Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

Some voters at the polls said this year's election feels different than past years.

Sandy Simon ran and won her position as a poll worker in 1996. She has reported twice a year to prepare for the primary election every spring and the general every first Tuesday after the first Monday every November.

A group of young changemakers are working hard to draw more Gen Zers into local politics, and to the polls. But in serving the interests of their country in the political field, they’re doing it behind the scenes instead of in a public-facing role.

With Election Day nearly upon us, our reporters fanned out across the region to find out where folks stood on issues that have defined American politics. This is what they heard.

Lehigh Valley voters will help decide some of the nation's most closely-watched contests — Fetterman vs. Oz and Wild vs. Scheller. Here's a look up and down the ballots.

Oz took over a Bethlehem Township warehouse to rally voters along with Congressional candidate Lisa Scheller, with 48 hours to go in the race.

Abortion is a key reason many people will be casting a ballot in the midterm election. People in Bethlehem talk about why they feel so strongly about the issue.

The third-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives spoke during Sunday's service at Greater Shiloh Church. He urged voters to keep Democrats in control of Pennsylvania's 7th District, and the House.

Democrat Mark Pinsley and Republican Jarrett Coleman traded verbal jabs during Thursday's half-hour debate hosted by Business Matters.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley addressed about 150 donors at a Lisa Scheller political fundraiser Wednesday night. Scheller, a Republican, is attempting to oust Democratic incumbent Susan Wild from PA's 7th Congressional District.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie visited Ward Transport & Logistics Corp. in Easton, where he got feedback about federal regulations on truck drivers and concerns about Pennsylvania's emission standards.

Justin Simmons, the former Republican state representative, was among three people who filed nomination papers last week to seek the party's nomination in the May 20 primary election.

Democratic VIPs including U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, DNC Chair Ken Martin and former U.S. Rep. Susan Wild attended the town hall at Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Thursday night. The evening came with a rebuke to attendees from the church pastor.

At a virtual town hall Thursday, U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, said he did not support cuts to Medicare or Social Security, called for peace in Ukraine, and gently pushed back on how the Trump administration handled cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Organizers with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, Democratic National Congressional Committee and several other groups invited U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie to a town hall event Thursday over proposed Medicaid cuts. Instead, the first-term Republican will hold his own telephone town hall.

Philip Ginder, 74, who served on the Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners for 24 years, was appointed on Wednesday to fill the vacancy created when Commissioner Robert Piligian resigned in February.

Candidates for Northampton County Council, Allentown City Council, Allentown mayor and Parkland School Board are being challenged in court for allegedly failing to meet legal requirements to appear on the May ballot.

A Lehigh County judge ruled in favor of LoriAnn Fehnel, a Republican candidate for Whitehall Township Commissioner, who challenged that candidate Betsey H. Charles's nominating petition is invalid and should be set aside.

City officials voted in favor of raising the next council president’s salary from $7,600 to $11,400 a year and council members’ annual pay from $7,100 to $10,650. However, City Council decided against salary increases for the next mayor and controller.

This week on Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell speaks with Celeste Dee, owner of Lehigh Valley-based Advantage Political Strategies. The two talk about judicial campaigns.

The vacancy on the Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners will be filled at a meeting on Wednesday night. The board interviewed three candidates on Monday night.

Whitehall Township treasurer/tax collector Tina Koren is asking the Lehigh County Court to reject Commissioner Thomas Slonaker's nominating petition for her job.