Wedler announces state Senate bid

Wedler said her years of experience in local government set her apart from the other Republican candidates for the seat.

"I will bring my proven record of Republican leadership to the state Senate just as state Senator J. Doyle Corman did 20 years ago," Wedler said.

Wedler, 54, is seeking to fill the vacancy created after state Senator J. Doyle Corman, R-Centre, announced in January his retirement after serving the district for 21 years.

The 34th district encompasses Centre, Clinton, Mifflin, Juniata and parts of Perry counties.

Wedler's tenure in local government began in 1977 when then-County Commissioner J. Doyle Corman hired her in an administrative capacity, where she worked until 1987, when she was elected to her first term as a county commissioner, she said.

Wedler serves as the director of the Centre County Chamber of Business and Industry. She was also the first woman elected president of SEDA-COG (Central Pennsylvania Economic Development Council.)

Wedler said if elected, she would continue her platform of a conservative Republican agenda, place families first and implement tougher crime laws. This would include establishing mandatory sentences for violent domestic abusers and limiting frivolous appeals by death row inmates, she said.

"These are the true qualities the families of the senatorial district deserve in a state senator," Wedler said.

Wedler now joins Connie Lucas and Jacob Doyle Corman III in the race for the Republican nomination. The nominee will be determined in the May 19 primaries.

--by Christine Kosovac