It is official: Former Centre County Administrator Jon Eich will be running against incumbent state Sen. Jake Corman for a seat in the 34th District of the Pennsylvania State Senate.

The announcement came when Eich, a Democrat, submitted his petition on March 7 to be included on the ballot for the November elections. He needed 500 signatures for the petition to go through and received 1,700.

"I'm looking forward to [the state Senate race]," he said. "There are a lot of issues that have been neglected here in Pennsylvania. I am interested in bringing these up in the state Legislature."

Corman, a Republican, said he welcomes the challenge of running opposed for the first time in eight years.

"I am certainly not surprised to have an opponent this time around," Corman said.

A competitive race is good for democracy and for debate, he added.

Eich said he would focus on many issues if elected, several of which are pertinent to Penn State students.

"Pennsylvania has allowed tuition to increase for the past 30 years," Eich said.

He said he hopes to slow this trend while increasing state funding for the university.

"One of the things I've asked the state to do is fully fund Penn State's budget requests," Eich said.

Corman said he is also concerned about the issue of tuition increases.

"Tuition is always the No. 1 issue because we don't want to saddle our students with huge debt," Corman said. "I will do my best to make sure that loans and grants are available."

Bob Shepherd, Centre County Democratic Committee chairman, said he had gotten to know Eich well through his involvement in the Democratic Party. He said he was "delighted" to learn that Eich was running.

Shepherd also said that, in his opinion, Eich was the best candidate to work on the issue of tuition increases.

"I believe you would see a significant increase in funding for state and state-related funding [if Eich were elected]," he said. "I would think that you would at least see an end to double-digit increases in tuition."

G.T. Thompson, Centre Country Republican Committee chairman, said he would continue to support Corman's campaign.

"I'm looking forward to working with Jake Corman in his re-election," Thompson said. "He has established a tremendous track record in his past two terms."

Corman said his record as state senator shows he is committed to not only lowering the cost of a Penn State education, but also improving the quality.

Corman noted that while in the state Senate, he helped to raise $40 million for the future construction of the Material Sciences Building and $15 million for the recently built Information Sciences and Technology Building. "These are industries very important in the new economy," Corman said.

College Democrats President Alex Smith said that he fully supports Eich's candidacy for the state Senate and that his experiences with Eich have fostered his confidence in him as a candidate.

"I think Jon Eich would be a great state senator for the 34th District," Smith said. "I know from personally working with him that he would take student issues to heart."

Vicky Cangelosi, who chairs the College Republicans, said that in her limited experiences with Eich, she found that he was "extremely accessible" to Penn State students. However, she noted that Corman would be a difficult candidate to challenge.

"I think Mr. Eich is going to have a tough race," Cangelosi said. "[Corman's] family has a long history of serving this district."