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Paterno’s son to run for Pa. lieutenant governor

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Jay Paterno, the son of late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, told party officials Thursday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.

Paterno is circulating petitions to get on the May 20 primary ballot.

Paterno did not immediately return a call or e-mail seeking comment after a campaign Web site went live Thursday morning.

Paterno has long been active in Democratic Party politics, campaigning for President Obama in 2008 and 2012. Party officials had expected he might run for Congress in north-central Pennsylvania, but Paterno told party officials he believed he could serve better by staying in the state.

The elder Paterno died in January 2012, two months after being fired by university trustees as the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal exploded. Sandusky was a Paterno assistant coach at Penn State.