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When Planning A Gubernatorial Campaign, First Check The Requirements

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

The table was set last week for Kris Hart to declare his candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor of Pennsylvania. The 34-year-old entrepreneur had recently returned to his home state from Washington, D.C., where he had owned a neighborhood grocery store, worked on a Senate staff and started a program to help the homeless. What better time to run for office?

Hart planned his announcement for last Thursday, but then he got a call from a reporter - a public radio reporter, in fact. Dave Davies, of our member station WHYY in Philadelphia, had a question for the prospective candidate. What about the residency requirement? Oh, that.

Turns out, the Pennsylvania Constitution requires candidates running for governor to have lived in the Keystone state for a minimum of seven years before the election. Having moved back home just last month, Hart was way, way short. But you can't keep a would-be-Paul (ph) down. Kris Hart now says he's considering a run for the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania, an office that does not have a prior residency requirement. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

As special correspondent and guest host of NPR's news programs, Melissa Block brings her signature combination of warmth and incisive reporting. Her work over the decades has earned her journalism's highest honors, and has made her one of NPR's most familiar and beloved voices.