Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Smith on Thursday made another campaign visit to York County, stopping at a crowded Republican call center with a Wisconsin senator whose story, he said, mirrors his own.

Smith told volunteers in the Springettsbury Township campaign office that he was cutting oats on his farm last year when he heard Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. on the radio. Johnson defeated Democrat Russ Feingold in 2008.

Johnson won, Smith said, after taking on an incumbent nobody thought he could beat. Smith, who has faced an uphill battle in the polls, said he's hoping the same thing happens to him on Tuesday.

Smith also attended a York County Republican dinner last month and took a tour of the York County Judicial Center

in September. It was at least the third visit to York for Smith but, when asked whether he sees the area as key to his campaign, he said it's important for all of Pennsylvania to hear his message.

The Republican is running on a platform of fiscal conservatism and growing businesses, saying he would vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act and work to reduce the federal deficit. The Armstrong County conservative is a businessman who started a series of coal-related companies that he sold in 2010.

Back after Sandy: Smith and Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey both hit the campaign trail Thursday after taking several days off during Hurricane Sandy. Smith visited the Republican offices in Lancaster and York with Johnson while Casey stopped at a restaurant in State College.

Attending the York event were a few state legislators, including state Rep. Scott Perry, R-Dillsburg, who's the Republican nominee in the 4th Congressional District.

He told the volunteers, in introducing Smith, that they were about to see something they "haven't seen in a long, long time: a United States senator."

"Has anybody seen Bob Casey lately?" Perry asked, getting laughs from the crowd.

Casey campaign spokesman Mark Nicastre said Casey has visited York numerous times throughout the campaign, including attending events with York City Mayor C. Kim Bracey.

"Bob Casey has a long record of working for the people of York," Nicastre said.

Casey is still finalizing his schedule for the final days of the campaign, and it's not clear whether another trip to York will be included, Nicastre said.

- Reach Christina Kauffman at ckauffman@yorkdispatch.com.