HARRISBURG — Contests for the three statewide row offices up for election in 2008 — treasurer, auditor general and attorney general — are still taking shape just three weeks before candidates will start to collect the signatures needed to make the ballot.

Auditor General Jack Wagner and Attorney General Tom Corbett both intend to seek re-election, but Treasurer Robin Wiessmann agreed not to run for another term before being appointed to the post in April.

The row offices can be a way to build a political name — Sen. Bob Casey served as both auditor general and treasurer before being elected senator — but this year's candidates will have to contend with a presidential contest expected to dominate news coverage and commercial airtime.

"My guess is we will have a relatively low turnout for the primary," said John Cordisco, a lawyer and former state lawmaker from Bucks County who is pursuing the Democratic nomination for treasurer. "Now the general (election), obviously, will be just the opposite."

At least one other Democrat is expected to be seeking the party's endorsement when it meets in Lancaster Jan. 12, Montgomery County venture capitalist Rob McCord.

On the Republican side, bond lawyer Tom Ellis, leaving office as Montgomery County commissioner, is the sole candidate to surface thus far.

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta said he decided not to seek the GOP nomination.

"I'm still fighting the illegal immigration battle here," he said. "Hazleton's battle has become a national issue. The office of treasurer, as important as it is, doesn't fit into what I'm doing or what I'm trying to do. Congress might."

Corbett, the Republican incumbent attorney general, plans to run on a record that includes aggressively prosecuting large-scale drug rings and gangs as well as establishing units to focus on child predators, people who abuse the elderly and corrupt public officials.

Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, trying for a third time to get the Democratic nomination for attorney general, might not face opposition.

Two potential Democratic opponents decided not to run: Chris Casey, the senator's brother; and Jim Eisenhower, who lost narrowly to Corbett in 2004 and to Mike Fisher four years earlier.

A wild card is Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, a Democrat who is being coy about her future plans beyond her announced intention to not seek re-election to her current job in 2009.

"She's considering a lot of things," Eleanor Dezzi, Abraham's political adviser, said.