Ridge ‘opens the door.’ Who will go through it?

By deciding not to run for Senate, former Gov. Tom Ridge has given license to as many as half-a-dozen lower-level Republicans who had been circling the primary race. The only question now: Who will dive in?

“I think it opens the door for other candidates, and I think you’ll see them emerge pretty quickly,” said longtime GOP consultant Charlie Gerow.

The party establishment had been encouraging Ridge to run with the hope of having a candidate the GOP could line up behind. It remains unclear if the state GOP will seek to back a specific candidate, or wait and see as candidates jockey for support from the rank-and-file. Party chairman Rob Gleason could not be immediately reached Thursday afternoon.

But most focus will likely be on Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-7), former Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton, state Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi.

Pat Toomey, Peg Luksik and Larry Murphy have all already declared their candidacies.