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2020 primary election: Democrats will have 8 presidential candidates from which to choose

Eight Democratic presidential candidates filed the necessary paperwork to get their names of the primary election ballot in Pennsylvania, according to the Department of State, Bureau of Elections. The petition-filing period closed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, candidates lined up for statewide row office positions of attorney general, auditor general and treasurer, including two Democratic incumbents.

President Donald Trump is one of three GOP presidential candidates on Pennsylvania’s ballots, the others being William Weld of Norfolk, Virginia, and Roque De La Fuent of San Diego, California.

On the Democratic side, those who have filed to be on the ballots in Pennsylvania, which could very well play a role in determining the party’s nominee, include Tom Steyer of San Francisco, California; Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana; Michael Bloomberg of New York City; Amy Klobucher of Minneapolis; Elizabeth Warren of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Joseph Biden of Wilmington, Delaware; Bernard Sanders of Burlington, Vermont; and Tulsi Gabbard of Kailua, Hawaii.

Statewide races

Incumbent Democrats Attorney General Joshua Shapiro of Philadelphia and Treasurer Joseph M. Torsella of Montgomery County are seeking re-election to four-year terms. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, also a Democrat, is unable to seek re-election as he served the maximum two terms. He is seeking a seat in the U.S. Congress representing York County.

Shapiro is unopposed within his party and will face Republican Heather S. Heidelbaugh of Allegheny County in the general election. That’s the same situation Torsella is in as he will advance to November to meet Republican Stacy L. Garrity of Bradford County.

In the auditor general’s race, there are six Democrats seeking the nomination and the right to meet unopposed Republican Timothy L. DeFoor of Dauphin County. The Democrats are Harry S. Conklin of Centre County, Nilofer Ahmad of Philadelphia, Tracie Lynn Fountain of Dauphin County, Michael E. Lamb of Allegheny County, Rose Marie Davis of Monroe County and Christina M. Hartman of Lancaster County.

The state ballots this year also include races for the U.S. and Pennsylvania houses of representatives, the Pennsylvania Senate and delegates and alternate delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions.