A Grove City resident declared her candidacy for the district represented by state Rep. Tedd Nesbit, R-8th, who is expected to vacate his office soon.

Veronica Cardello, a regional government affairs director for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, announced Monday she is seeking to replace Nesbit.

Cardello, 28, was a longtime resident of Mercer Township, Butler County, before moving to Grove City earlier this year. Both areas are within the state house district.

In November, Nesbit won one of two Court of Common Pleas seats in Mercer County and is expected to soon announce his resignation from the state House. The Mercer County judge seats are scheduled to be filled on Jan. 3, according to Mercer County's court administration office.

Cardello said she sees many opportunities in the district in terms of job growth, and she wants to fight property tax increases. Her position with the Realtor association is for much of southwestern Pennsylvania, including Butler County.

“I've been on the receiving end of phone calls saying grandma and grandpa just lost their family home because of property taxes,” Cardello said.

In her announcement news release, she cited “stopping Harrisburg's egregious spending” as a goal. She said she wanted to focus on fighting tax increases, particularly for veterans and senior citizens, by relying more on “alternative revenue solutions” to balance the budget. She did not provide an example of one such solution.

Cardello also is a director for the Slippery Rock Community Library, according to the campaign news release. She is a 2010 Slippery Rock Area High School graduate, a 2014 Slippery Rock University graduate and earned her master's degree from American University earlier this year.

Cardello is a Republican.

The district is primarily in Mercer County but includes a section of northern Butler County.

Cardello said she has a “great working relationship” with Nesbit. In her role with the Realtor group, she advocates for policies at the local, state and federal levels.

Nesbit first took the office in 2015. His term expires in 2020.

Neal Lesher, chief of staff for Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Mike Turzai, confirmed that a special election will be required to replace Nesbit.

However, a special election won't be called until after Nesbit resigns.

Lesher said they haven't made a decision as to what date a special election might fall on, but both the May primary and the November general election would be possibilities.

There's no deadline by which the special election must be called, but it can't be within 60 days of the date that Turzai issues a writ announcing the special election.

Nesbit did not return calls for comment made to his cell phone and office.

Veronica Cardello