BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Democrat Lisa Boscola easily won a seventh term representing state Senate District 18, according to unofficial results.
She faced Republican John Merhottein, a Bethlehem Township commissioner, in her first contested race since 2010.
At 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, Boscola had 58% of the vote to Merhottein's 42%, according to state election returns. The Associated Press called the race for Boscola.
This year, Boscola faced a more challenging path to re-election than in the past.
When the Pennsylvania Legislature redrew the commonwealth’s Senate districts last year, it removed part of District 18 that wrapped around sections of Allentown and swapped it for the Slate Belt communities in the northeast corner of Northampton County.
“The old district that I represented was, I think, 53% Democratic," Boscola said. [The new district] "is 49% Democratic. When you look at the numbers, you're like, ‘Oh, if you're a Republican, we’ve got a shot here.’”
Both candidates framed the race as a referendum on Boscola’s years in the state Senate.
Boscola argued that her record shows she is an independent willing to work across the aisle to get things done in the Republican-dominated Senate—things such as Act 77, the bill she sponsored introducing no-excuse mail voting, among other changes to elections.
Merhotten criticized her support of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, her lack of progress eliminating state property taxes, and her use of public funds on a car and per diems.
