Five Pa. Republicans will speak ahead of former President Donald Trump in Erie Saturday

Donald Trump, the former president who's seeking a second term in 2024, is the main act for Saturday's rally at Erie Insurance Arena, but at least five other people will take the stage and address the crowd beforehand.

At 4 p.m. Saturday, two hours before Trump is set to speak, a group of current and former elected and appointed officials will address supporters. Here's who's opening for Trump:

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th Dist.

Kelly represents Erie in Congress, voted against the certification of Pennsylvania's Electoral College votes for Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021, and has been a key Trump supporter from early on, so it's no surprise that the seven-term House member would again be at the podium for the former president.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-9th Dist.

Meuser is currently serving his third term in the House. He recently joined Kelly, along with U.S. Reps. Scott Perry, Guy Reschenthaler and John Joyce in endorsing Trump for president. Other members of Pennsylvania's Republican Congressional delegation have yet to back a candidate in the GOP field. Among them, most notably, is Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-15th Dist., whose district used to include a portion of Erie County.

Former U.S. Rep. Fred Keller

Keller, a former state representative, succeeded Tom Marino in the U.S. House in May 2019, but was drawn out of his 12th District seat, which encompasses Pittsburgh and most of Allegheny County, during redistricting. His term ended in 2022.

Former U.S. Ambassador Carla Sands

Sands, who served as ambassador under Trump from 2017 to 2021, ran for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate last year. The Mechanicsburg native is the CEO of Vintage Capital Group.

Sean Parnell

Parnell, a former combat veteran, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2020 for the 17th District seat, which had been held by Democrat Conor Lamb until Lamb was drawn out of the seat through redistricting. Like Sands, Parnell was an early entrant into Pennsylvania's open U.S. Senate seat last year, even garnering an early endorsement from Trump. But a custody battle with his then-estranged wife, who made abuse allegations against Parnell, forced him out of the race. Parnell is also a New York Times best-selling author.

Matthew Rink can be reached at mrink@timesnews.com or on Twitter at @ETNRink.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Trump's headlining; 5 PA Republicans opening acts for Erie, PA rally