Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

Gov. Josh Shapiro addressed about 500 people at the New Hampshire Democratic Primary convention in Bedford, N.H., on Saturday. He denied his trip was an effort to kick the tires on a presidential run in 2028.

The League of Women Voters of Lehigh County hosted the forum where the pledge signed onto by the "true Republicans" was center stage.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will address New Hampshire Democrats at their state convention Saturday, marking his first trip to an early primary state. His dominant victory in the 2022 governor's race raised Shapiro's political star in national circles.

Under the new format, prompts on the computer screens in driver’s license centers in Pennsylvania will take the user to a template to register to vote.

LV Print Center in Allentown produces millions of political materials every election cycle, mostly for Democratic candidates. Their work has been used at every local, from local school board candidates to President Joe Biden, according to owners Maggie Wert and Ervin Fetherman.

WLVR's Megan Frank talks with reporters Tom Shortell and Brittany Sweeney.

Republicans have long demonized mail-in voting in Pennsylvania, and experts say it's cost the party elections. Win Again PAC, formed by rivals Dean Browning and Lisa Scheller, is attempting to get irregular GOP voters to embrace the method and swing close races.

There's two new candidates in the Allentown School Board race and one in the Southern Lehigh School board race.

Lehigh County officials determined the proposed legislation had more than a dozen problems, making it too problematic to present to Allentown voters. The bill would have dispatched an EMT and mental health professional to certain calls and prohibited other first responders from going.

WLVR's Megan Frank talks with Tom Shortell and Brian Myszkowski.

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.

Whitehall Township commissioner Republican candidate LoriAnn Fehnel filed a challenge March 14 against fellow Republican candidate Betsey H. Charles, 3212 Chestnut St., based on deficiencies on the latter’s petition.