Former Sen. Rick Santorum will officially declare he's running for president June 6 in southwestern Pennsylvania. Santorum picked that location because it's where his grandfather moved to work in the coal fields after immigrating from fascist Italy. Earlier this month, Santorum formed an exploratory committee and participated in the first Republican primary debate, but he still is in the second tier of likely GOP candidates. In the latest Gallup poll, he has the support of just 2 percent of Republican voters. CNN's Paul Steinhauser notes that the former senator has made 15 trips to Iowa since 2009. Santorum is known for his social conservatism, but it looks like he's shoring up his fiscally conservative bona fides, too: On Thursday he endorsed Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to overhaul Medicare--a plan that some say cost Republicans a House seat in New York's special election earlier this week.

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Elspeth Reeve