State Rep. Doyle Heffley is one of six regional Republicans running for re-election in 2024 to the state House of Representatives and appears to have no competition this time around.

In petition filings reported by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of State, Bureau of Elections, Heffley, of Lower Towamensing Township, is the only candidate filing to seek either a Republican or Democratic nomination in the 122nd Legislative District in the April 23 Primary Election.

The state representative, who defeated Democrat Richard Kost of Palmerton by a margin of 18,633 to 7,203 in the 2022 election, is seeking his seventh two-year term of office, having initially been elected in the General Election of 2010, then succeeding Democratic Speaker of the House Keith R. McCall of Summit Hill, in serving the district.

The 122nd district will again serve all of Carbon County. Summit Hill had been removed from the district under the last redistricting cycle but was returned to the district following the 2020 Census.

Meanwhile, state representatives Jack Rader. of Jackson Township, Monroe County, Jamie Barton of East Brunswick Township, Schuylkill County, Zach Mako of Lehigh Township, Lehigh County, Dane Watro of Kline Township, Schuylkill County, and Tim Twardzik of Butler Township, Schuylkill County – all Republicans – are seeking re-election to two-year terms of office. Each of them, except Mako, is unopposed in the Primary Election and will face Democratic challengers in the General Election. Mako has a Primary Election opponent while a Democratic challenger awaits that nomination to be decided.

In one other district, Pennsylvania’s 187th, the Republican incumbent, Ryan Mackenzie, is not seeking re-election to that post, having opted to run for the 7th Congressional District seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Susan Wild. Mackenzie has two GOP opponents.

State representatives are paid a base salary of $102,844, plus $181 per day for each day they are in Harrisburg.

Besides Heffley being unchallenged in the 122nd District, here’s a look at the six state House districts in the Times News area:

176th District

Rader has represented the district since 2015 and his November opponent is the same one of two who he faced in 2022. In that election, Rader defeated Democrat Hope Christman and Libertarian Autumn Pangia, tallying 14,036 votes, compared to 9,024 for Christman and 1,237 for Pangia.

Christman, a hospice social worker, is running again and is unopposed on the Democratic ballot.

The district includes parts of Monroe County, including the townships of Chestnuthill, Eldred, Hamilton, Jackson, Polk, Ross, Tobyhanna and Tunkhannock.

124th District

Barton will face a familiar opponent in November as Democrat Tina M. Burns of Tamaqua is challenging him again. In 2022, Barton defeated her by a margin of 18,228 to 8,366 to win his first two-year term and the seat previously held by Rep. Jerry Knowles before his retirement.

Before being elected to office, Barton was an energy executive.

Burns is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran whose career experience includes working as a health care consultant.

The district includes parts of Berks County, including the townships of Albany, Greenwich, Maxatawny, Tilden, Upper Bern, Upper Tulpehocken and Windsor and the boroughs of Hamburg, Kutztown and Lenhartsville, and parts of Schuylkill County, including the townships of Delano, East Brunswick, Rush, Ryan, Schuylkill, South Manheim, Walker, West Brunswick and West Penn, and the boroughs of Auburn, Coaldale, Deer Lake, Landingville, New Ringgold, Orwigsburg, Port Clinton and Tamaqua.

183rd District

Mako was unopposed in 2022 and received 21,730 complimentary votes from district voters. But he isn’t in the same position this time around, as Republican Zachari R. Halkais of Slatington is challenging him in the primary and unopposed Democrat Joseph W. Lenzi of Northampton will face the winner of the nomination in the fall.

Mako is aspiring to his fourth two-year term, having served the district since winning the General Election of 2016.

Halkais was sworn into office on the Slatington Borough Council in January, 2022, at the age of 19 and is believed to be the youngest officeholder in the borough ever. At the time, he was studying business administration at Lehigh Carbon Community College.

Lenzi is a salesman.

The district includes parts of Lehigh County, including the townships of Lowhill and North Whitehall and the Borough of Slatington, and parts of Northampton County, including the townships of Allen, East Allen, Lehigh and Moore (part, Beersville and Klecknersville districts), and the boroughs of Bath, North Catasauqua, Northampton and Walnutport.

187th District

In 2022, because redistricting put them in the same district, Republicans Mackenzie and Gary W. Day of Heidelberg Township ended up running against each other after the redistricting put Mackenzie in the district, as opposed to the 134th District he was representing. Mackenzie won the nomination, defeating Day by a margin of 5,625 to 3,548 and was unopposed in the General Election, garnering 22,990 token votes to win the seat.

He’s now seeking the congressional seat held by Rep. Wild, and so Day is once again a candidate. He is unopposed on the GOP side and will face Democrat Stefanie Rafes of Lower Macungie Township in the Fall.

Before his life in public office, Day was the director of marketing and human resources for Service Electric Cablevision and the executive assistant to the Allentown mayor.

Rafes is a physician assistant.

The district includes parts of Lehigh County, including the townships of Heidelberg, Lower Macungie, Lynn, Upper Macungie (part, Districts 3, 7 and 8), Washington and Weisenberg, and the boroughs of Alburtis and Macungie.

116th District

A November race will take place in the 116th District, where the incumbent, Watro, will face Democratic challenger Deborah L. Adoff of East Union Township, Schuylkill County.

Watro, a U.S. Army veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and is the former mayor of McAdoo Borough, defeated Democrat Yesenia Rodriguez in 2022 by a margin of 9,811 to 4,571 to win his first two year term of office.

Adoff is a retired court stenographer.

The district includes parts of Luzerne County, including the City of Hazleton, the Township of Hazle and the Borough of West Hazleton, and parts of Schuylkill County, including the townships of East Union, Kline, Mahanoy, North Union and Union, and the boroughs of Mahanoy City, McAdoo, Ringtown and Shenandoah.

123rd District

Rep. Twardzik, who first won a seat in the House in the 2020 election, is unopposed within his party and will face Democrat Michael Zvalaren III of Wayne Township, Schuylkill County, in November.

In 2022, Twardzik defeated Democrat Kathleen Laughlin Benyak by a margin of 17,133 to 7,909.

Upon is first election victory, Twardzik retired as the executive vice president and co-owner of Ateeco Inc - Mrs. T’s Pierogies, Shenandoah, where he helped grow the business founded by his father, Ted, into the community’s leading employer.

Zvalaren is an adjunct professor at the College of New Jersey, and is a kitchen designer.

The district includes parts of Schuylkill County, including the City of Pottsville, the townships of Blythe, Branch, Butler, Cass, East Norwegian, New Castle, North Manheim, Norwegian, Wayne and West Mahanoy, and the boroughs of Ashland (Schuylkill County portion), Cressona, Frackville, Gilberton, Girardville, Gordon, Mechanicsville, Middleport, Minersville, Mount Carbon, New Philadelphia, Palo Alto, Port Carbon, Schuylkill Haven and Saint Clair.