As Republicans gather this weekend in New York City to bask in the glow of their electoral triumphs (Pittsburgh Dem Mike Doyle joked that he's skipping Pennsylvania Society for a rare D.C. weekend with his wife, in part because he doesn't want to get into a barfight with gleeful GOP'ers) they are also sizing up contenders for the next big statewide race: the 2012 matchup against Sen. Bob Casey, the son of the former governor who stormed into office in 2006 over a fella who now has eyes on the presidency. And the funny thing about the early rumored candidates to run against Casey: Most are former staffers to Rick Santorum.

First we had Marc Scaringi, the only one so far to actually file the paperwork to run, who worked on Santorum's first Senate run in 1994 then spent a year in the senator's D.C. office.

Then this week, PoliticsPA reported that Westmoreland County state Sen. Kim Ward, another '94 Santorum campaign vet, could be plotting a run. State Senate Appropriations chair Jake Corman, the state director for Santorum from 1994-98, also has been mentioned. A Democratic source quipped in an email: "Santorum Revenge?"

But perhaps the most formidable potential challenger to Casey is U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Allentown, a three-term Congressman who took over Pat Toomey's seat and has never worked for Santorum. Dent is quoted in the Morning Call today saying that he hasn't been talking about a Senate run, but: "One never rules anything out in this world. We're not at the stage to engage in that conversation yet."

Dent's election would mean that both of Pennsylvania's senators would be from Allentown. We can't have that, can we?