<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pennsylvania Rep. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://data.rollcall.com/members/31250?rel=memberLink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mike Kelly</a> amped up speculation Wednesday that he will try to oust Sen. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://data.rollcall.com/members/15266?rel=memberLink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bob Casey</a> next year, telling a conservative news site that he is considering a run for the seat.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I’d be lying to you if I said I’m not looking so, sure. I’m looking,” the four-term Republican <a shape="rect" href="https://dailycaller.com/2017/04/05/rep-mike-kelly-eyes-sen-bob-caseys-seat/">told The Daily Caller</a>, adding that he was also interested in running for governor.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">That comes amid speculation that Kelly, 68, would try to ride his state’s support for Donald Trump to higher office. Trump carried Pennsylvania in last fall’s election, the first Republican to do so since 1988.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Kelly and Casey, a Democrat, recently traded barbs over Casey’s opposition to Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Kelly compared Casey, unfavorably, to Casey’s father, <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" href="https://data.rollcall.com/members/15266?rel=memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bob Casey</a> Sr., who served as the state’s governor from 1987 to 1995.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“The only thing they have in common is their name,” he <a shape="rect" href="https://www.dailyitem.com/news/local_news/supreme-court-pick-vote-will-have-consequences-in-pro-trump/article_2f5af45d-8d12-598a-b796-bfa4472544a9.html">told The Daily Item</a> of Sunbury, Pennsylvania. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Casey’s office took the bait. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“When Congressman Kelly isn’t hiding from his constituents who want a town hall, he’s floating baseless conspiracy theories about President [Barack] Obama running a shadow government and launching snippy attacks on others,” Casey spokesman John Rizzo said in an email to the Pennsylvania politics blog, <a shape="rect" href="https://www.politicspa.com/casey-hits-back-at-kelly-over-gorsuch-nomination/82461/">PoliticsPA</a>. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“We are becoming a bit concerned about Congressman Kelly — maybe Washington has gotten to him,” Rizzo continued.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The blog speculated that Casey was trying to prepare for a possible Kelly challenge. Kelly has campaigned in past races as a Washington outsider. </span></p><div id="cqrcPostAdditional"></div>
