In the running: Erie-area candidates announce campaigns for state rep, senate
Erie-area candidates are lining up to seek a seat in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
This year, all Pennsylvania House of Representatives seats are on the ballot, including the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th district seats, and the odd-numbered Pennsylvania Senate seats, which includes the 49th District.
Candidates have until Feb. 13 to file petitions to secure a place on the April 23 primary ballot. Here's who has announced plans to run.
More: What Pennsylvanians need to know about registering to vote in 2024
Fairview veteran to challenge Bizzarro in 3rd District
Republican Micah Goring, a small businessman and U.S. Air Force veteran, announced at a campaign event Thursday that he's running against state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro for the Democrat's 3rd Legislative District seat.
Though Bizzarro is running for state treasurer and has received the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's endorsement, he also plans to run for re-election in the 3rd District, which includes Millcreek and Fairview townships.
Goring criticized Bizzarro for running for two offices at the same time during a campaign launch event at Erie Brewing Co., 4102 West Lake Road.
“This the only office I’m seeking,” Goring told supporters at his rally, according to prepared remarks provided to the Erie Times-News in advance of the event. “I’m not running for this office in case I don’t win something else. I’m running to make this district better.”
Goring's parents were missionaries who set up churches in Indonesia at the time he was born. The family later lived in the Philippines. Goring moved to the U.S. in 1997 after graduating high school.
He and his wife Katy live in Fairview with their children. The couple runs a business that supplies ATMs to various business locations.
Goring is running to oppose what he calls "job-crushing over-regulation," to bring new jobs and industries to the area, to address local issues like crime and a flooding problem that has affected residents of the district.
Cancilla flips parties, will run again for 4th District seat
Joe Cancilla, a former member of the North East School District Board of Directors, will run again for the seat now held by state Rep. Jake Banta.
But this time he'll run as a Democrat.
"People change parties, grow and learn, and the Republican Party is not the party I grew up with or align with anymore," Cancilla said in a Jan. 26 statement announcing his candidacy. "My values and beliefs more closely align with the Democratic Party."
Cancilla said his reasons for running have not changed and he still hopes to effect change when it comes to supporting small business owners, farmers, veterans, first responders and educators, saying that the issues facing them are neither Democrat or Republican issues, but issues facing all Pennsylvanians.
Cancilla finished a distant fourth in the 2022 GOP primary in what was a six-way race to replace longtime Republican state Rep. Curt Sonney, who retired.
Incumbent Laughlin will make re-election campaign official
State Sen. Dan Laughlin will officially announce plans to seek a third four-year term in the Pennsylvania Senate at a campaign event Saturday at the Brewerie, 123 West 14th St.
Two Democrats have already announced plans to run for the 49th District seat: Former Erie County Democratic Party chairman Jim Wertz, and Selena King, the northwest regional representative for U.S. Sen. John Fetterman.
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Matthew Rink can be reached at mrink@timesnews.com or on Twitter at @ETNRink.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PA election 2024: Who's running for state rep, senate in Erie County
