HARRISBURG– U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, the incumbent in the 17th Congressional District that now includes part of Lackawanna County, will face a challenge from a fellow Democrat in the April 24 primary. Whoever survives will have a Republican awaiting him in November.

Tuesday was the deadline for candidates seeking federal and statewide row office positions to file nominating petitions in Harrisburg.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of State website, Holden, of St. Clair, will be joined on the Democratic ballot by Moosic attorney Matthew Cartwright. Old Forge resident Laureen Cummings filed the required paperwork to appear on the Republican side. Barring a write-in campaign by another candidate, she will face off against the Democratic primary winner in the fall.

The 17th, under the new district boundaries approved last year by the state legislature, is composed of portions of Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Carbon, Schuylkill and Northampton counties, including the cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Easton and Pittston.

Incumbent Rep. Lou Barletta, of Hazleton, was the only Republican to file for the 11th District. Democrats Bill Vinsko, a Wilkes-Barre resident and city solicitor for Wilkes-Barre, and Gene Stilp, a suburban Harrisburg resident who is a Wilkes-Barre native, filed petitions to appear on the ballot in that district.

The 11th includes portions of Perry, Cumberland, Carbon, Dauphin and Luzerne counties, and all of Wyoming, Columbia, Montour and Northumberland counties.

Barletta’s campaign manager, Lance Stange Jr., said the campaign broke its old record of petition signatures collected.

“In 2010, our campaign filed with over 2,100 nominating signatures, the most we’d ever filed in Lou’s prior runs for Congress. To have increased that total by more than 1,000 signatures and to have collected them in all of the newly drawn district’s nine counties is deeply gratifying.”

In the 10th District, which still represents a portion of Lackawanna County, incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, R-LycomingTownship, faces no primary challenger. But Demcorat Phil Scollo, of Dingman Township, Pike County, filed paperwork to appear on the ballot to secure his party’s nomination.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, and Democratic challenger Joseph Vodvarka of Allegheny County also filed their petitions. The Democratic winner will face one of five Republicans in the fall. Sam Rohrer, of Robeson Township, Berks County; Marc Scaringi, of Camp Hill, Cumberland County; David Christian, of Washington Crossing, Bucks County; Steve Welch, of Charlestown Township, Chester County; and Tom Smith, of Plum Creek Township, Armstrong County, all filed petitions to appear on the ballot.

On the presidential front, PresidentBarack Obamawas the lone Democrat to file nominating petitions. On the GOP side, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrinch and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, who representedPennsylvania, filed paperwork, according to the state’s website. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas also qualified for the ballot, State Department spokesman Ron Ruman told The Associated Press Tuesday night.