When Pennsylvania lost two Congressional seats last year, the counties of Schuylkill and Dauphin found themselves in an unlikely partnership. These two home regions of sitting House members joined with Lebanon and portions of Berks and Perry counties to form the new seventeenth district, bordered by the Susquehanna River and Harrisburg to the west, I-81 to the north and the historic railroad city of Reading to the east. While Dauphin County encompasses the expanding metropolitan area of the state capital, Schuylkill lies in the heart of Pennsylvania's aging anthracite coal industry, its population steadily declining.

The city of Reading and the rolling hills of Schuylkill County had made up Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Holden's sixth district until the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania state legislature paired it with the territory of the seventeenth district, represented for 20 years by incumbent Republican George Gekas. Analysts expected the district to remain a GOP stronghold, with 60 percent of the new district made up of Gekas's constituency.

Holden's eastern region today faces the challenges of adapting industries with nineteenth-century roots to twenty-first century demands. For over a century miners here have made support for labor unions a top political issue, and cities like Reading provided for the distribution of their coal to the rest of the country. Since the end of World War II however, these towns have suffered from corruption and dilapidation as well as much-contested urban renewal projects. The percentage of senior citizens in the region is considerably higher than the state average, with very few racial minorities. Voters here are looking for a candidate who can protect their proud industrial heritage while staving off the effects of years of depopulation and economic transition.

East of Berks and Schuylkill counties reside the conservative Pennsylvania farmers as well as those government workers and businesspeople who commute to Harrisburg. The state government is one of the biggest employers here, and though Pennsylvania's coal industry remains on voters' minds, the continued economic growth of the historical capital city is of paramount concern.

Home to much of Harrisburg's sprawl, Dauphin County saw a gain of nearly 6 percent in population in the 1990s, compared with the statewide increase of 3.4 percent. These residents are younger than the state average, more diverse, and a greater portion possess college degrees. The economy here has remained steady even as Pennsylvania's unemployment rate rose to higher than the national average, and the 2000 census reported Dauphin County as having a lower poverty rate and a higher per capita income than that of the state as a whole. Voters are keen on retaining this economic edge, as evidenced by the surfeit of economic campaign rhetoric emanating from both sides.

The issue that united these disparate regions over the summer, however, proved to be more than economic in nature. Hershey, the town started by chocolate magnate Milton Hershey as a workers' utopia, faced extinction as Hershey Trust Co. executives contemplated selling the famed candymaking empire, possibly to an international giant like Nestle. Besides being a major employer, Hershey is a tremendous source of local pride. Founded in 1894, the company's attendant museums and theme parks now attract over two million visitors a year and support a vast tourism industry.

During the community furor over the possible sale, much was made of the fact that the Hershey Trust board members live an average of 300 miles away from Hershey, and both candidates jumped at the chance to save local jobs from exportation. The prospect of the region's centerpiece becoming another victim of big business and globalization ushered in a flurry of protests and heightened political awareness. In the wake of the protests and threatened government and legal action, the board dropped its plans in late September. The two opposing incumbents have both claimed credit for helping stop the sale, but neither has been able to use the issue to pull away in the polls.

As both candidates continue to crisscross well-worn campaign trails in their old districts, they are working hard to introduce themselves to new constituents and issues.

--By Molly Farrell, Online NewsHour