Republican Kerry Benninghoff is running for his fourth term as a representative in the General Assembly. A State College native, he attended State College Area High School and Penn State. Benninghoff formerly served as Centre County coroner. As a representative for the 171st District since 1997, he served on committees for finance, health and human services, and professional licensure.

One of Benninghoff's main concerns is preventing drug and alcohol abuse, he said. Benninghoff said his legislative priorities are to lower property taxes and government spending, and he believes the state should completely fund any state-mandated education proposals. He is involved in the Pennsylvania Homicide Investigators Association and the Pennsylvania State Coroners Association. In addition, last month the House passed his legislation exempting aspiring volunteer firefighters and emergency services workers from a fee for background checks from the state police.

Bellefonte native Rodney Musser is the Democratic candidate for state representative in the 171st District. "I'm a social progressive but a fiscal conservative," Musser said.

After graduating from Michigan State University, Musser served as a member of the Peace Corps in the Philippines.

Since returning to Bellefonte, the 50-year-old has operated a dairy farm and has been a member of the Centre County Agriculture Land Preservation Board for 10 years. Musser is a school board member for the Bellefonte Area School District.

If elected, Musser said he would like to privatize state liquor stores to create a perpetual building fund. This fund would be used to provide school districts with no-interest loans for building projects.

Such an initiative could relieve school districts of up to 40 percent of construction costs, Musser said. The money saved would be used to lower the property tax burden on homeowners.