Pa. field of GOP candidates for Senate growing

    The field of Republican candidates running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania is getting crowded.

    There’s no standout candidate yet among the seven candidates who so far have emerged. They include pharmacist John Kensinger and businessman Tom Smith.

    Christopher Borick, a political scientist at Muhlenberg College, says many candidates are businessmen. That, Borick said, could work to their advantage as they focus on their opponent, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.

    “In a year where economic matters are front and center in the campaign, their ability to claim that their background as businessmen and people that have created jobs is something that they can leverage against Bob Casey in a general election,” Borick said.

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    Other GOP businessmen who have officially announced their candidacies are David Christian and Steve Welch.

    But there’s also lawyer Marc Scaringi, retired military Col. John Vernon, and tea party activist Laureen Cummings.

    In a recent Quinnipiac University poll, voters said 48 to 31 that Casey should be re-elected.

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