Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

Tuesday’s meeting was the last before new election commission members are sworn in. The commission criticized the county’s home rule charter — the charter created the commission — as too vague, leaving officials to scrap over who has what powers.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, voted in favor of it.

Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, did not sign the discharge petition that will force a vote on releasing the Epstein files on Tuesday. However, Mackenzie has said for months he would support the measure if it came to a vote.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie helped secure $1.6 million in earmarks toward a new Alburtis Fire Station. The existing structure is too small to serve a modern fire department.

On this week's episode of Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell and political scientist Chris Borick dissect the Democratic sweep in elections across the country and the Lehigh Valley last week.

The House passed a bill Wednesday night to end the nation's longest government shutdown, sending the measure to President Donald Trump for his signature after a historic 43-day funding lapse that saw federal workers go without multiple paychecks, travelers stranded at airports and people lining up at food banks to get a meal for their families.

Billions of dollars for Pennsylvania’s public schools and social services will soon start flowing after months of delay, as lawmakers on Wednesday approved a $50 billion spending plan to break the state’s budget impasse.

The historic 40-day federal shutdown could be coming to an end after eight members of the Democratic caucus broke ranks on a procedural vote Sunday.

Gov. Josh Shapiro says Pennsylvania's utility companies have stepped up to shelter low-income households this winter. The customers are usually covered by LIHEAP, but the federal assistance program has experienced delays due to the federal government shutdown.

“If my vote is the deciding vote … let me save you the suspense: No va pa sa. It’s not happening,” Councilwoman Cynthia Mota said during her Election Night speech last week.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is hearing from former Justice Department leaders who knew about an effort by former President Donald Trump to use the DOJ to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results.

A Pennsylvania state lawmaker and ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump is launching a “forensic investigation” of the state’s 2020 presidential election, demanding cooperation from counties and mimicking a widely criticized partisan effort in Arizona.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a massive infrastructure bill last week, supported by Democrats. Now paving its way to the Senate, a Republican speaks out about the legislation.

The Northampton County District Attorney says a state trooper was justified in a fatal shooting in May following his investigation.

Gov. Tom Wolf is halting a package of election law changes pushed by the Republican-led state legislature, a move that has been widely anticipated.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announced charges June 29 against Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach for endangering the welfare of a child and failing to report suspected child abuse, both misdemeanors.

Gov. Tom Wolf spoke out on June 17 against a Republican-backed election reform bill, calling it an ‘unconstitutional’ attack on voter rights.

The 2021 primary election drew a historic number of voters in Lehigh and Northampton counties despite it being an off-year, municipal election.

Mayor Bob Donchez is wrapping up his second term and term limits prevent him from running again. The sole Republican candidate is former Lehigh County Administrator John Kachmar.

PBS39 and WLVR’s Allentown mayoral debate May 6 was focused on Latino affairs and revealed the candidates' strong opinions about policing in Pennsylvania’s third-largest city.

Voters with visual disabilities face challenges if they want to vote-by-mail in Pennsylvania.

The 2020 U.S. presidential election saw the highest voter turnout in over a century, but controversy has swirled about the way Americans voted whether that was in person or by mail.