- The Democratic slate of candidates appeared to have won all five open seats on Southern Lehigh School Board
- The apparent winners now make up a majority of the nine-member board
- Only one incumbent, Emily Gehman, sought re-election
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — After a contentious race between the Democratic slate and the Republic slate of candidates for Southern Lehigh School Board, unofficial results early Wednesday show the Democratic slate made history.
Ten candidates were running for five seats on the nine-seat board. Hanging in the balance was the chance by the conservative slate to dramatically shift district policy to reflect its political agenda.
The Democratic slate was made up of one registered Democrat Melissa Torba and moderate Republicans Tim Kearney, Candi Kruse, Eric Boyer and incumbent Emily Gehman.
Gehman was the only incumbent seeking re-election.
The slate was endorsed by the Southern Lehigh Education Association, the teachers’ union, and supported by the Southern Lehigh Community Partners PAC.
Torba said the election results shored up her belief in humanity.
"Folks did their homework to understand better what a school board does, and who are the best candidates to represent their school districts. Voters took the time to do their homework — learn about the candidates, beyond just a party affiliation."Southern Lehigh School Board candidate Melissa Torba
"Folks did their homework to understand better what a school board does, and who are the best candidates to represent their school districts," she said.
"Voters took the time to do their homework — learn about the candidates, beyond just a party affiliation."
The Republican slate named themselves the "True Republicans." Maria Schantz, Lance Tittle, James Pica, Paul Deebel and Danelle Roy won in the primary., but Doug Durham replaced Schantz after she dropped out later in the summer.
Dividing members of the community throughout the campaign season was a pledge endorsed by the Republican slate, calling for board members to overturn what it said was the district’s “policy of hiding gender identity information from parents and guardians” and mandating that school officials notify parents and guardians of previously withheld information.
Under the pledge, board members would not require school staff to use students' preferred pronouns. It also called for a ban on "woke" politics and rejecting curriculum based on critical race theory, which could limit what was taught about certain historical United States events, such as slavery.
They were endorsed by the Lehigh County Republican Committee and state Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Lehigh, a former Parkland School Board director. They also got support from the Southern Lehigh Grassroots PAC.
The Republican slate and its political action committee appeared to be gaining steam ahead of the November election. Over the last reporting period, the PAC raised raised $20,273 and still had $16,153 on hand heading into the final stretch.
The Democratic candidates and their political action committee, Southern Lehigh Community Partners, raised a little more than half that amount. It reported donations totaling $11,847.
The "True Republicans" have also promised not to raise school tax millage taxes for two years if elected.
Parkland and East Penn school districts, where slates of Democrats and Republicans also ran on the same ticket opposite of Republican slates, also garnered more votes in unofficial results.
A request for comment to Lehigh County GOP Committee Chairman Joe Vicot received no response.
