After Tim Murphy stepped down from his post as the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district – a position which he held for well over a decade – a special election is being held to figure out who will occupy the seat for the remainder of 2018.

The special election, March 13, pits Republican Rick Saccone, a longtime state representative of Washington and Allegheny Counties and retired Air Force officer, against Democrat Conor Lamb, a Mt. Lebanon native who has served as a Marine Corps captain and U.S. Attorney.

According to Tina Krieger, the Elections and Voter Registration officer for the election, no third-party candidates have entered their name in the race yet.

Murphy, a Republican, stepped down this past October after holding his post as State Representative since 2003 amid reports that he had encouraged his girlfriend to have an abortion, which would have contradicted his stance as a strong-anti abortion lawmaker during his time in Congress.

During Murphy’s resignation, he stated that needing personal assistance was something of importance to him but did not wish to comment further.

“After discussions with my family and staff, I have come to a decision that I will not seek re-election to Congress at the end of my current term. In the coming weeks, I will take personal time to seek help as my family and I continue to work through our personal difficulties and seek healing. I ask that you respect our privacy during this time.”

Saccone, 59, has the support of both President Donald Trump, who visited Pennsylvania Tuesday, Jan.18, and Vice President Mike Pence, who on that same day emailed an invitation to a “special event” in support of Saccone, slated to take place Friday, Feb. 2.

Lamb, 33, was chosen to represent the Democratic party in November after just two rounds of voting, grabbing 319 of the 545 total votes. The GOP picked Saccone, who currently serves the 39th district, about a week before.

The 18th went in favor of Donald Trump in 2016 by nearly 20 points, though early polling suggests a close race.

A recent development for the 18th district is the redrawing of state lines by the PA State Legislature. Although Krieger says that the election to temporarily fill Murphy’s position shouldn’t be affected by this development, the May primary could be drastically changed.

“[The redrawing of district lines] will not have an impact on the special election,” Krieger said. “It could have an impact on the primary if they change our lines. We could end up with whole different congressional districts. We used to be one district, and when they changed it, it went to two districts.”