ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Longtime Lehigh Valley lawmaker Pat Browne is fighting for his political survival.
Browne, a Republican state senator since 2005, trailed challenger Jarrett Coleman by just 30 votes early Wednesday with all precincts reporting in Lehigh and Bucks counties in the GOP primary.
Bucks County, which is new to Browne’s 16th District Senate seat due to reapportionment, still had mail-in votes to count, according to its election returns website.
A victory by Coleman, who serves on the Parkland School Board, would be a stunning upset over Browne, who chairs Pennsylvania's Senate Appropriations Committee.
The boundary lines of Browne's district are changing to make way for a third state Senate seat in the Lehigh Valley. As a result, his district is shifting eastward, gaining more of upper Bucks County and less of Allentown.
According to unofficial election returns, Coleman beat Browne in Lehigh County with 10,302 votes to Browne's 9,196. Browne was maintaining an edge in Bucks County, with 7,776 votes to Coleman's 6,700, according to that county's unofficial election returns.
The victor in the Republican primary will face Democrat Mark Pinsley in the fall. Pinsley, the Lehigh County controller, was unopposed in the primary on the Democratic ticket.