HARRISBURG — A former coal company owner from Armstrong County is announcing his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination in next year’s U.S. Senate election.

Tom Smith’s campaign said today he would declare he’s in the race at announcements and rallies in seven Pennsylvania cities and towns in the following two days.

He describes himself as a conservative who’ll seek to “safeguard the American dream.”

Campaign consultant Mark Harris says Smith is “just really fed up with the way things have been in Washington” and that he wants to “stop the out-of-control spending and policies that continue to hurt growth in this economy.”

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey is expected to seek a second term.

By The Associated Press