Last week, in a Unity Township restaurant banquet room, a standing-room-only crowd jockeyed with stacks of "Re-elect Regola" signs for scarce wall space.

State Sen. Bob Regola, R-Hempfield, kicked off his re-election campaign Jan. 9.

Organizers had expected 300 to 500 attendees at Giannilli's II. That estimate may have been low.

Mr. Regola announced he intends to seek a second term representing the 39th District, which includes most of Westmoreland County. He was elected in 2003, defeating longtime incumbent Democrat Allen Kukovich, of Manor.

During introductions, Penn Township Commissioner Charles Horvat, Pennsylvania Business Council president David Patti and Mount Pleasant Borough Mayor Gerald Lucia praised Mr. Regola's efforts to reform state government and promote local businesses while remaining close to his constituents.

Don Thomson, chairman of the Westmoreland County Christian Coalition, led the opening prayer and Cpl. Carl Duda of West Mifflin, who has served in Iraq, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

That show of support comes at the start of what is considered by some to be a controversial bid for re-election by Mr. Regola, who faces charges in connection with the death of his family's teenage neighbor.

Louis Farrell, 14, was found shot to death in the woods behind the Regola family's home on July 22, 2006, with the senator's 9-mm handgun nearby.

A coroner's inquest ruled the teen's death a suicide, but state police filed charges against Mr. Regola in March 2007 that included three counts of perjury, allowing possession of a firearm by a minor, false swearing and reckless endangerment.

The charges arose from statements that state troopers said Mr. Regola made during their investigation that he kept his gun in the room of his 16-year-old son, Robert Regola IV. Mr. Regola later stated during the coroner's inquest that his son didn't have access to the gun. A trial date has not been set.

Although he referred in his announcement speech to challenges he's faced in his first term, the senator did not discuss the pending charges against him until a question-and-answer period with reporters following the celebration.

Asked how the young man's suicide and connected charges might affect his re-election, Mr. Regola called Louis Farrell's death "a terrible tragedy" but said he planned to run on his record.

"I keep that issue separate from my campaign," he said, adding that he was confident the charges against him would be found to be "without merit."

What was clear at the kickoff celebration is that while the pending charges may impact Mr. Regola's chances for re-election, they don't seem to have discouraged his supporters.

Sue Keegan called herself a "lifetime friend" of the senator. She graduated from Hempfield Area High School with him. She said the charges might influence voters who don't know him.

"We grew up in the same neighborhood," she said. "The people who truly know him, they're not going to change their minds."

She added, though, that the teenager's death was difficult for Hempfield residents, many of whom, like herself, were friends of both families.

Speaking of the scrutiny the senator is under, she asked, "How are you supposed to act after something like that has happened?"

As president of the Pennsylvania Business Council, Mr. Patti stressed that it was Mr. Regola's "phenomenal track record" on business issues that motivated his organization to support the senator. He said he admired Mr. Regola for continuing to work despite the publicity surrounding the charges.

"He's not in hiding," Mr. Patti said. "He shows up for work saying, 'I want to do the job.' I don't think his integrity is at issue."

Judy Knopsnider, a member of the East Derry Fire Hall auxiliary, cited Mr. Regola's efforts to secure funding for emergency responders as one reason for her support.

As for publicity surrounding the charges in connection with Louis Farrell's death, she said she believed they were the result of political maneuvering.

"He's one of the few politicians who does his job," she said. "I don't think any of it's going to affect him at all."

Mrs. Knopsnider's son, Kevin Fabian, added that as a hunter, he was thankful for Mr. Regola's strong support of gun owners.

"He appeals to the average person around here," Mr. Fabian said.

Eva Kunkel, an administrator at Saint Vincent College, said she appreciated Mr. Regola's work on behalf of small businesses.

Asked whether she thought the pending charges would affect his re-election, she looked around the packed room and shook her head.

"Judging from this, it looks like he has plenty of support."