Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

Campaign volunteers outnumbered voters across the Lehigh Valley early Tuesday as Pennsylvania’s primary election got underway.

Since it's not a presidential or midterm election, the 2023 municipal primary election may have snuck up on folks. If that surprises you, here are some other things you may not know about how our local elections are run.

Gavin Holihan, the uncontested candidate for Lehigh County district attorney, has been endorsed by incumbent Republican Jim Martin and Democratic County Executive Phil Armstrong, among others.

Three candidates for the local office said they focused on juggling campaign tasks around full-time jobs in the lead-up to the primary election. All were driven by a desire to educate voters and help people understand county government and its services.

Local elections rarely get the same level of participation as presidential races, but the outcomes often have greater impacts on voters' quality of life.

Two Democrats are running in the primary to become Northampton County's top fiscal watchdog: One a County Commissioner, the other a self-styled outsider businessman.

The two slates of candidates in the 11-person East Penn School Board race continue to spar over alleged connections to political players in and outside of the district as funding sources come to light. Election Day is Tuesday.

Two Democratic candidates for Northampton County district attorney have spent much of the last few months at each others' throats. In 2 days, voters will decide who they believe.

As the campaign for the Easton mayoral primary comes to a close, candidates Sal Panto Jr. and Peter Melan discuss how they spent their funds in the race to City Hall.

Debates in the South Whitehall commissioners race have taken place on the candidate's Facebook pages. The posts have primarily debated candidate Ben Long's positions and campaign style.

Northampton County officials will sort through nearly 4,000 provisional ballots. A significant portion of them came from the polling places serving Lehigh University and Lafayette College.

This week on Political Pulse, Tom and Chris talk about the outcomes of the general election — including Northampton County's significance in elections.

Since the start of the 20th century, Northampton County has backed the winning president all but three times. It lived up to its bellwether status again by narrowly backing President-elect Donald Trump over Kamala Harris in last week's 2024 presidential election.

Councilman Ed Zucal is set to be the first person to announce a challenge to Mayor Matt Tuerk's re-election bid.

None of the state House's 203 districts are changing hands in 2025. A race called on Friday for state Rep. Frank Burns, a Johnstown-area Democrat, gave Democrats a 102-101 margin and dashed Republican hopes of returning to control after two years in the minority.

Join Megan Frank at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. every Friday for Insights with LehighValleyNews.com on WLVR. This week, she's joined by politics reporter Tom Shortell and digital managing content producer Stephanie Sigafoos.

After a polling place in South Bethlehem saw a six-hour wait to vote on Tuesday, Northampton County officials blame an unexpected jump in student turnout compared with 2020.

Beating U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is earth-shaking for Pennsylvania’s Democratic establishment. He's the state's longest-serving Democrat ever in the Senate. Casey had won six statewide general elections going back to 1996.

The Pennsylvania Senate contest between Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick was inside the automatic recount threshold on Thursday morning.

State Sen. Jarrett Coleman challenged over 500 mail-in ballot applications of former Lehigh County voters. Coleman said in a text that he will pursue other ways to challenge how counties register voters living abroad.

State Rep. Joe Emrick won Pennsylvania's 137th House District in his battle against Democratic challenger Anna Thomas.

Unofficial results from the Pennsylvania Department of State show U.S. Rep. Susan Wild trailing Republican Ryan Mackenzie by about 1 percentage point in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District.