The GOP state Senate primary is rivaling the between Jason Altmire and Mark Critz as the toughest primary in the state, let along the Pittsburgh region.

Following up on at his Scott tech firm, the Mustio camp has released the mail piece above going over the same territory. There is nothing wrong with the attack facts, but it's interesting for directly tracking the d in the county executive race last fall, down to the sourcing from the same 2005 magazine story. One gets the impression from the Raja camp that they don't like the tone of either attack, which

The Raja camp has gone negative too -- just as it did . PoliticsPa tracked down an ad below knocking Mustio and for collecting the per-diems allotted to lawmakers. Again, that's old ground but odd to hear in a race between two Republicans. (GOP activist Sue Means is also in the race.)

It says in part:

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Romney has a speech in DC today before heading to the Philly burbs tonight and Harrisburg tomorrow. Santorum has events today in Carnegie, Altoona and Mechanicsburg. (PoliticsPa has .)

The in Pa has Obama beating Romney and Santorum by 3 to 7 points respectively.

The full Pennsylvania memo from the Obama camp is after the jump:

DeWeese, a Democratic former speaker of the House, has continued to represent Greene County after his convictions in February on five felony corruption charges, but the law prevents him from continuing after he is sentenced on April 24. The House meets this week for the last time before that day, also the date of primary elections this year.

Standing on the chamber floor, DeWeese waxed as eloquent as ever, citing Samuel Johnson, Jack Benny and Augustine and drawing laughter from both sides of the aisle.

He referred only glancingly to the circumstances that will force his departure from the House.

"We are all, I think, endeavoring to do our best," he said. "Mistakes are made, and that's where this humility comes in. Now I'm not as humble as I want to be, but I'm a lot more humble than I used to be."

Having promised at the outset to speak of gratitude and humility, he continued, "That's pretty much that part of the speech," prompting laughter and applause from the lawmakers.

Even though he may lose in all three of today's primaries -- from establishment Mitt Romney forces that he drop from the presidential race --  Rick Santorum has seemed anything but stressed lately. Instead he's been treating Wisconsin like spring break, :

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, who'll be, may need the sauce now that has shown his lead slipping in his native Pennsylvania. Between the lines, his celebration of beer and wine drinking also says:

Going into Holy Week -- where we expect campaigning to idle a bit by the end of the week -- he's also differentiating himself from his GOP rival's massive wealth and questioning whether there's some funny business regarding his blind trusts.

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Yesterday the Santorum camp released tying Romney to Obama, but the WashPost dismisses it with four Pinnochios.The ad "takes only 30 seconds to throw just about everything, including the kitchen sink, at his chief rival,"

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As Laura Olson , a right-wing Houston group called the Campaign For Primary Accountability has pledged to spend $200,000 in adverstising to challenge U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy's credentials, and thereby help his tea party-aligned primary opponent Evan Feinberg. The ad is above. Following a script it used successfully in , the group resurfaces former campaign ethics questions about the Upper St. Clair Republican and votes on earmarks and debt spending, over a graphic of a sinking cargo ship. "It's time to end Murphy's cruise," the spot says.

The independent group's ad (found here at its ) does not mention Feinberg, a former aide to senators Tom Coburn and Rand Paul who moved back to the South Hills to take on Murphy. from the Club For Growth they are focused only on taking down the four-term incumbent.

Murphy, who took over much of Rick Santorum's congressional district after he moved to the Senate, with the presidential candidate at an event on gas prices tomorrow morning in Irwin. UPDATE 2:30 PM: The 11 a.m. event.

UPDATE: from Murphy campaign manager James Genovese:

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Pennsylvania native Rick Santorum holds an edge over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney among likely voters in the Keystone State in the race to become the Republican presidential candidate, a poll released this morning shows.

Mr. Santorum has a 41-35 percent lead over Mr. Romney in Pennsylvania, according to the Quinnipiac University poll.

Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul has 10 percent and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich follows with 7 percent.

But 6 percent of likely voters remain undecided and 37 percent of those who name a candidate say they still could change their mind before the April 24 primary, the independent poll says.

"The Keystone State is critical for Sen. Rick Santorum, the native son who must win to reasonably continue the race for the presidency," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"Pennsylvania is a critical swing state, so the Republican primary winner wants to make a good showing in April to bolster chances for success in November."

The latest polls in the state shows Mr. Santorum leading Mr. Romney, 43-33 percent among men, while women split, favoring Mr. Santorum by only 39-38 percent. Mr. Santorum also leads 53-24 percent among white evangelical Christians, 50-32 percent among Tea Party members and 48-30 percent among self-described conservatives. Mr. Romney is ahead, 45-29 percent, among self-described moderates.

From March 27 through Sunday, Quinnipiac University surveyed 647 likely Repub1ican primary voters in the state with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

See .

We highlighted three items up for consideration this week:

- Karen Langley is an hour and a half into a House committee meeting this morning, where lawmakers are debating .

- A bill is on the House docket, notes Tom Barnes. 

- And House Speaker Sam Smith's proposal also could see a vote, though it would require approval again next session and by the voters.

Meanwhile, the hottest gossip surrounds a pending proposal from the Corbett administration to .

Proponents say that plan, on which top lawmakers and labor union officials were briefed but has not yet been officially unveiled, would give the state more money in the coming years for seniors programs.

The chosen consultant likely would be required to pay an upfront fee, as well as guarantee the state a certain percentage during the following contract years.

The tea party nod , which last week released poll results but with nearly 50% undecided.

Smith came in second to GOP opponent and former state Rep. Sam Rohrer at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, and PPP in their last survey of Republican voters. A lot of undecideds remain in the under-the-radar race, which also includes veterans advocate David Christian, Harrisburg lawyer Marc Scaringi and Chester County businessman Steve Welch.

Welch -- who -- has been last in most polls and to raise his profile.

The full statement from the tea party group is after the jump:

So much for Rick Santorum taking it easy.

The GOP establishment is closing ranks and calling for an end to the presidential primary -- and Santorum has sent , as usual, about his intentions -- but a rough new negative ad about Mitt Romney signals he's battling to the end. The ad (above) starts with a picture of Obama and mentions health care reform, support of cap-and-trade and tax increases, then ends with the following line over a picture of Romney: "One more thing: what if I told you the man I'm talking about isn't him, it's him."

How rough is he? He's even taking on the dean of Pennsylvania pollsters and political experts, Terry Madonna of Franklin & Marshall, for having the gall to say his in his former home state. catches up with Santorum's appearance yesterday on Fox News Sunday:

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So don't you dare say Santorum may lose the Pennsylvania beauty contest in three weeks. Back on Fox again this morning he "absolutely" guaranteed a win in the April 24 primary. () And his spokesman that they're staying in the race through Tampa. That may be harder to believe if Romney scores a blowout win in Wisconsin tomorrow. He also in Maryland and D.C. (where he's not even on the ballot.)

Locals looking to see Santorum in Mars Tuesday or Irwin Wednesday (with U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy) or Altoona can get the details after the jump:

Good morning. Catching up from the weekend . . .

In Harrisburg, House Democrats are looking to flip 11 seats this tumultuous year. ()

Democrats may also file suit against the GOP-supported voter ID law. ()

Rick Santorum was elegiac in Wisconsin over the weekend. He's coming back to greater Pittsburgh and giving the national press great datelines with a Tuesday night election party in Mars. ()

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl does not support gay marriage and isn't signing on to a Mayors for the Freedom to Marry pledge. Philadelphia's Michael Nutter has endorsed the effort, and locally John Fetterman of Braddock and Adam Forgie of Turtle Creek have signed on too. Ravenstahl faces reelection next year. ()