Margie Stuski

Legislative candidates in Pennsylvania often spend more time explaining how they would reform Harrisburg than how they'd reduce health care costs or cultivate alternative energy.

Sure enough, Sheryl Delozier, a Republican state House candidate in Cumberland County, sent seven reform proposals to PolitickerPA.com this week. Delozier said her experience in state government helped craft the proposals, which she thinks are more specific, concrete and realistic than those typically offered by Pennsylvania candidates.

"I think that's one of the attributes I bring that other candidates don't," Delozier told PolitickerPA.com Thursday. "I know how the legislature operates."

Delozier's seven reform proposals range from eliminating bonuses, requiring lawmakers to submit receipts for reimbursements, and creating term-limits for committee chairwomen and men. Their roots are planted in her experience at the Public Utility Commission and as director for a commission, called "IMPACCT," under former Gov. Tom Ridge (R) that sought to increase efficiency in state government.

Margie Stuski: Campaign photoLEMOYNE -- Margie Stuski knows she still must overcome long-shot odds to become Cumberland County's only Democratic lawmaker.

But long odds are better than no odds. Two years ago, Stuski couldn't even schedule a debate when she ran against Jerry Nailor, longtime 88th Legislative District representative. The veteran of Philadelphia politics was little more than token opposition.

Nailor's retirement, however, and Pennsylvania's continued leftward swing, felt even in central Pennsylvania, has at least given Stuski a chance to fissure the GOP-dominated county when she runs against Republican Sheryl Delozier this fall.