Surprise, surprise.

Pennsylvania’s typically humdrum primary election is turning into a humdinger.

This being a presidential election, it’s not surprising that the presidential nomination sweepstakes is getting most of the attention on each ticket.

But what’s not typical is that each ticket features a competitive presidential race. Neither party has settled on a nominee

“In past years because of when we held our primary, it seemed the (presidential) nomination was a fait accompli,” said Ed Natali, chairman of the Butler County Republican Committee. “But this year, Pennsylvania matters.”

That interest has generated excitement and is expected to boost the usual low primary turnout statewide and in the county.

“People are talking about the presidential race because Republicans and Democrats have not decided on their candidate,” said Shari Brewer, county director of elections. “That should drive more people out to vote.”

But there are other contested statewide races on the ballot and national delegate slots for both parties up for grabs.

And the southern county’s voting districts could get another dose of turnout pick-me-up with a hotly contested Republican state House race in which one of the candidates is a “love-him-or-hate him” incumbent.

And to make this atypical primary a bit more peculiar, voters will see two referendums on the ballot, but their ballots may only count on one of them.

Georgiann Kerr, chairman of the county Democratic Committee, expects a good turnout on her party’s side, but not quite as good as in 2008.

“It would be very difficult for us to eclipse the excitement surrounding (President) Obama’s first run for the White House,” Kerr said, noting the 55 percent of county Democrats cast ballots in the 2008 primary.

“Personally, I am enthused by the prospect of a woman president,” she added, referring to party front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Natali predicted Republican showing at the polls would be “higher than we’ve seen in the past three or four presidential primaries.”

Brewer would not project a county turnout by percentage; but she thought it could eke past the 41 percent turnout in the 2008 primary.

According to the elections office, there are 65,302 Republicans and 41,172 Democrats eligible to vote. The county’s remaining 16,210 voters, those not affiliated with either major party, can participate in the referendum.

In addition to president, offices on the ballot include nominations for U.S. senator and representative; state Legislature; state attorney general, auditor general and treasurer; and delegates and alternates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions.

[naviga:h3]Presidential race[/naviga:h3]

On the GOP side, the presidential race features businessman Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

But the Republican ticket also will list the names of three other candidates — Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Ben Carson — who have long since dropped out but not before the March 2 deadline to withdraw from the ballot.

Battling over the Democrat nomination for president are Clinton, the former New York senator and secretary of state, and of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Democratic voters could be caught off guard to find their ballot includes a much lesser known Democratic candidate, Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente.

De La Fuente is a businessman and car dealership owner from San Diego, Calif.

While in some respects Tuesday’s primary is not the norm, one aspect looks the same: there are few contested races on each ticket.

[naviga:h3]Democratic contests[/naviga:h3]

Other than for president, Democrats in the county have just three contested races:

- Running for U.S. Senate are John Fetterman the three-term mayor of Braddock, Allegheny County; Joe Sestak, a retired Navy rear admiral and former two-term congressman from suburban Philadelphia; Katie McGinty of Chester County, a former state Environmental Protection secretary and former chief of staff to Gov. Tom Wolf; and small business owner Joseph Vodvarka of Allegheny County

- Vying for attorney general are Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro and Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr.,

- Running for delegate to the Democratic National Convention are 11 candidates. Voters will elect three men and three women.

County GOP voters, aside from nominating a president, have just one contested statewide race. Squaring off for attorney general are former Scranton police officer Joe Peters of Wyoming County and state Sen. John Rafferty Jr. of Montgomery County

[naviga:h3]Republican contests[/naviga:h3]

The only other competitive races for all Republican voters are for delegate and alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention.

Eleven candidates are seeking three delegate posts and six candidates are vying for three alternative delegate slots.

Some county voters will have contested races for the state House.

In the 12th District, 18-year Rep. Daryl Metcalfe and Gordon Marburger, a self-employed farmer and employee at A.J. Myers and Sons, are seeking the GOP nomination,

The district covers Adams, Clinton, Cranberry, Forward, Middlesex and Penn townships as well as Callery, Mars, Seven Fields and Valencia.

In the 10th District, three candidates are seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic five-term Rep. Jaret Gibbons in November.

The GOP candidates are small businessman and farmer Aaron Bernstine of Lawrence County, health systems fundraiser Clifford Glovier and public school teacher Dawnlyn Valli of Beaver County.

The 10th District covers Slippery Rock and Slippery Rock Township in Butler County and portions of Beaver and Lawrence counties.

[naviga:h3]State referendum[/naviga:h3]

Unaffiliated voters — not just Republicans and Democrats — will have the opportunity to vote in the primary because of a ballot referendum aimed at changing the state’s constitution.

The question posed for voters is whether to abolish the Philadelphia Traffic Court. All state voters must decide the fate of the traffic court because it is established in the state Constitution.

But in Butler County, voters will see a second question, which has been rendered moot.

That referendum asks voters if the mandatory retirement age for the state’s judge’s be raised from 70 to 75. But just weeks before the primary, state lawmakers postponed the referendum until the November election.