Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

Northampton County Commissioner Ron Heckman said Monday he will not seek another term on the county council, while Commissioner John Goffredo announced he will run to keep his seat for four more years.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie and 433 other members of the U.S. House took the oath of office Friday afternoon following a dramatic roll call vote that awarded U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson the speaker's gavel.

Ryan Mackenzie is scheduled to take the oath of office Friday to become the Lehigh Valley's next representative in the U.S. House. But those plans may be put on hold if the chamber can't rally around a speaker.

Former President Jimmy Carter urged Lafayette College students to create a greater, more peaceful America during a speech on the Easton campus in 2013. His longtime foreign affairs adviser Robert Pastor was an alumnus.

Jenna Fliszar, who owns Fliszar Law Office on Hamilton Boulevard, said her work in criminal defense, municipal law and child advocacy means she would bring “a balanced perspective to the bench.”

U.S. Rep.-elect Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, has a background in labor policy. He served as the Republican chair of Pennsylvania's House Committee on Labor and Industry.

Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta said he acted appropriately when he allowed Northampton County Republican Committee Chair Glenn Geissinger to file a private criminal complaint against four members of his party.

Planning Commissioner Frank Graziano III has announced a run for Easton City Council District 1, a seat currently held by Roger Ruggles.

U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, during her farewell address on the House floor Wednesday, said the $38 million spent in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District was an obscene amount.

Josh Siegel said he's "ready to fight like hell" to keep the office in Democratic hands for the next four years after announcing his campaign Tuesday night.

Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey Jr. is seeking a fourth term representing Pennsylvania. He's being opposed by Republican Dave McCormick, the former CEO of the world's largest hedge fund.

Drop boxes for mail-in ballots will be placed in seven locations across Northampton County, including the Northampton County Government Center in Easton and Bethlehem City Hall.

Democrat Anna Thomas is taking another shot at incumbent Rep. Joe Emrick for House District 137 in an election that may be decided by how the candidates handle warehouses.

Politics reporter Tom Shortell and political scientist Chris Borick examine the results from the latest Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion in this week's Political Pulse. It found Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in a virtual tie for Pennsylvania's 19 Electoral College votes.

Former Gov. Tom Corbett and two former federal judges said that petitions for recounts and other litigation could cause some Pennsylvania counties to miss the deadline to certify results of the November election.

Allentown officials are asking voters to authorize them to one day raise the tax rate paid when properties are bought and sold in the city.

It was a packed house at the Emmaus Theatre for a special early screening of the documentary film "War Game" starring former government officials Wednesday.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump were locked in a 48% to 48% tie in a poll of likely voters released Wednesday by Muhlenberg College's Institute of Public Opinion.

A state appeals court is upholding a lower court's finding that a Republican-controlled county in Pennsylvania violated state law when election workers refused to tell voters whether their mail-in ballot in April's primary election would be counted. The case is one of several election-related lawsuits being litigated in Pennsylvania, a hotly contested presidential battleground state. Tuesday's decision by a Commonwealth Court panel upheld a Washington County judge's month-old order.

The film "War Game," produced by an Emmaus High School graduate, simulates what it would be like if a full insurrection really came to pass.

This week on Political Pulse, Tom and Chris discuss what makes a poll scientifically accurate, including a breakdown of how political polls are conducted.

Republicans have seen their numbers swell in Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley, but they still lag behind the total number of registered Democrats in the state and region.