The Gist
Home

State

State Representative, 96th 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.

Lancaster County: East Petersburg Borough; part of Lancaster city (1st Ward, 2nd Ward 1st Precinct, 5th Ward 1st Precinct through 6th Ward 7th Precinct, and 9th Ward 1st through 5th Precincts); and most of Manheim Township (districts 1, 3-5, 7-11 and 14-23).

CandidatesCompare by issue

Taxes & budget

  • Babita RusynRepublican

    • Supports a gas tax holiday and opposes unnecessary tax increases to ease the cost of living.
    • Calls for an on-time state budget funded by new revenue sources rather than debt.

  • Nikki RiveraDemocratic

    • Prefers moving the state budget deadline to April 30 so schools and local governments can plan.

Public safety

Education

  • Babita RusynRepublican

    • Supports public schools and educational choice, and opposes cutting scholarship programs.

  • Nikki RiveraDemocratic

    • Supports cyber charter tuition reform and says students deserve direct instruction from certified teachers.

Housing

  • Babita RusynRepublican

    No documented position found.

  • Nikki RiveraDemocratic

    • Says families should not spend more than 30% of their income on housing.

Economy & jobs

  • Babita RusynRepublican

    No documented position found.

  • Nikki RiveraDemocratic

    • Proposes requiring electric utilities to set targets for and buy grid battery storage to cut peak costs.In office

Roads & infrastructure

  • Babita RusynRepublican

    No documented position found.

  • Nikki RiveraDemocratic

    • Calls for public transportation improvements to link residents to jobs and reduce traffic congestion.

Environment & parks

  • Babita RusynRepublican

    • Says any data centers that are allowed must be transparent and good neighbors.

  • Nikki RiveraDemocratic

    • Calls for guardrails so data centers' water and power use does not raise residents' utility rates.

Government & transparency

  • Babita RusynRepublican

    • Calls for giving county election directors better data for voter list maintenance.

  • Nikki RiveraDemocratic

    • Supports mail-in voting, primaries open to all voters and same-day voter registration.

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.