Centre County’s Takac, Conklin pick up Republican challengers in 2026 election
UPDATE: After the publication of this story, on Saturday, Matt Hilbert informed the CDT he planned to withdraw from his campaign Monday. He recently learned he was not eligible due to residency requirements, as he was a New Jersey resident until July 2024. The below article has been updated to reflect that.
Two Republicans filed to run for state house seats held by Democratic Reps. Paul Takac and Scott Conklin over the past week, while a third dropped out after a few days due to unmet residency requirements.
Homeschooling advocate Kirsten Lee McTernan is unopposed in the May 19 Republican primary after certified public accountant Matt Hilbert dropped out. McTernan hopes to take on Takac in the 82nd district, which covers a portion of State College, its eastern suburbs and northern Centre County.
County GOP Chair Michelle Schellberg is running unopposed in the 77th District primary, which includes western Centre County, with hopes to defeat Conklin in the general.
Neither seat has been particularly competitive in recent years, and Republicans are facing strong headwinds with an unpopular Republican president.
82nd District
McTernan, of the Boalsburg area, ran unsuccessfully for State College Area School Board in 2025, placing fifth among six candidates. She campaigned on enhancing school safety and giving parents the option for “values-based” curriculum.
She told Spotlight PA last year she opposed diversity programs in the district.
Reached by phone, McTernan said she was unavailable for an interview as she was on vacation.
77th District
Schellberg, of Stormstown, said her campaign would focus on the political issue du jour: affordability. But she seemed most animated in a Thursday interview about increasing state control over the education system and elections.
Schellberg said that making more energy available — fossil fuels and renewables — would help bring prices down for Pennsylvanians. Another proposal was decreasing pesticide and land use regulations for farmers to lower food costs.
On the education front, the former math teacher suggested the state could compel teachers to publish curriculums online so that parents could remove their students from lessons they object to.
“One type of accountability is to know what is actually being taught to our students,” said Schellberg, whose children she said attended State College Area School District. “And so I found it very difficult as a parent to actually figure out what the curriculum was.”
She clarified that “I don’t think there would have been too many different times that that would have happened” to her, but that she’d nonetheless like to have the opportunity to discuss touchy subjects with her child before the school does. She also said schools should publish more granular data on how taxpayer money is spent and that the state could audit the spending of struggling districts like Philipsburg-Osceola.
Schellberg said the commonwealth should standardize election administration. It has long been the case in Pennsylvania that counties administer elections. Schellberg argued that voter rolls are so out of date that “it’s time that we have a reset.” (Counties are required to update their rolls annually.) She said she supports federal legislation that would require proof of citizenship to vote and that she is not worried about voter disenfranchisement.
Schellberg has reposted election conspiracy theories and antivaccine posts on her Facebook page. She supported the election denier Doug Mastriano in his 2022 campaign for governor.
In her time leading the local party, Republicans overtook Democrats in voter registration for the first time since 2008. Republicans currently have a 600-person edge in Centre County, which has 102,000 registered voters.
Conklin, in an interview Wednesday, said, “my opponent has nothing to do with my reelection,” and he brings experience and seniority to the race.
More about the 2026 election
The deadline for candidates to file for the 2026 election was Tuesday, and candidates have until Wednesday, March 25 to withdraw. Other candidates who will appear on their respective party’s ballots are:
- U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, of Howard, running unopposed in the Republican primary for the 15th congressional district, which covers all of Centre County and a large swath of central Pennsylvania. Thompson is seeking a 10th term.
- Raymond Bilger, of Lemont, running unopposed in the Democratic primary for the 15th Congressional District. Bilger is an activist, U.S. Air Force veteran and former intelligence officer.
- State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, of Bellefonte, running unopposed in the Republican primary for the 171st House District. Benninghoff is seeking a 16th term representing southeastern Centre County and a chunk of Mifflin County.
- John Zangari, of Mifflin County, running unopposed in the Democratic primary for the 171st House District. Zangari is an administrative assistant in Penn State’s sociology and criminology department.
May 4 is the last day to register to vote in the primary election. Only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote in the primary.
This story was originally published March 12, 2026 at 1:39 PM.
