A Woodland Hills school board member and a Forest Hills resident running under the Operation Clean Sweep banner are challenging four-term incumbent Rep. Paul Costa for the Democratic nomination in the May 16 primary.

The challengers, Marilyn Messina and Steve Karas, say it's time for a different perspective for the widely diverse District 34, which includes Braddock, Braddock Hills, Chalfant, Churchill, East McKeesport, Edgewood, Forest Hills, North Braddock, North Versailles, Rankin, Swissvale, Turtle Creek, Wilkins and a portion of the city of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Costa, 46, said it's time for property tax reform for residents in his district and throughout the state.

"That is, without a doubt, the No. 1 issue [facing Pennsylvania]," the Wilkins resident said.

Rep. Costa, a graduate of Point Park College, now Point Park University, with a bachelor's degree in accounting, is a Pittsburgh native and belongs to the Game and Fisheries, Intergovernmental Affairs, Liquor Control and Tourism and Recreational Development committees. He has been endorsed by the Allegheny County Democratic Committee.

Reforming the tax structure while funding schools is more complicated than it seems at first glance, Rep. Costa said. Pennsylvania is a big state with residents facing a wide variety of situations. Legislators for the past 30 years have been grappling with the problem.

"We have not been able to come up with a plan that works for everyone," he said.

One idea for generating income for local municipalities and the state is Mr. Costa's proposal to permit two or three video poker machines in local taverns, something that is permitted in other states. Revenue would be shared by the bar's owner, the state and the municipality.

Ms. Messina knows about funding, particularly funding for schools.

The Edgewood resident teaches fifth grade mathematics and reading in the Penn Hills School District. She is also in the middle of her fifth term on the Woodland Hills school board. She previously taught at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Edgewood.

"I've been very frustrated [with school funding]," she said.

School budgets are a balancing act even in the richest districts, and Woodland Hills isn't one of them, she said.

"Woodland Hills has many areas that are hurting," said Ms. Messina, who would like districts to rely less on property taxes.

"It's time to go to a different level," she said.

The 59-year-old Montgomery County native has a bachelor's degree from Temple University and a master's in education from the University of Pennsylvania.

She once had a political news commentary radio program based in Doylestown, Bucks County, and feels she knows how politics work on the local and state levels.

"People are tired [of the same rhetoric]," she said.

Among her supporters is the Pittsburgh-based, bipartisan organization, Run Baby Run, an organization with the goal to get more women involved in local, state and national politics.

Mr. Karas, 36, of Forest Hills, has volunteered for various community boards and committees and has worked on several political campaigns for other people.

But it wasn't until the anti-pay raise, grass-roots organization, Pennsylvania Clean Sweep, sent out a call for candidates to oppose incumbent state legislators that Mr. Karas decided to run himself.

"We have one of the most expensive legislatures in the country," he said.

His and Clean Sweep's objective is to replace that legislature with people who will revamp state government.

The home care physical therapist has his bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and two master's degrees, one in physical therapy from Chatham College and one in sports medicine from Western Michigan University.

Mr. Karas said he supports Clean Sweep's objectives of reducing the size and the cost of the state legislature and increasing the time between a bill's introduction and a vote so the public has time to give input.

"I'm also for term limits," he said.

He said it should be easier for voters to see how their representative in Harrisburg voted on legislation, such as an easily accessible Web site.

Mr. Karas said, if elected, he will focus on education, health care and an improved small business climate. He's not in favor of an all-inclusive sales tax, especially any that would be levied on medical care or groceries.

He is a member of Democracy for Pittsburgh, a local political watch-dog group.

Mr. Costa is one of the legislators in Clean Sweep's bull's-eye since he voted for the pay raise last July and took the money before the legislation was repealed. He returned the money.

"I heard my constituents loud and clear," Mr. Costa said.

He said the outcry and the repeal was a case of the government listening to the will of the people.

"I'm an optimist. I see it as something positive," he said.

The winner of the Democratic nomination will face unopposed Republican James P. Carr, of Swissvale, another Clean Sweep candidate. He is a retired school administrator.