Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

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.

For the second time in three months, the Mackenzie campaign has demanded U.S. Rep. Susan Wild apologize for what it described as offensive remarks. The latest skirmish came after Wild challenged U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson's support for first responders.

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., predicted Lehigh Valley congressional candidate Ryan Mackenzie would carry Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District as part of a wider Republican sweep of Congress and the White House in November.

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Republican congressional candidate Ryan Mackenzie will visit the Cetronia Ambulance Corps in South Whitehall Township on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have arranged for their own debates with CNN, ABC and CBS, cutting out the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. The commission had selected Lafayette College to host its vice presidential debate in September.

U.S. Rep. Susan Wild said plans to consolidate the Lehigh Valley's mail processing center appear to have been pushed back. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy backed off a controversial cost-savings effort after receiving pushback from a bipartisan contingent of the U.S. Senate.

Join Megan Frank at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. every Friday for Insights with LehighValleyNews.com on WLVR. This week, Megan is joined by Ryan Gaylor and Tom Shortell.

Northampton was one of 14 counties randomly selected to conduct a risk-limiting audit, county Elections Registrar Chris Commini said.

Pennsylvania election officials say the rate of mail-in ballots rejected for technicalities saw a significant drop in last month’s primary election. That is after state officials tried anew to help voters avoid mistakes that might get their ballots thrown out.

A special hourlong program livestreamed on LehighValleyNews.com Wednesday night. Panelists included Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure. The nonpartisan civic education group Keep Our Republic was a partner in the production.

A report from the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion has former President Donald Trump with a 3-point lead over President Joe Biden in a head-to-head battle. That lead becomes a tie when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is included as an option.

Northampton County certified its primary election Tuesday without the worry over voting machine errors it saw in November.

The Democratic-controlled House passed legislation that would let counties get a head start counting mail-in ballots. But Senate Republicans are unlikely to pass it without an unlikely compromise on voter ID provisions.