Not the folks who were having fun on Thursday, April Fool’s Day. There were laughs to be had up and down the ballot. And undoubtedly topping the list of gags was former Republican Congressman John Peterson, who drafted up a press release announcing that he’d run for governor as an independent. Promising to run on a “pro-business, anti I-80 tolling platform,” Peterson said he’d formally launch his campaign Friday with a 10-day bus tour through Pennsylvania.

“Having served the people of Pennsylvania for over 38 years at the local, state and federal level, I could no longer sit on the sideline and watch Harrisburg mortgage Pennsylvania’s future on ill-advised policy,” Peterson said in a very real sounding statement. “After careful consultation with my wife and family, I have decided to put my name forward as an Independent candidate for Governor.”

Peterson was aided and abetted in his trickery by none other than friend-of-the-site GrassrootsPA, which posted a banner-headline link to the fake press release under the headline “BOMBSHELL: PETERSON TO RUN FOR GUV AS INDEPENDENT.” And Peterson carried on the ruse; reached by phone early Thursday morning, he said he was indeed running for governor, and would talk to us more about it later. He even started a Twitter feed for his supposed campaign.

Everything seemed Kosher for Passover, until we saw that the press contact for Peterson’s campaign was listed as “Sloof Lirpa”—an anagram for April Fool’s.

Coming in second place is Democrat Manan Trivedi’s congressional campaign, which put out a modestly-funny animated version of Larry King Live, featuring a guest Sarah Palin poking fun at the real Sarah Palin while King sang Trivedi’s praises.

You can see the video for that little joke at bottom.

And with a somewhat less lighthearted take, there was Democrat Joe Sestak, whose campaign was posting to Twitter once an hour its highlights of the things primary opponent Arlen Specter once said and now doesn’t mean. The latest when we checked Thursday afternoon: “John McCain and Sarah Palin were the better choice.”

April Fool’s.

Peterson represented the state’s mostly rural 5th Congressional District for 12 years before deciding not to seek reelection last year. In a statement, he called Gerlach “the only Republican with the kind of record to not only hit the ground running on day one, but have a positive, lasting impact on rural Pennsylvania.”

“Jim Gerlach shares our rural values, and is the only Republican candidate for Governor who has the experience to create jobs and cap state spending,” Peterson said. “Jim is independent of the failed Harrisburg establishment that continues to give us more spending and waste year after year. We need bold new leadership in our next Governor and Jim Gerlach is the future.”

Gerlach faces state Attorney General Tom Corbett in next year’s GOP primary.