ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Voters in Pennsylvania's 22nd House District should expect mail-in ballots to start arriving in the next few days ahead of the upcoming special election.
Tim Benyo, Lehigh County's chief clerk of registration and elections, said ballots for the race have been sent out for printing and should be arriving in local mailboxes by this week.
His staff is in the process of finalizing polling place locations as well; some locations will be moving from previous spaces, he said.
Eligible voters have until Monday, Feb. 9, to register to vote, Benyo said. To be eligible to vote in the Feb. 24 election, a person must be 18 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least 30 days and have lived within the 22nd District for at least 30 days.
Eligible voters in the special election have until Monday, Feb. 9, to register to vote. To be eligible to vote in the Feb. 24 election, a person must be 18 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least 30 days and have lived within the 22nd District for at least 30 days.
Registered voters have until Tuesday, Feb. 17, to request a mail-in ballot. Drop box locations are still being finalized, but the Lehigh County Government Center at 17 S. Seventh St. in Allentown and the Salisbury Township School District Building at 1140 Salisbury Road in Salisbury Township will have drop boxes, Benyo said.
The special election pits Ana Tiburcio, a Democrat currently serving as an Allentown School Board director, against Robert Smith Jr., a Republican who previously served on the school board. Smith was selected by local Republicans while Tiburcio was chosen by state Democratic leaders. Local Democrats originally recommended Julian Guridy be the party's candidate, but he dropped out of the race at the last minute due to residency issues.
Smith and Tiburcio will face off in a televised debate hosted by Lehigh Valley Public Media at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12 at Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown.
The 22nd District represents the city's East Allentown neighborhood, a large portion of its Center City neighborhood and the eastern portion of Salisbury Township.
Democrats enjoy a significant advantage in the district as they outnumber registered Republicans by a 2.5-to-1 margin. It's the biggest partisan lean of any district in the Lehigh Valley. However, if Smith manages to win the district, it would flip control of the Pennsylvania House, where Democrats currently hold a single-seat majority.
The special election was sparked by the resignation of Josh Siegel, who became Lehigh County executive at the start of 2026. The winner of the race will complete the rest of his term, which runs through the end of November.
The district's May primary and November general election will still occur as scheduled to elect a state representative to two-year term beginning in December 2026.
Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach, a Democrat, intends to run in that campaign after being passed over during the Democratic Party's special election nomination process.
