Unlike the sparse competition among local candidates for state General Assembly seats in the May 15 primaries, there will be plenty for voters to decide in the newly redrawn Pennsylvania congressional districts.

I want to make this point crystal clear: The new districts do not take effect until early January 2019, despite the fact that there will be two elections between now and then (including the Nov. 6 general election). As a result, your current member of Congress remains the same until the swearing-in ceremonies in January.

Two of the local incumbent members of the U.S. House of Representatives are not seeking re-election — Lou Barletta of Luzerne County and Charlie Dent of Lehigh County.

Barletta, who would have been one of two incumbents in the newly redrawn 8th District, is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. The other incumbent in the 8th District is Democrat Matt Cartwright, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

The new 8th District includes a huge swath of northeastern Pennsylvania, including Barrett, Chestnuthill, Coolbaugh, Jackson, Middle Smithfield, Paradise, Pocono, Polk, Price, Tobyhanna, Tunkhannock and part of Smithfield townships and Mount Pocono borough in Monroe County.

Dent announced that he will not run for re-election, then, a short time later, shocked his constituents by saying that he is going to resign, probably by the end of this month.

Gov. Tom Wolf has called a special election concurrently with the Nov. 6 general election as a cost-saving measure. This would mean that voters in the current 15th District (including all of Lehigh and part of Northampton County) will have two choices to make — this one and the one for the newly drawn 7th District.

Each political party will name its nominee for the 15th District special election after the primaries. These are likely to be the same candidates who will have won the primaries and will be on the ballot for the reconfigured 7th District contest. This means that residents of the current 15th District will have no member of the House between the end of May (or whenever Dent’s resignation becomes official) and until the winner of the special election is chosen on Nov. 6 and sworn in. It is not out of the realm of possibility that the person who wins the new seat will not be the person who will serve for less than two months as the representative of the current seat. (Look for voters to be thoroughly confused.)

The new 7th District includes all of Lehigh and Northampton counties and Eldred, Hamilton, Ross, Stroud and part of Smithfield townships and Delaware Water Gap, East Stroudsburg and Stroudsburg boroughs in Monroe County.

The newly drawn 9th District includes some of Barletta’s old 11th District that included part of Carbon County. The new 9th District includes all of Carbon and Schuylkill counties.

Here is the lineup of candidates in each of the three local districts — nominate one from each party:

7th District: Republicans Dean Browning and Marty Nothstein and Democrats David Clark, Rick Daugherty, Greg Edwards, John Morganelli, Roger Ruggles and Susan Wild.

8th District: Republicans John Chrin, Robert Kunlegal and Joe Peters and Democratic incumbent Matt Cartwright.

9th District: Republicans George Halcovage Jr., Dan Meuser and Scott Uehlinger and Democrats Laura Quick, Gary Wegman and Denny Wolff.

Pennsylvania voters will nominate candidates for U.S. Senate in the primaries. Incumbent Democrat Bob Casey is unopposed. The Republican field, which started with six candidates, is down to two — Barletta and state Rep. Jim Christiana. Barletta has the backing of the state Republican organization and President Donald Trump.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives serve two-year terms. Members of the U.S. Senate — two from each state — serve six-year terms. The other senator from Pennsylvania — Republican Pat Toomey of Lehigh County — was re-elected in 2016. There are no term limits for these offices.

Members of Congress earn $174,000 a year, unchanged since 2009. Those in leadership roles receive more. For example, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who is not running for re-election this year, earns $223,500 annually.

The other big race is for governor. Incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf is unopposed. There is a three-way race for the Republican nomination, featuring state Sen. Scott Wagner, businessman Paul Mango and attorney Laura Ellsworth.

The lieutenant governor’s contest features five Democrats and four Republicans. Controversial Democratic Lt. Gov. Mike Stack is being challenged by former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Nina Ahmad, Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone, Braddock Mayor John Fetterman and banker Ray Sosa.

Republicans vying for their party’s nomination are businessman Jeff Bartos, political activists Kathy Coder and Peg Luksik and Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughn.

The governor makes $194,850 a year, but Wolf donates his salary to charity; the lieutenant governor earns $163,672 a year. There is a two-term limit on these offices.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com