Three local residents are running for Pennsylvania’s 139th Legislative District, a seat recently vacated by Republican Joe Adams. A special election and Republican primary will be held on Tuesday, April 23.

The candidates have submitted statements explaining why they're running and their plans for the district if they get the chance to serve. To read their statements, click on the links below:

Republican Jeff Olsommer is a small-business owner who chairs the Sterling Township board of supervisors and serves on the Wayne Memorial Health Foundation.

Matthew Contreras is a judge of elections for Milford Township and president of Pennsylvania Advocacy for Children’s Education. He running against Olsommer in the Republican primary.

Democrat Robin Schooley Skibber is the former director of the Pike County Area Agency on Aging.

The special election and Republican primary are on the same day but have separate ballots. Olsommer, as the Republican committee's choice, is running against Skibber in the special election; the winner will serve for the rest of Adams's term, which ends on November 30, according to Amy Christopher, director of the Wayne County Bureau of Elections.  Whoever wins the Republican primary will run against Skibber on the Republican line in the November general election. To see sample ballots for the special election and the primary, visit the  election sites in Wayne County (click here) and Pike County (click here).

The 139th includes parts of Pike and Wayne counties, including Blooming Grove, Dingman, Greene, Lackawaxen, Milford, Palmyra, Shohola, Westfall Township, Matamoras, Milford Boroughs, Cherry Ridge, Dreher, Lake, Lehigh, Palmyra, Paupack, Salem, South Canaan, Sterling Township and Hawley Borough.