HOUSE RACE HEATS UP
President Clinton stumps for wife in St. Marys!

Former US President Bill Clinton stumped in St. Marys Thursday afternoon at the American Legion for his wife New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. Hundreds of people turned out to hear him talk. His wife is battling Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination. It's a good chance that Pennsylvania's April 22 primary election will be the deciding factor to who runs against Arizona Sen. John McCain. Photo by Kent Davis

Voters from throughout Pennsylvania will cast ballots on Tuesday in an election that has heated up in recent weeks. Precincts are open from 7 am to 8 pm in each voting district.

A race for the U.S. House of Representatives seat from District 5, currently occupied by John Peterson, has attracted a crowd and an 11th hour dash of negative campaigning.

Private polls revealed by some of the candidates earlier this month identified the frontrunners for the Republican nomination as the highspending duo of Matt Shaner and Derek Walker, along with businessman Jeff Stroehmann.

Since then, Peterson has endorsed a fourth candidate, Glenn Thompson. Also in the GOP scramble are Lou Radkowski, Keith Richardson, Chris Exarchos, John Krupa and John Stroup.

Candidates for the Democratic nomination are Mark McCracken, Bill Cahir and Rick Vilello.

The two winning nominees will square off in November for a two-year term to succeed Peterson, who is retiring due to family issues.

Summaries of the candidates' backgrounds and their positions on several issues can be found on the internet at: wpsu.org/vote08.

Democrats in the region can have their say in the race between Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

President Bill Clinton was received with Rock Star status Thursday afternoon at the Legion in St. Marys. Despite being two hours late, he spoke to a standing room only crowd.

Although John McCain has locked up enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination, the names of candidates Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee will still appear on the GOP ballot.

Democrats have four nominees for state treasurer: John Cordisco, Jennier Mann, Robert McCord and Dennis Morrison-Wesley. Republican Tom Ellis is unopposed.

Interest in the local political positions being filled on Tuesday is almost non-existent in both Cameron and Potter counties.

There are no candidates for Cameron County's seat on the Republican State Committee. Tom Bowman is running for re-election as Potter County's representative.

There are 66 seats up for election to the Potter County Republican Committee - two seats for each voting district - but only one person, Susan Haythornthwaite of Abbott Township - filed a petition to appear on the ballot.