Voting will open for midterms on Nov. 8, and while two candidates have been highlighted for each poll, more are on the ballot. These races may feel removed from the bubble of high school, but this race affects people of all ages. Each candidate’s values will change how Pennsylvania moves forward as a state. 

Three races are up for election on the eighth — Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and the Senate seat. Each ballot has five people up for each position, however,the two elections getting the most airtime are the Senate and Governor. These elections have front-running candidates with opposing values, leaving space for the most change in Pennsylvania. 

In the Governor election, the five candidates running are Doug Mastriano, Josh Shapiro, Christina DiGiulio, Matt Hackenburg, and Joe Soloski. 

Doug Mastriano is running as a Republican. He wishes to push back on COVID-19 restrictions, ban teachings of race, ethnicity, and gender, while limiting the taxes placed on schools. He would sign the Education Opportunity Accounts bill into effect, which gives schools more choice in what they can or cannot teach.

Josh Shapiro is running Democrat, pushing for raising the minimum wage to 15 dollars, the protection of abortion rights, and the protection of voting rights. 

Cristina DiGiulio is running with the Green party, and actively opposes the Mariner East pipeline, fracking for plastics, and petrochemical infrastructure. Her stance on climate change is very clear: “Delay means death.”

Matt Hackenburg is running with the Libertarian party and is pushing for freedom in just about every aspect of people’s lives. He wants to lower taxes, homeschool students, get rid of every law that criminalizes self-defense, take away COVID restrictions, and claims any law that infringe on the freedom of the people should be nullified from the constitution. 

Joe Soloski is running with the Keystone party and wants to cut government spending, limit taxation, enact term limits on legislators and keep the minimum wage.

Each candidate’s goals are unique, and on Nov. 8, the way the vote swings could shape this state’s future. 

In the Lieutenant Governor election, Austin Davis, Carrie DelRosso, Micheal Badges-Cunning,  Nicole Shultz, and Timothy McMaster are all vying for the spot. Each one’s unique perspective provides five different paths Pennsylvania Could go down. This makes it just that much more important that everyone votes in this election.
Austin Davis runs with the Democratic party and is pushing for fair funding for education, pulling people out of poverty, and is strongly against the reversal of Roe Vs. Wade. He views it as an attack on women’s rights and is concerned about the further implications. He also believes in increasing the minimum wage. 

Carrie DelRosso is running with the Republican party and believes that bureaucrats “destroyed our economy” as a power play when they shut down businesses for the pandemic. She would like to make Pennsylvania a sanctuary state and wants complete transparency for election ballots and a law-abiding Department of State. 

Michael Badges-Canning is running with the Green party and wants to push PA into a renewable energy era. He is extremely against fracking and wants to fight \against climate change. 

Nicole Shultz is running with the Keystone party and believes that the government should not be able to dictate how people live their lives to the extent that it did during the pandemic. She thinks that it should be able to recommend activities and actions, but the people live in a free state, therefore, they should be able to choose what they do with their lives. She will push for areas where fracking was found to be infecting the ground and polluting the air to follow the grand jury recommendations for the revival of the area. 

Timothy McMaster is running with the Libertarian party and wants to lower and eventually abolish property tax. He wants citizens carrying guns to be legalized as he believes it is a constitutional right. He believes that marijuana is a right and that the government should not be able to restrict the use of marijuana.

Finally, the Senate election has a wide range of candidates, and with celebrity and past presidential endorsements, tensions are high in this race. The candidate’s’ names are most likely familiar and recognizable, John Fetterman, Mehmet Oz, Erik Gerhardt, Daniel Wassmer, and Richard Weiss. 

John Fetterman is running with the Democratic party and has commercials on just about every channel that could be turned on. He is all for legal marijuana, same-sex marriage, the reduction of out-of-pocket healthcare costs, and cutting taxes for the working class. He believes a woman’s right to choose is non-negotiable and would protect it in Pennsylvania. He is endorsed by Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey. 

Mehmet Oz– who is running with the Republican Party– has probably gotten the most airtime. His candidacy is highly scrutinized. His website is purely a donation site, and an outline plan is nowhere to be found. His socials are filled with attacks on Fetterman, but his real opinion is difficult to find. His vague plan is to protect our minimum wage earners and to use the natural gas already harvested rather than fracking for more. 

Erik Gerhardt is running with the Libertarian party and believes that tax is theft, and wants to drop property tax entirely for people with one home and reduce it for people with multiple. Instead of defunding the police, he wants to reform and train less deadly force at the police academy. He believes the right to choose a personal question, and should not be dictated by any one person. 

Daniel Wassmer is running with the Keystone party and has a slew of things he is for and against. He is pro-choice, a firm supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, and is concerned about the environment. He is against the corruption of the government, the surveillance of states, and wants to revise the current tax plan. 

Richard Weiss is running with the Green party of Pennsylvania and is strongly pro-peace and against fracking. He wants to make the shift to renewable energy and create more jobs in the process. He seeks peace with the Ukrainian war and to return troops to their homes. 

Everyone’s votes count this year. Abortion, LGTBQ+ rights, taxes and minimum wage could have very different futures depending on who is elected into office this Nov. 8th. Races are neck and neck, and its up to the Pennsylvanian people to vote for what they want the state’s future to be.