The election for state representative is months away, but Lynn Herman and Ted Blaszak are already campaigning for votes.

State Rep. Herman and University graduate student Blaszak will battle each other at the polls for the 77th District state House of Representatives seat in the November election.

Democrat Blaszak (graduate-political science) said one of the most important issues to him is protecting a woman's right to an abortion.

Blaszak said the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act is "horrible legislation," adding that the act insults a woman's intelligence because the courts treat her decision to have an abortion as an impulsive move.

The act would require women to receive counseling from a doctor and to wait 24 hours before undergoing the procedure. Abortion seekers younger than 18 would have to obtain permission from a parent or judge.

Blaszak said he thinks abortions could regress to back-alleys for teen-agers who are afraid to tell their parents.

As a representative, Herman, R-Philipsburg, expressed a strong pro-life stance and voted for the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act.

The act provides necessary health care for the mother and the unborn child, Herman said, but added that while abortion will be an issue, there will be many other campaign issues.

Herman cited education, health care, welfare and local tax reform as some issues he plans to focus on during his campaign. Herman said he proposed state legislation this week to fund the construction of University classroom buildings.

"This would benefit college teachers, administrators and students," he said.

In conjunction with Gov. Robert P. Casey's move to reform welfare, Herman said he wrote a letter to Casey urging him to support a move to allow single parents to go to a four-year college or university and still receive quality child care.

Currently, single parents are allowed to go to a two-year college or university and still receive child support -- but this does not include four- year schools, Herman said.

Blaszak said he also wants to work to reform the state legislature by reducing the privileges that legislators receive. Some of those privileges include a $46,000 salary, $650 for transportation per month, $120 a day for lunch and a free barber, he said.

"It is time to stop the free ride," he said.

Herman said state legislators are reimbursed for their expenses, but cited other areas where government reform is necessary. Herman has proposed having a constitutional convention allowing Pennsylvanians to propose reforms in a non-partisan environment.

While he is finishing up graduate school, Blaszak works part time as a public opinion researcher, conducting surveys for the Centre Region Council of Governments on trash removal.

Although Blaszak worked in Washington, D.C., from 1989 to 1990 to help pro-choice groups organize on college campuses, he has lived in Central Pennsylvania for most of his life -- and in State College for two years.

State Rep. Ruth Rudy, D-Centre, is running unopposed for re-election to the 171st district state House of Representatives seat. Rudy also plans to run for lieutenant governor. The state Democratic Committee will hold its annual meeting this weekend in Harrisburg.

Rudy has been working to pass her "three strikes and you're in" criminal punishment plan through the state legislature. The plan would require three-time violent crime offenders be imprisoned for life.

State Sen. J. Doyle Corman, R-Centre, is also running unopposed for the state Senate.