HARRISBURG -- Barely an hour had passed after state Rep. Sean Ramaley's announcement that he was withdrawing from his state Senate race, and Michael Sisk's phone was already ringing.

"I've been on the phone for five days straight" with people interested in taking Mr. Ramaley's place on the ballot, said Dr. Sisk, a Beaver County chiropractor and chairman of the county Democratic committee.

So far, seven have expressed interest. Some serve in local government, but none has ever served in the Legislature.

They are retired Center Township police officer Steve Drobac; former newspaperman Bob Grotevant, who runs the state treasury's southwest office; Economy Mayor David Poling; doctoral student Jason Petrella, who ran against Mr. Ramaley in the primary; Beaver County Commissioner Joe Spanik; accountant Anthony Razzano of New Castle and Bob Villella, president of Central Tax Bureau of Pennsylvania.

The Beaver and Lawrence county Democratic committees have until Aug. 21 to choose which of them will replace Mr. Ramaley on the ballot and face Republican Elder Vogel Jr.

Mr. Ramaley dropped out of the race Thursday, three weeks after he and 11 other current and former lawmakers and staffers were arrested on charges they illegally used government resources to finance political campaigns. Mr. Ramaley is accused of accepting a no-work state job so he could be paid while he worked on his own campaign for state representative in 2004.

"It's clear from the discussions that I've had that there's great concern that the candidate be someone who is divorced from the political scene and has not been involved in the situations that have been going on in Harrisburg," said Mr. Grotevant, who covered the Legislature as a reporter for eight years before becoming press secretary to then-Gov. Bob Casey.

Whoever wins the nomination will have to cover a lot of ground in the 10 weeks leading up to the Nov. 4 election.

"The district is very spread out," covering most of Lawrence and Beaver counties and part of Allegheny, said Richard Christopher, Lawrence County party chairman. "Whoever gets the nomination is going to have to rely on people to show them around and introduce them to diverse [constituencies]. It'll be a challenge."

But the district is heavily Democratic, so it's likely that the replacement candidate will take office in January.

Mr. Christopher said Mr. Petrella, 33, of Monaca, could have an advantage over the others seeking the nomination because he knows the district and has name recognition because of his primary race against Mr. Ramaley.

Others, though, say party insiders may be bitter that he mounted a competitive primary challenge against an endorsed candidate.

"I was going up against the machine and a lot of people took an interest in that," Mr. Petrella said yesterday. "I think reform is on the mind of the party right now, and they'll want to bring in a young, educated progressive."

Mr. Spanik, 61, is hoping the committee will want someone with local government experience. He is in his second term as a Beaver County commissioner and is former vice president of the Beaver County Labor Council.

"I understand how legislation gets created for human services, jails and other county services," he said yesterday. "I understand roads and transportation, and how the decisions that the Legislature makes impact on residents."

The seat is currently held by Gerald LaValle, who is retiring.