Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, perhaps the most powerful politician ever from the Lehigh Valley, made his farewell address on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon.

Both parties seem to agree that Feb. 7 would be a good date for special elections, but neither party thinks the other has the right to set it. It’s a case of disagreeing to agree. Or something.

A regulatory agency responsible for the water supply of more than 13 million people in four Northeastern states says it is banning gas drillers from dumping fracking wastewater in its watershed.

Donald Trump’s attacks on fellow Republican David McCormick contributed to the former hedge fund manager’s loss in Pennsylvania’s Senate primary in May. These effects may be long-lasting.

A second Pa. appellate court judge, Deborah Kunselman, will run for an open seat on the state Supreme Court in next November’s election.

Voters with no religious affiliation supported Democratic candidates and abortion rights by staggering percentages in the 2022 midterm elections. And the religiously unaffiliated are growing.

Less than a month after the critical midterm election, Democratic and Republican leaders in the Pennsylvania state House are contesting which party can run the body, a dispute that could determine who has the power to call special elections to fill pending vacancies, and shape who lawmakers pick to lead the chamber on Jan. 3.

Three weeks after the end of voting, challenges to certify midterm election results are playing out in just two states, Arizona and Pennsylvania, where Democrats won the marquee races for governor and Senate.

The Allentown organization helps kids with educational opportunities regardless of financial or home situation.

Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro Wednesday detailed how he’ll assume power from Gov. Tom Wolf, who will helm the AG’s office, and some of his goals for his first year in office.

Lawmakers in Pennsylvania’s state House are scheduled to elect a new speaker Tuesday.

The new Congress, including Rep. Susan Wild and Senator-elect John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, will be sworn into office at noon on Jan. 3, 2023.

Incumbent Mayor Sal Panto Jr. and Easton City Council member Peter Melan said they both plan to run for the office in 2023.

Jarrett Coleman initially planned to stay on as a Parkland School Board member while simultaneously serving in the state Senate. He changed course last month. Good government advocates say such an arrangement creates the potential for conflicts of interest.

Elected leaders will jockey for control of the House for at least a few more weeks.

Pennsylvania’s top elections official is fully certifying results from the November vote.

Deposition transcripts released Wednesday by the Jan. 6 Committee revealed new details about the role that Pennsylvania Republicans played in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The number of state lawmakers who are Black, Latino or of South Asian descent will rise as part of what House Democrats call the “most diverse class of freshmen legislators” in Pennsylvania history.

Winning candidates in Pennsylvania from governor to Congress are waiting for their victories to become official. Counties across the state with have been inundated with requests to recount the midterm ballots, delaying the ability of the state to certify the results.

Pennsylvania House Republican leader Bryan Cutler is seeking to wait until the May primary before holding special elections in two vacant districts.

The total cost of the governor’s race in Pennsylvania topped $100 million in this last election cycle, a staggering amount that set a new spending record in the race to snag the state’s highest office.