Rick Santorum Plans Election Party Tuesday in the Area

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum will be in Cranberry Tuesday evening to play host to an election party.

Santorum, who was raised in Butler, will be at the as elections results come in from the Maryland and Wisconsin primaries.

Doors open at 8 p.m. for the 9 p.m. event. Seven Fields resident Allison Beresnyak, who is part of Santorum’s campaign team, said all are welcome at the election party.

“This is completely open event,” she said. “We’re expecting a great crowd.”

Santorum— who represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007—is one of four presidential candidates seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for president.

According to a primary poll published on Real Clear Politics, Santorum is closing in on Mitt Romney’s lead with Wisconsin’s GOP primary voters, which was in the double-digits two weeks ago.

As of Monday, Romney is still up by 7.5 points.

Polls show Romney retains has a comfortable lead in Maryland, where he is ahead of Santorum by 25 points. The other Republican presidential candidates are Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.

Pennsylvania’s primary election is April 24.