The cold of winter did not stop Republicans in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties from breaking ground Friday night in the race for one of Pennsylvania's seats in the U.S. Senate.

More than 500 people gathered in the Franklin Regional Middle School auditorium to hear their party's candidates and cast votes in a straw poll for the man they would like to challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in November.

The forum was organized by the Murrysville-Export Republican Committee after Jill Cooper, the group's chairwoman, realized she -- and many voters -- needed to know more about their candidates.

"I've met four of the candidates running, and I'm not sure who I'm going to vote for," Ms. Cooper said. "It's a critical election, and I want to be educated when I vote. I don't want to be told who I should vote for. I want to make up my own mind."

Those appearing at the forum were former state Rep. Sam Rohrer of Berks County; lawyer Marc Scaringi, a Murrysville native; Steve Welch, a businessman from Chester County; Tim Burns, a businessman from Washington County; Tom Smith, who worked in the coal industry and lives on a farm in Armstrong County; and John Kensinger, a pharmacist from Bedford County.

David Christian, a Philadelphia businessman, was unable to attend the event, and Robert Mansfield, also of Philadelphia, has dropped out of the race to compete for a House seat.

Each of the men was given two minutes to speak on a number of issues and, speaking as Republicans to Republicans, expressed similar stances on a number of issues, including energy policy, corporate tax rates, labor laws, abortion, gun rights, America's role in the world, term limits and recess appointments.

"Everybody sort of believes similar things, but I think we saw some nuances in how the candidates might perform in a debate against Casey," Ms. Cooper said after the forum. "You can't ignore that. We need a candidate of convictions who can convince the voters."