* = Incumbent

United States Senator Pennsylvania

Bob Casey (D)

Casey thinks the administration needs to rethink a "badly executed" strategy in Iraq and develop a clear policy with an exit plan. He is against abortion and supports same-sex unions that would give gay couples the rights, privileges and protections of marriage.

Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) *

Santorum has promoted legislation to preserve the sanctity of marriage. Santorum has supported several pro-life- bills in Congress. He is committed to protecting national security interests at home and abroad, especially in the war on terror, and will continue to support efforts to strengthen and improve national defense and intelligence capabilities.

House of Representative District 5 Pennsylvania

Don Hilliard (D)

Hilliard supports full funding for the military to provide safe equipment and compensation for soldiers. He wants to develop an exit strategy to bring soldiers home from Iraq without jeopardizing the stability of the new government. He supports pro-life policies and increasing funding and education for abortion alternatives. He wants to increase minimum wage gradually to minimize the impact on small businesses while bringing workers out of poverty and allowing them to support themselves.

John E. Peterson (R-Pa.) *

On homeland security, Peterson supports the actions of President Bush regarding the nation's involvement in Iraq. He wants to continue to provide funding for the war. Peterson hopes to revitalize the economy and prevent people from leaving rural Pennsylvania by retaining, attracting and creating new jobs. Peterson said Pennsylvania is lacking when it comes to training young people and retraining adults to use technology. He said he wants to provide people with the opportunity to learn necessary skills to become successful members of the work force by teaching technology

Ed Rendell (D) and
Catherina Baker Knoll (D) *

Rendell's main focus is to continue adding jobs in the Pennsylvania communities. He wants to accomplish this by investing in every community and reforming the tax structure. Rendell also wants to continue improving education from kindergarten through college. Improving access to affordable, quality healthcare is also a priority for Rendell. Rendell supports civil unions but is opposed to gay marriages and is a pro-choice advocate for abortion.

Lynn Swann (R) and
Jim Matthews (R)

Swann believes all Pennsylvanians should be guaranteed access to healthcare. He has a four-point plan for property taxes to reform the current tax structure to a new system. Swann hopes to provide low income and minority students access to better schools. Swann also wants to improve reading and math ability of students by requiring students to perform on grade level before advancing to the next grade.

Robert J. Cash (I)

Cash is running for office to protest what he calls an "unconstitutional pay raise" by Pennsylvania legislators in July 2005. According to Vote-USA.org, he feels there needs to be significant reform in Harrisburg. He wants to achieve significant and lasting reform to our state government so that it will no longer be attractive to "career politicians." Cash wants to reform higher education funding by issuing loans directly to students rather than to universities, he said on Vote-USA.org.

Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) *

Corman is focusing on abortion, education and energy. He wants to prohibit public funding of abortions and to organizations that advocate or perform abortions. He also believes clinics should be required to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors. Corman wants to provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable. Corman wants to promote the increased use of alternative fuel technology and support production of traditional domestic energy sources like coal, natural gas and oil.

Jon Eich (D)

Eich's three main campaign goals include funding for education and property taxes, legislative reform and economic reform. Eich said in an e-mail message that he wants a 50/50 deal -- 50 percent reduction in local property taxes and a 50 percent increase in state funding for education. Eich said he wants to provide school districts with a menu of taxing options: sales, property and income. Eich supports raising the minimum wage to $7.15 per hour and he wants to address flaws in the Workers Compensation system that make the system inefficient and expensive, he said.

Tom Martin (L)

Martin believes the war in Iraq was a "massive mistake," according to his campaign Web site. Although Martin said he personally opposes abortion, the government should have no right to legislate personal matters, like abortion. He also said on his Web site that marriage is up to the individuals.

State Representative District 77 Pennsylvania

Scott Conklin (D)

Conklin's three major platforms are for improved healthcare, open and transparent government and education, according to Vote-USA.org. He also supports civil unions for gay Americans. He believes that a good education and a good job will make women less likely to have an abortion, therefore he is pushing for better and more thorough education.

Barbara Spencer (R)

Spencer's main focus this election is on tax reform, economic concerns and education reform. Spencer plans to restore education as the state's top funding priority and ensure that dollars available are not spent on Philadelphia welfare but instead on covering local school cost and lower property taxes for working families and seniors. Spencer also plans to take steps to help to stimulate job growth, support Penn State's Small Business Development Center and advocate for 'tax-free zones' to help new businesses get started.

State Representative District 171 Pennsylvania

Kerry Benninghoff (R-Bellefonte) *

Benninghoff said he wants to focus on three issues concerning students: funding for education, retaining jobs and encouraging business growth and the skyrocketing cost of healthcare. Benninghoff said he has supported funding to PHEAA, although he added there is not enough funding to match the pace of increasing of tuition. Benninghoff said the last thing he wants is for the commonwealth to lose graduates after educating them for four years. When students are looking for a job, they also look for the quality of life and healthcare benefits, he said. This is a major concern for Benninghoff and businesses in Pennsylvania, he said, because employers cannot afford better pay for their employees with healthcare premiums on the rise.

Information for the candidates' platforms was attained through interviews and campaign Web sites.