GOP field grows to 4 to run for Pa. lieutenant governor

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A fourth Republican is throwing a hat into the ring to run for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.

Joe Gale, a Montgomery County commissioner, announced Tuesday that he's running for the party's nomination, even though the 28-year-old won't meet the state's constitutional age threshold of 30 when the next lieutenant governor is sworn in in January 2019.

Gale couldn't serve until March 2019, when he turns 30.

Gale joins a field that includes former state Rep. Gordon Denlinger of Lancaster County, suburban Philadelphia real estate investor Jeffrey Bartos and Otto Voit, a Berks County businessman who ran for state treasurer in 2016.

March 6 is the deadline for major party candidates to file paperwork to get on the May 15 primary election ballot.

Five Democrats have lined up to contest the re-election bid of Lt. Gov. Mike Stack in the party's primary.