With April 24 primary, Pa. is a prize in GOP presidential contest

Now that Super Tuesday has failed to shake a single Republican presidential candidate out of the race, it looks like Pennsylvania’s April 24 primary will be hotly contested.

Five states will hold holding primary elections on April 24th — including New York and Pennsylvania, with big delegate counts at stake, said Shirley Anne Warshaw, a political science professor and presidential scholar at Gettysburg College.

“We will be important both because we are part of a collective group and, by April 24, there aren’t enough delegates at stake in March and early April,” she said. “There’s only one earlier primary — that’s April 3 — that will really make a significant difference.”

Because of the four-way division of the race, Warshaw said candidates are going after “at-large” delegates, who pick their candidate instead of pledging their votes to whichever candidate wins a certain congressional district.

Pennsylvania has 10 such unpledged delegates.

Warshaw says Mitt Romney, in particular, is vying for their support by sewing up as many endorsements from prominent Republicans as possible.

Although candidates may be going after endorsements and party insiders, she says Pennsylvanians can expect to see a barrage of campaign ads on radio and television as the primary nears.