Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

Republican state Rep. Zachary Mako was well on the way to defeating Democrat Joseph Lenzi to win a fifth term representing the 183rd House District.

Flood, a Republican, won a third term Tuesday night representing northern Northampton County in the state House of Representatives.

Several of the Lehigh Valley's state lawmakers are ucontested in the 2024 general election. That means they're shoe-ins for victory.

Northampton County officials said extra voting machines were delivered to help alleviate the crush at the Banana Factory in South Bethlehem. It was an extreme example of a scene playing out on Election Day across the Lehigh Valley as voters waited hours in line to cast their ballots.

Pulling the big red lever in a mechanical voting machine started the voting booth process and closed the curtain behind you. It was as dramatic to my young mind as the vast curtain before a theater's stage.

The Lehigh County Board of Elections will hold a hearing Friday morning to determine the status of 519 mail-in ballot applications of former residents now living abroad. Under federal law, they are entitled to vote in federal elections under their last address, but state Sen. Jarrett Coleman said the county neglected to register them in a voter database.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, greeted voters at one Lehigh Valley polling place on Election Day. Johnson said his visit signified how critically important the Lehigh Valley's 7th Congressional District is to the balance of power in the U.S. House.

On the ground in Pennsylvania on Election Day: The state's political landscape has shifted dramatically since the last election. Student journalists are on the ground throughout the day as people vote.

Check out our rundown of candidates in the most contested races and what to expect to get up to speed for the election on Nov. 5, 2024.

Thousands of supporters rallied at Memorial Hall at Muhlenberg College as Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Lehigh Valley on the final day of the 2024 presidential campaign. Polls indicate her race for the White House against former President Donald Trump is too close to call.

On this week's episode of Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell and political scientist Chris Borick dissect the Democratic sweep in elections across the country and the Lehigh Valley last week.

The House passed a bill Wednesday night to end the nation's longest government shutdown, sending the measure to President Donald Trump for his signature after a historic 43-day funding lapse that saw federal workers go without multiple paychecks, travelers stranded at airports and people lining up at food banks to get a meal for their families.

Billions of dollars for Pennsylvania’s public schools and social services will soon start flowing after months of delay, as lawmakers on Wednesday approved a $50 billion spending plan to break the state’s budget impasse.

The historic 40-day federal shutdown could be coming to an end after eight members of the Democratic caucus broke ranks on a procedural vote Sunday.

Gov. Josh Shapiro says Pennsylvania's utility companies have stepped up to shelter low-income households this winter. The customers are usually covered by LIHEAP, but the federal assistance program has experienced delays due to the federal government shutdown.

“If my vote is the deciding vote … let me save you the suspense: No va pa sa. It’s not happening,” Councilwoman Cynthia Mota said during her Election Night speech last week.

State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Lehigh/Bucks, introduced the bill in 2023 after a student brought a knife to Schnecksville Elementary School. Parents didn't learn of the incident until a week later.

Three Democrats will join the Lower Macungie Township Board of Commissioners in January. The trio appear to have become the first Democrats to be elected to the township governing body in more than a half century.

The winners, based on unofficial results, are Democratic candidates: Kimberly Jaramillo, Luis Melecio, Josh Rager and Chris Sykora — who ran together on a slate.

The councilman fell to defeat Tuesday in his bid for mayor, and his second term on the body ends soon.

With an unusually politicized Supreme Court retention question on the ballot Tuesday, Lehigh Valley voters overwhelmingly backed Democratic candidates.

Unofficial results from Tuesday's election show four first-time school directors will join the board and serve for the next four years. One incumbent won a two-year term.