Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

Organizations such as colleges, local governments and non-profits are encouraged to apply for funding under Congress's Community Project Funding program. The Lehigh Valley has secured tens of millions in funding through federal discretionary spending in recent years.

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.

From health care to climate change to immigration, GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has found himself at odds with conservatives over the years. But will Republican voters overlook those issues if they think he can beat President Obama?

Thursday in Pittsburgh, Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appeared to shift his position on climate change. Speaking at the Consol Energy Center, he said, "My view is that we don't know what's causing climate change on this planet." In his book No Apology and in earlier public appearances, Romney has said that he believes climate change is occurring — and that humans are a contributing factor. At a campaign appearance in New Hampshire back in August, Romney emphasized questions about the extent of the human role. But his remarks in Pittsburgh represent a clear shirt toward a skeptical position on the causes of climate change.

Recent polls have shown that while most Latinos still support President Obama's re-election, that support is waning. But while Republicans in Las Vegas see an opening to persuade Nevada Latinos to their party, they're having trouble exploiting it.