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State Representative, 120th District

Vote for
1
Term
2 years
Candidates
2
Election
Nov 3, 2026

What this office does: A state representative votes on Pennsylvania laws and the state budget in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Covers the West Side of the Wyoming Valley and part of the Back Mountain: the townships of Dallas, Exeter, Franklin, Jackson and Kingston, and the boroughs of Courtdale, Exeter, Forty Fort, Kingston, Luzerne, Pringle, Swoyersville, West Wyoming and Wyoming.

CandidatesCompare by issue

Taxes & budget

  • Fern LeardDemocratic

    • Supports caps on yearly property tax increases and a property tax freeze for seniors on fixed incomes.

  • Brenda PughRepublican

    • Opposes broad-based tax increases and calls for property tax relief.

Public safety

  • Fern LeardDemocratic

    No documented position found.

  • Brenda PughRepublican

    • Sponsored HB 2723, requiring English proficiency for commercial driver's license holders.In office

Education

  • Fern LeardDemocratic

    • Calls for more state funding for public schools to reduce reliance on local property taxes.

  • Brenda PughRepublican

    • Supports giving parents more control over education and helping students who have fallen behind.

Economy & jobs

  • Fern LeardDemocratic

    • Proposes lowering the price-gouging threshold from 20% to 10% and banning junk fees.

  • Brenda PughRepublican

    No documented position found.

Roads & infrastructure

  • Fern LeardDemocratic

    • Proposes barring utilities from shifting data center infrastructure costs onto ratepayers.

  • Brenda PughRepublican

    • Sponsored HB 2738, requiring the PUC to report five-year cumulative utility rate changes and bill impacts.In office

Environment & parks

  • Fern LeardDemocratic

    • Supports a three-year statewide moratorium on data centers and strict local limits on them.

  • Brenda PughRepublican

    • Urges Senate passage of House data center bills, including local moratoriums and ending a sales tax exemption.In office
    • Calls on DEP to halt and review Chesapeake Bay stormwater mandates behind local stormwater fees.In office

Government & transparency

  • Fern LeardDemocratic

    • Supports a full ban on gifts to officials; says her campaign does not take corporate PAC money.

  • Brenda PughRepublican

    • Supports voter ID and ending automatic cost-of-living raises and receipt-free per diems for legislators.

Courts & justice

  • Fern LeardDemocratic

    No documented position found.

  • Brenda PughRepublican

    • Opposes HB 1042, the House-passed second-degree murder sentencing bill, calling it soft on crime.In office

Challengers are listed first and incumbents last; otherwise candidates appear in ballot order. The Gist does not rank, rate or endorse candidates. Only positions backed by a cited source are shown; 8 issues covered in this race.