-171.

In all, 12 House members from Pennsylvania supported it, while seven voted against it.

Among those who maintained their "no" vote from Monday were GOP Rep. Phil English and Democratic Reps. Chris Carney and Jason Altmire, each of whom are in competitive House races in the Nov. 4 election.

"At its core, the bill before the House was a poor remedy to a very real problem," English said in a statement.

Rep. Paul Kanjorski, a Democrat from northeast Pennsylvania who also faces a formidable opponent, maintained his "yes" vote, saying, "Medicine may be hard to swallow sometimes, but it sure beats choosing to remain ill."

Shuster, a conservative from central Pennsylvania, said he knows some voters will be angry, but decided to support it because he's worried about job losses and further economic fallout.

"I've pushed as far as I can, and we're at a point where there are only two directions we can go from here, and they are backwards or nothing, and I believe deeply that neither is an option. We must move forward," Shuster said on a conference call with reporters.

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Democratic Pennsylvania Reps. Bob Brady, Joe Sestak, Mike Doyle, Patrick Murphy, John Murtha, Allyson Schwartz and Chaka Fattah voted in favor. Rep. Tim Holden, a Democrat, and GOP Reps. Tim Murphy, Joe Pitts and Todd Platts voted against it.

On Monday, nine Pennsylvania House members voted for the original failed bailout bill, while 10 opposed it. The only House Republican from the state to support it was retiring Rep. John Peterson, who also voted for the new version Friday.

Several sweeteners were then added to the language, such as $110 billion in tax and spending provisions. The Senate passed it on Wednesday with the help of Pennsylvania Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey.

The legislation is designed to allow the government to buy bad mortgages and other devalued assets held by troubled banks and financial institutions.