Primary election 2022, which will be held Tuesday with polling from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. across the commonwealth, will set the stage for Pennsylvanians to elect a new governor and U.S. Senator to take office next January.

Times News area Democrats and Republicans will participate in balloting in which three major contests will be decided in at-large voting, including both parties’ choices for nominations to run against each other for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, and the GOP nomination and the right to meet the lone Democratic candidate, Josh Shapiro. Both parties will also decide nominations for lieutenant governor.

The Senate term will be for six years and an incoming freshman will join veteran Democratic Sen. Bob Casey as Pennsylvania’s representation in Washington.

Four Democrats are aspiring to the nomination, including the current Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman of Allegheny County; Rep. Conor Lamb, a congressman also from Allegheny; Malcolm Kenyatta, a state representative from Philadelphia; and Alex Khalil of Montgomery County.

The winner of that runoff will face the winner of a seven candidate field on the Republican ballot that includes Mehmet Oz, Kathy Barnette, Jeff Bartos and Sean Gale, all of Montgomery County; David McCormick of Allegheny County; George Bochetto of Philadelphia County; and Carla Sands of Cumberland County.

Meanwhile, with current Gov. Tom Wolf term-limited and set to leave office next year, Pennsylvanians will determine the direction of the commonwealth at the top level. Current Pennsylvania Attorney General Shapiro is unopposed for the Democratic nomination and awaits the winner of an eight-candidate battle on the Republican side. The GOP candidates include former Hazleton Mayor and ex-U.S. Congressman Lou Barletta of Luzerne County, Douglas V. Mastriano of Franklin County, Nche Zama of Northampton County, Melissa Hart of Allegheny County, Dave White of Delaware County, Bill McSwain of Chester County, Charlie Gerow of Cumberland County, and Joe Gale of Montgomery County. Jake Corman of Centre County withdrew from the race last week but is still listed on the ballot.

In the lieutenant governor’s race, there are three Democratic candidates, including Austin Davis, a state representative from Allegheny County, Ray Sosa of Montgomery County, and Brian Sims, a Pennsylvania House member from Philadelphia County. Whoever prevails in that race will run with Shapiro while the winner of a nine-person GOP race for the lieutenant governor nomination will run in November with the GOP gubernatorial nominee. The GOP lieutenant governor candidates are Clarice Schillinger and James Earl Jones, both of Montgomery County, Rick Saccone and state representative Carrie Lewis Delrosso, both of Allegheny County, John Brown of Northampton County, Chris Frye of Lawrence County, Jeff Coleman of Cumberland County, Russ Diamond, a state representative from Lebanon County, and Teddy Daniels of Wayne County.

In addition to the U.S. Senate, governor and lieutenant governor decisions on Tuesday’s ballot, voters will have choices to make for nominations for Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives positions, depending on where the voter resides. Details of those districts and the candidates in them, appeared in last week’s editions of the Times News.