Here's who's running for state Rep. Curt Sonney's 4th Legislative District House seat

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed the location of North Coast Flight School, which is based in Meadville.

Come 2023, someone other than Curt Sonney will serve as the 4th District state representative for the first time in 18 years.

Sonney, a 64-year-old Republican, announced on Jan. 11 that after nine terms in office he would retire at the end of his current term.

More: Republican state Rep. Curt Sonney of Harborcreek won't seek re-election

The 4th Legislative District, under the new map of the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission, includes the city of Corry; Edinboro, Elgin, Girard, Lake City, McKean, Mill Village, North East, Platea, Union City, Waterford, and Wattsburg boroughs; Amity, Concord, Franklin, Girard, Greenfield, Leboeuf, McKean, North East, Union, Venango, Washington, Waterford and Wayne townships

On the map: Reapportionment Commission's maps bring change to Erie County state House, Senate districts

The primary is May 17.

Here are the candidates who filed before the March 28 deadline to for the 4th District seat:

Chelsea Oliver, Democrat

Oliver, 32, a former member of Corry City Council, became the first Democrat to enter the race on March 18, the start of the petition circulation period for General Assembly candidates.

Oliver, who served as the city’s parks and public properties director from August 2020 until December 2021, has lived in Corry for eight years. The Ellwood City native said she learned to be "patient with progress" as a member of City Council. She said she will "be a bridge between the local and state government to make progress more quickly as our district continues to grow."

Oliver graduated from Seton Hill University in 2011 with dual bachelor’s degrees in new media journalism andcommunication. She then received a master's degree in journalism and communication with a focus in public relations and advertising from Point Park University in 2013.

“Marketing is primarily focused on how to talk from the business perspective to the consumer," Oliver said. "When it comes to government, I know that it’s difficult sometimes for people to understand what’s happening or what the process is about, and what their needs truly are, but my experience allows me to be that liaison between government and the people. I’m focused on bridging the divide among the parties and going to work for our people above anything else."

Oliver said her priorities are broadband, education, workforce development, healthcare, infrastructure and green space.

“While I am fiscally more conservative, I also believe people should be able to lead their own lives and that everyone deserves equity and inclusion,” Oliver said. “I am also a very empathetic person and can understand where people are coming from and why they may hold certain views. I am willing to work with anyone in order to create a better future for all of us.”

Jennifer Lesher, Republican

Lesher is a 20-year Waterford resident and small business owner who dubs herself an "America first" candidate.

Lesher, 56, also describes herself as a "pro 1st and 2nd Amendment candidate" in favor of "promoting individual freedoms as envisioned by our founding fathers." She was raised in Union City and has family ties to Corry and Harborcreek.

She has a bachelor's degree in quantitative business analysis from Penn State and an advanced certificate in accounting from Mercyhurst University.

Lesher runs a wedding accessory store, JLWeddings, on the e-commerce site Etsy. She also makes financial and other decisions for her husband's business, Advanced Custom Chrome.

"My husband wanted me to run for office for years and years because he knows that I'm smart, I can't be bought and I'm very strong in my opinions," she told the Erie Times-News. "I know what's right and what's wrong. He thought I would be good at it.

"I had always thought that we were free people and when COVID hit, I found out we are only free based on the whim of our governor," she said. "Our business got shut down. My business, I could still operate on Etsy, but there were no weddings so I pretty much got shut down as well. That's what really prompted me to think that maybe we need fewer politicians in office and maybe a few more business people."

She said her college education and business experience gives her an advantage over other candidates.

At a recent Lincoln Day breakfast hosted by the Erie County Republican Party, Lesher said she is focused on fiscal responsibility and called herself "very thrifty," according to a copy of her speech provided to the Erie Times-News.

She also said she would push to end COVID-19 mandates and "encourage everyone to live as a free people," according to her prepared remarks.

Jake Banta, Republican

Best known as the singer and guitarist behind the band Jake's Blues, Waterford resident Jake Banta in recent years has turned his focus to politics and the pandemic.

Banta has launched a Facebook page and website to announce his candidacy. He also planned to hold a campaign event Wednesday evening at the Waterford Hotel.

Banta's website contains phrases like, "It's time to stand up for our rights," and, "We the people are governed by the constitution and not those who subvert it."

It lists "constitutional rights," "voter integrity" and "the economy" as his key issues.

"The single greatest thing I can do right now for my country is to run for the PA House 4th District seat," Banta says under the "constitutional rights" section. "The basic rights of our Constitution are being trampled on under the guise of an emergency and empowered by fear. WE THE PEOPLE are the keepers of the Constitution in which the framers wrote specifically for times like this. Our well-being and health care and that of our children are in no one else’s hands before our own."

Banta, who is leading a group that he calls "I Am America," has taken to social media to urge people against getting the COVID-19 vaccine, claiming it contains graphene oxide and that is just as bad as the virus itself. Experts say such claims are unfounded.

He's promoted the use of the drug ivermectin to treat symptoms of the virus. It's used primarily in animals to treat parasites and in humans to treat parasitic worms and other conditions. The Food & Drug Administration has warned against using ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19. Banta's also claimed that medical masks also contain unsafe levels of graphene oxide.

Banta, 56, has referred to the pandemic as a "scam" and as a way for a "tyrannical" government to control people.

At an event called a Veterans Freedom Rally in Perry Square last October. Banta went as far as to offer people ivermectin if they get sick with the virus.

"Resist the vaccines, resist wearing a mask," he told the crowd. "Even if you've got to piss somebody off, just do it. I've been doing it for a year and a half or however long this mess has been going on."

On the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Banta posted that, "The tyrants who brought all of this on your country. (sic) Will try hard to guilt you and continue their lie. Calling Jan 6 a day of domestic terrorism while still trying to force a jab that has killed thousands of PERFECTLY HEALTHY PEOPLE."

Banta, a 1983 graduate of Fort LeBoeuf High School, enlisted in the U.S. Navy Seals after graduation and later served as a security specialist for the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency, working in Iraq, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern areas. He also started his own company, Banta Security LLC, and began working as a maritime security officer in the Middle East and Central America, according to a biography on his campaign website.

Banta's best known for his music. A national recording artist, Banta toured with the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughn and has been part of Bo Diddley's backup band.

Banta and his wife Shelly have three sons.

Greg Hayes, Republican

Hayes, who will turn 60 in March, ran for what is currently the 3rd Legislative District in 2020, squaring off again incumbent Democrat Ryan Bizzarro.

But the Edinboro resident and owner of the North Coast Air Flight School, which operates at the Port Meadville Airport in Meadville, will be part of the 4th District if the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission's final map is held up by the courts.

"I want to do the best that can be done for this area," said Hayes, who is an appointed member of the Erie Regional Airport Authority. "And I'm looking at them all (other candidates), and I truly believe I have the most connections, the most experience in dealing with the hoops you have to go through around here to get the job done."

Hayes has been working with parent groups in Erie County to fight district mask-mandates that are in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said his priorities if elected would also be to provide better representation to areas of southern Erie County, and to make Pennsylvania more business-friendly.

"We've been talking for a long time about how we want to attract businesses," he said. "We need job growth, to stop the brain drain that's going on around here. It's pretty simple if I can be in Ashtabula (Ohio) for a certain cost, but yet it costs me more to be in Erie — the weather's not that much different and it's not that big of a difference geographically, of course — where do you think I'm going to go? Right. So we have to lower the corporate tax structure."

He touts having an A rating from the National Rifle Association and the endorsement of Gun Owners of America.

Jason Monn, Republican

Monn, a 42-year-old Corry business owner who had launched a bid for Pennsylvania governor last year, will instead seek the 4th District seat, he announced Friday, Jan. 14.

Monn, who has dubbed himself and his campaign as the "Common Guy with Common Sense," said in a press release that the GOP has a "strong field" of gubernatorial candidates, specifically Dave White and Nche Zama.

Sonney's decision to retire "is an opportunity to work on behalf of my community that I simply would regret if I did not pursue. We need a common sense, common guy in Harrisburg.”

“We can never again allow the political class in Harrisburg the ability to shut down our economy or force mandates on us that are pure political theater,” Monn said.

Monn blamed "government" for the state ranking 48th in growth. The ranking appears to be from U-Haul's annual growth states report for 2021.

Monn said he can be counted on to "get Harrisburg out of the way so that small businesses can thrive."

“In Harrisburg, I will fight for state government to be responsive to our needs Northwestern Pennsylvania: We deserve our fair share,” Monn said. “There is an appropriate role for state government to bring businesses here. I will lead that charge.”

Monn, the owner of Fat Monn's Grub, 510 E. Columbus Ave., Corry, is married with two children. He previously served on Corry City Council and as Corry mayor.

Joseph Cancilla, Republican

Not even 24 hours after Sonney's announcement, North East resident Joseph Cancilla, a 32-year-old Republican, announced his plans to campaign for the party's nomination.

"As a former business owner, I know the needs of local entrepreneurs," Cancilla, a lifelong North East resident and second-term member of the North East School Board, said in a statement. "I serve local community members as a volunteer firefighter with Crescent Hose Company while pursuing my EMT license. I look forward to serving as your next representative where I will strive to work to put your needs first and always work to protect your rights as an American citizen."

Cancilla graduated from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in business operations management and then began his career in entry-level managerial positions before "working up to the corporate level."

More: Cancilla, Shank vie for GOP nod in county's 5th district

More: North Star Winery opens in downtown North East, replacing Grape Country Market

Cancilla said he grew up "with a passion for helping others, something that was nurtured through my favorite volunteer organization, my family's homeless shelter, Community Shelter Service."

He also serves as a board member of Meals on Wheels Erie and the North East Community Foundation.

Politically, Cancilla ran for the 5th District Erie County Council seat in 2019, coming up short in the GOP primary to now-Councilman Brian Shank. He serves on the Erie County Republican Committee.

"I have been able to serve my local community and county."

Cancilla thanks Sonney for "his 18 years in public service and the commitment he made to the 4th Legislative District" and representing the area "with dignity and always put the needs of his constituents first."

Contact Matthew Rink at mrink@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ETNrink.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PA 4th District: Five Republicans, one Democrat vying for Sonney's seat