U.S. House candidates are on the ballot this election year, and that means area voters will have a say in the makeup of Congress during the next two years.
Running for the 10th House seat is U.S. Rep. Thomas Marino, R-Cogan Station, against Democrat Phil Scollo.
U.S. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Howard, is being challenged by Democrat Charles Dumas.
Each of the candidates and some of their positions on the issues are summarized here.
Marino
Marino, a former federal prosecutor and Lycoming County district attorney, has made it known he is for smaller government and lower taxes.
He has welcomed the Marcellus Shale industry to the area, while noting the need for drilling responsibility for natural gas.
The freshman Congressman called for allowing the Keystone Pipeline to be built.
Cutting the nation's debt, he said, remains one of the nation's most pressing problems.
He repeatedly has asked for downsizing Washington, in part through shrinking the number of federal jobs. The Departments of Education and Energy, he noted, are drains on the federal government.
He has spoken against the Affordable Care Act.
Lackluster job creation of recent years, he claims, can be blamed in part on health care reform and over-regulation.
His One Subject at a Time legislation would prevent unrelated bills from being rolled into one. It would also, he said, result in better government transparency and help put an end to the deals and trades used by lawmakers to secure votes for pieces of legislation.
Marino supports Medicare reform through competition.
He believes in term limits for members of Congress.
Scollo
Scollo, a Pike County Democrat and business consultant who formerly worked on Wall Street, has touted his business background as qualification for serving in Congress.
His five-point plan includes extending tax breaks to businesses that keep manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and cracking down on those that ship jobs overseas.
It also calls for extending the federal research and development tax credit to ensure schools and colleges are able to educate and train the workforce. He calls for improving transportation and infrastructure.
Scollo supports opening up new markets to leverage the "buy American" philosophy.
The nation's overall defense spending, Scollo said, needs to be looked at very carefully. All spending needs to be considered on a line-item by line-item basis.
Scollo supports maintaining the present Medicare system.
He is in favor of term limits for members of Congress.
Thompson
Thompson supports reeling in government, lower taxes and less regulation.
The two-term lawmaker has expressed grave concerns about the U.S. debt.
He does not favor term limits for members of Congress.
He has problems with President Obama's foreign policy decisions, including that of revealing a date of withdrawing forces from Afghanistan.
He has served as Centre County Republican Committee chairman, as a member of the Bald Eagle School Board and as a volunteer firefighter.
Thompson was employed for many years with Susquehanna Health as a rehabilitation services manager.
He holds a bachelor's degree from Penn State University and a master's degree from Temple University.
Dumas
Dumas has called for creating good-paying, family sustaining jobs with a future.
Development of alternative energy sources and construction of windmills and solar panels can help lead to such employment, he believes.
A supporter of labor, he called for raising wages through collective bargaining.
He has come out in support of President Obama's actions in Libya and North Africa.
Dumas is a professor in the School of Theatre, Penn State University.
He holds a bachelor's degree from SUNY and a law degree from Yale University.
He served as a congressional intern with U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York.
