Monday’s deadline passed without any independent or third-party candidates filing to run for Congress in the 8th Congressional District, leaving Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan and Democratic Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti as the lone candidates on the ballot in what’s likely to be among the nation’s most competitive House races.

There was speculation the midterm matchup could feature a third candidate after Leila Hazou of Pike County filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission last month noting her intent to seek the seat as a Green Party candidate. But the Pennsylvania Department of State confirmed Monday that no third-party or unaffiliated candidates filed nomination papers by the 5 p.m. deadline to appear on the ballot for the 8th District seat Nov. 3.

A Hazou candidacy could have affected the dynamics of what’s already expected to be a close race between Bresnahan, a first-term GOP incumbent, and Cognetti, Scranton’s Democratic mayor who launched her congressional campaign in September before winning another mayoral term last year. Neither faced a challenger for their respective party nominations in the May primary.

Bresnahan won his 8th District seat in 2024, narrowly defeating longtime incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright by 6,252 votes in the district that includes all of Lackawanna, Wayne and Pike and parts of Luzerne and Monroe counties. That same year, Hazou garnered 66,388 votes as a Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate.

She was one of five candidates in the Senate race that three-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey lost to GOP challenger Dave McCormick by 15,115 votes. Casey’s Senate seat was one of four Republicans flipped in 2024 to regain the majority in the upper chamber.

The Green Party of Pennsylvania said in a lengthy statement last month that candidates the party didn’t endorse were petitioning to appear on November ballots using the Green Party affiliation, and warned “an effort to achieve ballot access in an un-transparent manner” was apparently underway. The statement didn’t mention any of the non-endorsed candidates by name, but noted the party’s state committee nominated Tony Dastra and Craig Bolton to represent the Green Party for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor.

A searchable state Department of State database lists Dastra, of Lancaster, and Bolton, of Philadelphia, as the Green Party candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively.

“No other candidates were nominated to these or other offices to be decided during the November General Election,” the Green Party of Pennsylvania stated. “No other candidate has sought nomination for office by the GPPA State Committee.”

The 8th District is home to about 221,820 registered Democrats, 208,034 registered Republicans and 89,050 registered voters who aren’t affiliated with either major party. Of those 89,050, about 767 are registered with the Green Party, state voter registration figures show.

9th District

Elsewhere in the region, the 9th Congressional District race between incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser and Democratic challenger Rachel Wallace also apparently won’t feature any third-party or unaffiliated candidates.

While Jenn Brothers of Susquehanna County, who had initially campaigned as a Democrat, announced in March her intent to seek the 9th District seat as an independent candidate, she did not appear on the state’s candidate list as of Tuesday.

The sprawling 9th District includes all or parts of 12 counties, including all of Susquehanna, Wyoming and Schuylkill and part of Luzerne. There are about 290,385 registered Republicans in the red district compared to 132,673 registered Democrats. Another 75,498 registered potential voters aren’t affiliated with either of the two parties.

The last day to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election is Oct. 19.