- Republican candidates appear to have won at least three of four seats that were up for grabs on the Nazareth Area School Board, unofficial results show
- Democrats did well on Saucon Valley School Board, where four incumbents appear to have been ousted
- Democrats also look to have won all five seats on Allentown School Board and five on Bethlehem Area School Board
LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. — Republican school board candidates were celebrating victory Tuesday night in Nazareth Area School District, while Democrats fended off challenges from GOP candidates in the region’s two largest cities.
And Democratic challengers appear to have unseated four Republican incumbents on Saucon Valley School Board, according to complete but unofficial results.
In Saucon Valley, Democrats Vivian Demko, Jay Santos, Bill Broun and Donald Carpenter finished among the top five vote-getters, while Democrat Laurel Erickson-Parsons appeared to have won re-election.
Erickson-Parsons finished with the second-highest vote total despite running on a slate with four other incumbents — all Republicans — who received the four lowest vote totals Tuesday.
Michael Karabin finished sixth, one vote ahead of board President Susan Baxter, while Shawn Welch and Bryan Eichfield came in eighth and ninth, respectively, unofficial results show.
GOP, Moms for Liberty candidates win in Nazareth
Elmo Frey Jr. and Melinda Gladstone held large leads late Tuesday night over Jeff Greener and Sariann Knerr in the Nazareth Area School Board’s Region I, according to unofficial election results.
Frey Jr. led the way with 1,400 votes, while Gladstone sat in second with 1,365, as of 11:45 p.m., when all Northampton County precincts had reported at least partial vote totals.
Greener and Knerr had 1,158 and 1,164 votes, respectively.
The two Republicans in Region I were endorsed by the Northampton County chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national conservative parental-rights group.
Its local chapter has pushed the school board to adopt policies that would restrict classroom materials and library books and bar transgender students from using bathrooms and playing on teams that align with their gender identity.
But unofficial results Tuesday night showed Republican Christopher Miller held the slimmest of leads over Democrat Jason Swails in Region II, with just 14 votes separating the two candidates.
Incumbent Republican board President Gregory Leh, who cross-filed, won re-election in Region III after running unopposed, giving the GOP at least three of the four Nazareth Area board seats in play Tuesday.
All six candidates in Region I and II races were newcomers, after board members Kenneth Butz Jr., Joseph Vasko and Adam McGlynn opted not to seek re-election.
Democrats sweep Allentown, Bethlehem school boards
Democrats look to have won all school board seats up for grabs in Allentown and Bethlehem.
Five Democrats were elected to Allentown School Board on Tuesday, with the lone Republican in the race finishing sixth, according to unofficial election results from Lehigh County.
With 5,836 votes, Ana Tiburcio finished three votes ahead of Audrey Mathison, while Daysell Ramirez got 5,761 and Andrene Brown Nowell 5,385, unofficial results show.
Zaleeae Sierra picked up 4,890 votes, 1,076 more than Republican Tom Houck, with all precincts reporting full vote counts.
Houck entered the race about two months ago, after school board Director Evelyn Santana dropped out despite winning both primaries in May. Ramirez replaced Santana on the Democratic side of the ballot.
Incumbent Bethlehem school directors Karen Beck Pooley and Emily Root Schenkel and newcomer M. Rayah Levy held large leads over Cindy O’Brien, the lone Republican in the race for three at-large seats on the board.
O’Brien also appeared to have failed with her bid to unseat incumbent Democrat Kim Shively in Bethlehem's Region III, according to unofficial results.
Democrat Michael Recchiuti will retain his seat on the board after running unopposed for re-election in Region II.
