ALLENTOWN, Pa. — In a political stunner, Democrats have named Allentown School Board Director Ana Tiburcio as their candidate in the upcoming campaign for Pennsylvania's 22nd state House District after Julian Guridy abruptly dropped out of the race Friday.
Guridy, the son of former Allentown City Councilman Julio Guridy and an aide to state Sen. Nick Miller, won an intraparty campaign last week to be the Democratic nominee in the Feb. 24 special election.
Guridy ran away with the nomination, securing 17 of 19 votes from local precinct committee people in the district, which includes the eastern portion of Salisbury Township and parts of the city.
But state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh and House whip, said Saturday night that Guridy pulled out at the last second for personal reasons. He declined to elaborate.
While local party officials make a recommendation, the executive committee of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party has final say on the candidate choice.
"I'm not running to be a title. I'm running to be a voice. A voice that listens, works and brings people together. This is about representation, accountability and community."Ana Tiburcio, Democratic candidate for the state House
With the clock ticking on the deadline to name a candidate, state and local Democrats on Saturday ultimately nominated Tiburcio, a first-term member of the school board, Schlossberg said. He credited her service on the school board, her history in the community and her passion for improving the lives of area children as making her the best candidate for the job.
Tiburcio accepted the nomination in a Facebook post shared by local Democratic leaders Saturday night.
"I'm not running to be a title. I'm running to be a voice. A voice that listens, works and brings people together. This is about representation, accountability and community," she wrote.
Elected to the school board in November 2023, she is a graduate of Dieruff High School in Allentown and owns A&M Tax & Services, according to her LinkedIn.
She also is a program coordinator for the Fine Feather Foundation, a nonprofit organization that offers holistic youth programs and mentorship, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Barring any further surprises, Tiburcio will go on to face former Allentown School Board Director Robert Smith, a Republican who ran for the position in 2022. The winner will complete the term of Josh Siegel, who resigned from the House in December to become Lehigh County executive.
Out of nowhere
Tiburcio's nomination comes as a surprise as she wasn't one of the candidates seeking the position earlier this month. Allentown Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach and precinct committee person Erlinda Augilar were the other candidates to receive votes in the local selection process.
Smith, who described himself as a friend of Augilar's and Gerlach's in an interview last week, took aim at Democratic leaders in a Facebook post Saturday, accusing them of cutting out local voters to name a nominee of their own choosing.
"This is not how (our) local leaders should be picked, the people should decide," Smith wrote.
Schlossberg said that Gerlach's and Augilar's lack of support — Augilar's one vote may have come from herself — made clear to the executive committee that they needed to start the selection process from scratch.
"Candidly, when you look at the vote total, the other candidates didn't seem capable of generating support from local leaders," Schlossberg said.
Gerlach at least will have a chance to prove if she has support within the community. She previously announced she would seek a full two-year term for the 22nd District in the May primary.
Guridy has dropped out of that race as well, Schlossberg said.
Control of the House
The stars had seemed aligned for Guridy to waltz into an open state legislator position. Most of Lehigh County's high-profile Democrats — including Siegel, Schlossberg and Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk — had endorsed him, giving his campaign a sense of inevitibility.
Guridy had taken to introducing himself to voters as their future state representative.
While the district overwhelmingly favors Democrats — they outnumber Republicans by a 2.5-to-1 margin, according to voter registration data — the special election could have statewide implications. Currently, Democrats hold the narrowest possible majority of a single seat. Had Guridy dropped out a few days later, Democrats would have been unable to replace him on the ballot.
Reporter Jenny Roberts contributed to this article.
