Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

Take a look at stories throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

Seven people are hoping to fill the vacant seats, each with a vision for what they want the future of Whitehall to look like.

Amid accusations of sexual harassment, the former mayor is out — and four candidates are in the running.

Many of the nine candidates seeking one of five seats on the board said the race has been insulated from clashes over social issues.

Easton City Council approved a measure to increase the salary for the police department's unfilled community advocate position and establish a new internship at City Hall.

Candidates have formed two groups: one made up of mostly incumbents, and the other made up of Republican challengers. Transparency, spending and projected overcrowding in the district's middle and high schools have become key issues in the race.

Easton's City Council primary will feature seven candidates competing for three open seats. Priorities for the contenders include affordable housing and neighborhood development.

Democrats in Lehigh and Northampton counties requested three times more mail-in ballots than their Republican neighbors for next week's primary election.

Culture war issues are hot topics in the races for four of the nine seats on the Nazareth Area School Board up for election this year. Three incumbents are not seeking re-election.

East Penn School Board race features two contentious slates of candidates.

The tax and spending plan drew praise from Republicans for lowering taxes and funding border security, but Democrats condemned it for slashing Medicaid coverage and raising the deficit.

Pennsylvania's 137th District is among the most competitive state House races in the commonwealth. It's based in the swing suburbs of Northampton County.

President Donald Trump campaigned on immigration enforcement and recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations have gained national and local attention. This week on Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell and political scientist Chris Borick look into the public's reaction to these raids.

Larry O’Donnell, a 15-year borough resident, was appointed to fill a council vacancy through the end of the year.

The U.S. Senate could vote on the proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act this week. If passed, millions of Americans would lose access to Medicaid and SNAP benefits in order to fund border security and tax cuts to wealthy Americans.

The emergence of the gig economy has altered the American workforce and created questions about what benefits and protections independent contractors should have under federal law. U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, discussed that during the roundtable.

Bill Bachenberg is a major supporter of President Trump and co-owner of Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays in North Whitehall Township. A former board member, he recently became president of the National Rifle Association.

Federal immigration officials on Friday issued their first statement since arresting 17 people at the Five10 Flats on June 11. Mayor J. Williams Reynolds this week described the arrests as "an American tragedy."

Political Pulse host Tom Shortell talks with Fabian Fellmann, a U.S. correspondent for a Swiss daily newspaper, about what brought him to the Lehigh Valley.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, got an earful from a constituent Saturday after he accused protesters of feeding a charged political environment that's led to assassinations.

Emrick Boulevard in Bethlehem Township hosted the first of four rallies organized in the Lehigh Valley to coincide with a military parade in Washington, D.C., on Trump's 79th birthday. At least one physical confrontation occurred.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie voted in line with the Republican majority to strip more than $1 billion of federal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting over the next two years.