With support in his home state of Pennsylvania growing, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum has joined the list of GOP presidential hopefuls who have committed to participate in Florida's Presidency 5 straw poll on Sept. 24.

On Tuesday, Republican Party of Florida spokesman Brian Hughes confirmed that the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania will compete in the poll, which concludes the three-day event in Orlando. Santorum, a social conservative, has polled in single digits at the national level and in most states. In a bit of a surprisingly strong showing, however, Santorum came in fourth in the Iowa straw poll held in Ames last month.

Santorum becomes the fourth of the candidates announcing he will participate in the Presidency 5 straw poll. Previously confirmed participants are U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, businessman Herman Cain and former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah who has headquartered his campaign in Orlando.

Hughes said the RPOF is in communication with the other presidential hopefuls and expects further confirmations this week.

As of now, the party intends to include on its straw poll ballot every candidate who participates in the Fox News debate that kicks off Presidency 5 on Sept. 22. All leading contenders -- including those who have expressed disinterest in the straw poll, such as former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota -- have said they will be at that event.

After the Iowa straw poll, the Santorum camp turned its attention back to Pennsylvania, looking to rally Pennsylvania Republicans behind their favorite son who represented the Keystone State in the U.S. Senate from 1995 until 2007. Those efforts bore fruit on Tuesday, when Santorum unveiled the backing of 15 state senators from Pennsylvania, including Joe Scarnati, who had been lieutenant governor and is now state Senate president pro tempore.

"I am honored to have the support of this esteemed group of Pennsylvania leaders, from tea party legislators to party leadership, who know firsthand that our campaign has the record of electoral and legislative success in Pennsylvania and is best positioned to defeat President Obama,” Santorum at a campaign event in Verona, Pa. “They understand that our nation is at a crossroads and that it is time for proven leadership, not showmanship, in the White House. I have worked with these fine people and they know my record of consistent conservative results. Their support undergirds what I've been saying on the trail -- that I have the record of results to win the GOP nomination and defeat President Obama in November 2012."

Santorum received more support from the Keystone State on Tuesday when the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association announced it is backing the former senator’s jobs plan.

Released in early July, Santorum’s plan called for the elimination of the corporate tax for domestic manufacturers, expanding energy exploration, increasing the R&D Tax Credit by 6 percent and repealing a host of  federal laws and regulations, including the federal health-care law backed by President Barack Obama, Sarbanes-Oxley, which governs corporate accounting practices, and Dodd-Frank, which covers financial firms.