Promising smaller government and the elimination of school property taxes, state Rep. Sam Rohrer last night made a three-way fight of the race for the Republican nomination for governor.

The Berks County lawmaker, with a reputation as an economic and social conservative, declared his candidacy in a 40-minute speech and webcast from a volunteer fire hall in his district. In an earnest, at times quietly emotional voice, the veteran lawmaker denounced "atrocity in Washington," and the undermining of constitutional freedoms as he pledged to confront, "challenges unparalleled in the history of this commonwealth."

He said his administration would drive down spending and contain taxes on business as a means of restoring jobs.

"Spending more than we have has occurred under both parties and for a long time," he said.

In addition to changing the funding system for education, he called for greater competition among schools and increased performance standards for students.

Mr. Rohrer joins Attorney General Tom Corbett and Rep. Jim Gerlach in the GOP field. He and several legislative supporters who joined him on the Spring Township podium acknowledged the challenge of competing with two more established and better known rivals. But he hopes to tap into the support of some of the same energized conservative activists that have turned out for tea party rallies across the state.

Just hours before the conservative legislator's webcast, a report surfaced that one of the state's best-known conservatives, former Sen. Rick Santorum, had enlisted in the Corbett effort. The news, on the Web site GrassrootsPA, came in the form of a Corbett fundraising letter with Mr. Santorum's signature. The Virginia resident and Philadelphia Inquirer columnist added his name to the litany of senior Republicans who have endorsed the attorney general. Mr. Corbett had a good week politically. He reaped the fruits of incumbency as he appeared in headlines across the state heralding investigations of political corruption and drug dealing.

In the Corbett momentum with the GOP hierarchy, Mr. Gerlach has fought to counter any sense of inevitability about the prosecutor's nomination.

"We have said all along that rank-and-file Republican voters deserve a fair, open and competitive process that gives people a choice," his campaign said in a statement greeting the Rohrer announcement. "With anywhere from 50 to 75 percent of Republican primary voters undecided in ... recent statewide polls, party leaders would do a great disservice by forcing an endorsement of one candidate over another."

The Gerlach camp portrayed the Rohrer candidacy as evidence of the search for alternatives among the party's rank-and-file. But it complicates their tactical challenge in that Mr. Gerlach's congressional seat overlaps Mr. Rohrer's legislative district, meaning that, at least in terms of geography, they will compete for the same political base.

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