ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Former Allentown Police Chief Roger MacLean will take on state Rep. Josh Siegel in the November election for Lehigh County executive after winning Tuesday's Republican primary.
Unofficial results released at 11:36 p.m. showed MacLean leading former Allentown School Board Director Mike Welsh by 716 votes, good for a victory of about 5 percentage points. Siegel ran uncontested in the Democratic primary.
MacLean said he watched results come in from his West Ward home after spending the day glad-handing voters across the county, including polling places in Lower Macungie Township, East Allentown and Lower Milford Township.
He met former District Attorney Jim Martin, his former boss and one of his financial backers, earlier in the day, he said.
"I'm obviously excited and happy that I'm moving forward," MacLean said. "I'm going to do whatever I can, and I hope the Republican Party can do whatever we can to win in November."
Race leaned on qualifications
Welsh and MacLean were in lockstep on most policy issues, raising concern over a structural deficit in the 2025 county budget but signaling their desire to avoid tax increases. Neither pitched a solution to the issue, either.
They also said they wanted to decrease the number of drop boxes available to voters in the county. There's currently one in each of the five county commissioner districts.
Instead, the race focused more on their qualifications and history in the community.
MacLean worked for decades in the police department and was chief under two mayors before retiring in 2013. He switched to being a Democrat in 2015 to run for Allentown City Council and served a four-year term.
He became acting mayor for about three weeks following former Mayor Ed Pawlowski's conviction on pay-to-play charges.
"I attribute [my victory] to my message," MacLean said. "I am the person that I am and that I have been in my career. I've made friends on both sides of the aisle.
"I expect to use that experience and those resources I've made over my lifetime to win."
Need to step up their efforts
Welsh hammered at MacLean for swapping parties, arguing Republicans deserved someone loyal to the party on the ballot in November.
He gathered with about a dozen supporters at Ringers Roost in the West Ward. By the time enough results came in to call the race, all but three volunteer staffers had cleared out.
A disappointed Welsh quietly thanked his team before calling MacLean to concede.
"I gave it everything I had. I ran a great campaign," he said. "I am 100 percent behind Roger."
Welsh said Republicans will need to step up their efforts to defeat Siegel in November.
Throughout the campaign, he attacked Siegel as a liberal extremist who has entertained creating a countywide sales tax and regionalizing first responders. He emphasized that again Tuesday night, saying the low turnout — unofficial results reported just 16.3% of voters cast a ballot — should serve as a wakeup call.
"Republicans need to put up better numbers in the fall," he said.
Siegel in turn was quick to criticize his Republican opponents. Their campaigns spent more time attacking him than pitching their candidates' platform to voters, he said. It's a sign that they lack a vision to lead the county, he said. When they did focus on their own primary, it was to ally themselves with President Donald Trump, he said.
"We need a county executive who will stand up to the chaos, cruelty and corruption in Washington, D.C.," Siegel said.
The executive primaries lacked some of the fireworks of recent county elections, in part because none of the candidates has broken the bank to date.
The three men spent less than $10,000 between them through May 5, and the Republican candidates have raised less than $20,000 combined. While MacLean had little left in his coffers, though, the Siegel campaign was sitting on more than $180,000, campaign finance reports showed.
Lehigh County Commissioner races
If the executive races have been quiet so far, the county commissioner races are all but non-existent. None of the five district seats featured any contested primaries.
In District 1 (the county's northern tier), Republican incumbent Antonio Pineda is running uncontested with no Democratic challenger on the ballot.
The same is true in District 2 (the county's southwest corner) with Republican incumbent Ron Beitler.
In District 3, Republican challenger Jacqueline Rivera is set to face Democratic incumbent Zachary Cole Borghi. The district includes Hanover Township, West Bethlehem, Catasauqua, Fountain Hill and portions of Allentown.
In District 4, Democratic incumbent Geoff Brace faced no challengers on either ballot. The district represents parts of Allentown and South Whitehall Township.
District 5 is the most competitive on the board, representing parts of Allentown, Emmaus and Upper Saucon and Salisbury townships. The race will feature Democrat Sarah Fevig and Republican Patrick Leonard. Incumbent Jeffrey Dutt is not seeking re-election.
Democrats on the board currently hold a 6-3 majority; Republicans cannot flip it this cycle.
