HARRISBURG — The special election to fill the term of the late U.S. Rep. John Murtha will be held on Pennsylvania's primary Election Day, May 18.

That means there will be two elections involving Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district on primary day.

One will decide the Republican and Democratic nominees to run in the general election in November. The other will fill the remainder of Murtha's term, which ends in January.

Murtha died Feb. 8 following complications from gallbladder surgery. He was first elected to the seat in 1974.

SCRANTON — Mayor Chris Doherty is dropping out of the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race to run for state Senate, his campaign confirmed.Doherty will seek the Democratic nomination to replace longtime Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, D-Lackwanna, who announced last week that he will not seek re-election.Doherty entered the gubernatorial race in November, a week after winning a third term as Scranton's mayor, but was unable to match his competitors' fundraising prowess.Doherty joins a Senate race that includes state Rep. Jim Wansacz and Scranton School Board member Chris Phillips, both Democrats, and former Old Forge School Board member Frank Scavo, a Republican.The field is expected to get more crowded.The Times-Tribune of Scranton first reported Doherty's decision to abandon his gubernatorial bid.Mellow is leaving the Senate after 40 years.

HARRISBURG — State officials say fewer people died on Pennsylvania's highways in 2009 than any other year since records started being kept in 1928.Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Allen Biehler says 1,256 people died on the state's highways last year. The previous low as 1,328 in 1944.The state recorded 212 fewer deaths than in 2008. Officials say deaths from unrestrained motorists and passengers as well as alcohol-related fatalities are both down.Fatalities involving older drivers rose from 259 in 2008 to 276 last year.