To the small group of people who care about the inner workings of the lovely 5th Congressional district of PA, in the wake of John Peterson's retirement announcement:
Republican State Sen. Jake Corman, the prohibitive favorite to succeed Peterson, will NOT run for the seat.
"Ultimately, as exciting as it would be to serve in the United States Congress and help shape public policy on a national level, the decision came down to what is best for my family," Corman said in the news release.
The most often-mentioned possible Democrat, State Rep. Scott Conklin, has also ruled out a run for the seat.
So who's left? I'm betting these people were waiting to see if Corman or Conklin got in.
Patton Township Republican Matt Shaner, who was defeated in the Republican primary two years ago for the 77th District state House seat, said Monday that he is thinking about it, too. "I am strongly considering running but no final decision has been made yet," Shaner said.
State Rep. Martin Causer, RBradford, a second-term state House member who represents Cameron and Potter counties and part of McKean County, said he is considering running for the 5th District seat.
He said Peterson did such a good job representing rural Pennsylvania that "whoever takes that position next is going to have a really hard act to follow."
Veteran Democratic state Reps. Dan Surra, of Clearfield and Elk counties, and Mike Hanna, of Clinton and Centre Counties, are thought to be potential Democratic candidates for the open congressional seat. Neither could be reached for comment.
So we may hear from them soon now that Corman has announced his intentions. Shaner is a young Santorum-wannabe. Yuck. Scarnati is another possibility on the Republican side. I'm not sure why he isn't mentioned in the article.
UPDATE: More speculation from the CDT on this race. One of Peterson's aids is interested, as well as a few prominent Centre County Republicans. They don't want to split up the Centre vote, so they are waiting for State Rep Kerry Benninghoff to decide, and go from there.
On the Dem side, the mayor of Lock Haven is considering. Still no word from Surra or Hanna.
UPDATE2: Via Christopher Walker below, for the Repubs, Benninghoff is definitely out and Shaner is definitely in.
