Rick Santorum

JEFFERSON TWP — Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum will announce his plans on a presidential run at Penn United Technologies, 799 N. Pike Road.

The announcement will be at 5 p.m. May 27, according to a news release issued Thursday by his political committee.

“Sen. Santorum has asked to use our facility for a nationwide announcement. That’s all we know,” said Penn United President Bill Jones.

“We are pleased to have him come back and visit. In ’94 he was in to see us back then,” Jones said. “We have had good relations with Sen. Santorum since then.”

“I’m not sure why he picked this site,” said Jones. “We’re just excited to hear what he has to say on the 27th.”

Jones said Santorum will speak before a group of invited employees and members of the community.

Penn United is in Jefferson Township and Santorum spent his grade school and high school years in Butler.

Santorum campaigned for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. The nod was eventually won by Mitt Romney.

Santorum won 11 state primaries before he suspended his campaign that year. He was a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007. Before that, he was a U.S. Representative for four years.

Born in Virginia, Santorum spent much of his childhood in Butler County. He attended Butler Catholic School and Butler High School.

He was here because his parents worked at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facility in Butler Township.

Republicans Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio have each announced their candidacy for the GOP nomination, while others are contemplating the decision.