Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

A Democrat who promised to govern as an independent was elected speaker of the narrowly divided Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Tuesday on the strength of about a dozen GOP votes.

The new lawmakers from the Lehigh Valley joined more than 50 other new faces who were ceremonially sworn in to the General Assembly in Harrisburg.

More than a dozen conservative Republicans rebelled against Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, preventing a House speaker from being elected on the first two rounds of votes.

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.

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.

Kevin Dellicker won in two of the four counties needed to carry the race.

Parkland School Board member Jarrett Coleman maintained a razor-thin edge over the veteran lawmaker.

The six-way race included three Democrats and three Republicans.

In April, Santiago scrambled to collect enough votes to be able to run in the primary election.

The Allentown City Council member will face Republican Robert E. Smith Jr. in November's general election.

Mackenzie, who has served in the House since 2012, is all but assured another 2-year term.

A state senator since 2019, Mastriano had former President Donald Trump's endorsement.

The 52-year-old from western Pa. defeated U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and 2 other candidates.

The ACLU contends 257 unsigned ballots from Lehigh County should be counted.

The seat was created when legislative maps were redrawn earlier this year.

Fetterman says he expects to make a full recovery and return to the campaign trail soon.

An overwhelming number of mail-in ballot requests statewide and locally come from registered Democrats.