ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Candidates for the Lehigh Valley's new state Senate seat covering parts of Allentown and Bethlehem are vying for every vote with just two weeks until Election Day—ringing doorbells and knocking on doors.
- Republican Dean Browning and Democrat Nick Miller are running for Pennsylvania's 14th state Senate seat
- This third seat was added following a growth in the area's Latino community
- The two candidates differ on the needs of the Allentown School District and school choice
“[Here’s] a little bit about myself,” Browning told a Coplay resident as he canvassed a neighborhood in the area. “Sixty-six years old, retired. I’m running because I’m not happy with the direction we’re heading both in the country and as well as the state, particularly when it comes to energy prices and education.”
The redrawn Pa. state Senate 14th District encompasses parts of Lehigh and Northampton Counties, running across the border of both counties to include the Moore, Bushkill and Lehigh townships. This seat was added following population growth identified in the 2020 census, specifically the growing Latino community. Miller defeated two Democratic challengers in the primary: Yamelisa Taveras, CEO and program director of Counseling Solutions of the Lehigh Valley, a bilingual and bicultural recovery center and Northampton County council member Tara Zrinski.
Miller said if he is elected, he will hire people who reflect the district.
“I’ve been committed to having office staff that’s representative of the community,” he said. “To be bilingual, interacting with our community members.”
Browning is a former Lehigh County Commissioner who ran twice unsuccessfully for Congress. He also defeated two opponents in the primary to become the general election nominee. Miller is a relative newcomer to public office, having been elected to the Allentown school board in 2019 as one of the youngest people to serve in that post in the city’s history.
Campaign Controversy
The campaign has grown increasingly negative between the two candidates in the final weeks of the race. Browning's campaign has threatened to sue Miller’s campaign for defamation stemming from Browning's viral 2020 tweet claiming he was “a black, gay guy.” The tweet said his life had gotten worse under President Barack Obama and had improved under former President Donald Trump. Browning, who is white and married to a woman, later explained he intended to quote that message from a follower. The cease and desist letter to Miller's campaign said a man named William Holt, using the pen name Dean Purdy, later took ownership of the message.
“In the '60s we had Democrats standing in the doorway to block minorities from entering schools. Now we have Democrats standing in the doorway to block minorities from leaving.”Dean Browning, Republican candidate for Pa. state Senate 14th District and former Lehigh County Commissioner
The cease and desist letter also accuses Miller’s campaign, Friends of Nick Miller and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party of sending out a mailer that directs people to a website that has what it calls false and racist statements attributed to Browning about Black women. Browning’s lawyers said they will sue unless the remarks are taken down.
Miller’s campaign said in a statement that it had received the letter.
“The Lehigh Valley deserves honest representation,” the statement said. “We believe voters should decide what kind of leadership they want to see for our community.”
Allentown School Board
Browning said his top issues are inflation and the economy, while Miller said his top priority is education. Miller is running on his record as an Allentown School Board member, which just voted to fire Superintendent John Stanford, whose last day is this Friday, Oct. 28th. The board gave no reason to the public for terminating the five-year contract with Stanford after employing him for less than a year. Board Vice-President Lisa Conover said the exit agreement gives the outgoing executive nine months of his $230,000 annual salary.
Miller said the agreement, which has yet to be made public, contains non-disclosure agreement language which limits what he can say. Despite paying Stanford about $402,500 for fulfilling only a portion of his contract, Miller maintains he and the board have spent taxpayer’s money responsibly.
Miller said the outside consultants who did the first search can do another for a discounted fee. And he defended Stanford’s salary, which was about $55,000 higher than the ousted superintendent’s predecessor, Thomas Parker.
“Dr. Stanford’s salary was recommended to be $250,000,” Miller said. “It was negotiated down to $230,000. By far, it’s not the highest in the state, but our school district is one of the most financially challenged, poorest school districts in the state and also one of the largest school districts in the state.”
Dr. Stanford’s salary had been criticized as too high by some critics.
Browning said Allentown is not doing enough to educate and graduate students. He pointed to graduation rates of male and Hispanic students at William Allen High School for 2021. State Department of Education data shows males who attend Allen High School had about a 59 percent graduation rate and Hispanic students had a 64 percent graduation rate.
“Dr. Stanford’s salary was recommended to be $250,000. It was negotiated down to $230,000. By far, it’s not the highest in the state, but our school district is one of the most financially challenged, poorest school districts in the state and also one of the largest school districts in the state.”Nick Miller, Democratic candidate for the 14th State Senate seat and Allentown school board member
“We have individuals who have emigrated to this country looking for a better life themselves and for their children and they’re not getting it in the Allentown School District,” he said.
The other two Allentown high schools, Louis Dieruff and Building 21, had higher overall graduation rates of 76 and 77 percent. Male graduate rates were also higher than at Allen High School. Female graduate rates at William Allen were at 74 percent, 15 points above their male counterparts. The graduation rate for special education students at Allen last year was around 45 percent.
School Funding
Browning favors no increase in property taxes for the Allentown School District or additional state funding. He said it simply needs leadership at the local level. He also supports school vouchers, which he said would allow poorer students to be able to leave public schools in favor of charters.
“In the '60s we had Democrats standing in the doorway to block minorities from entering schools,” Browning said. “Now we have Democrats standing in the doorway to block minorities from leaving.”
Miller said he opposes vouchers because charter schools aren’t subjected to the same level of oversight as public schools. He’s in favor of fixing the funding formula for how the state appropriates money for schools.
“If we fully funded our school districts based on the bipartisan state formula, we would alleviate that burden on those property taxpayers,” he said. “We’ve seen across the Lehigh Valley school district taxes going up because the school boards are limited in the options that they have and it’s because we need to properly fund it on the state level.”
Other Issues
Browning said he opposes students playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity and teaching about gender identity in primary school, which he says Miller supports. Miller said this was a non-issue in Lehigh Valley. He pointed out that Northampton Area School District recently decided it was unnecessary to create a policy regarding transgender students, instead opting to continue handling situations on a case-by-case basis.
"I'm also supportive of age-appropriate education, whether it's sex ed in high school," Miller said. "But not teaching gender identity to kindergartners as my opponent has accused me of."
On abortion, Miller said he does not support restrictions that get between a woman and her family and her doctor. Browning said he supports banning abortion but allowing exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
Both Miller and Browning said crime was a top priority. Browning is calling for money for more police officers. Miller said funding for mental health care is also important. Both also agree the state should be less dependent on foreign energy.
