Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

Lehigh County prosecutors tried to avoid the standard procedures for criminal court by bypassing defendants' preliminary hearings. Instead, Lehigh County Judge Thomas Caffrey ruled the cases should proceed Friday morning as scheduled.

In this week's episode, Political Pulse host Tom Shortell and political scientist Chris Borick talk about current events shaping political opinions in unexpected ways. Borick said it marks a "wild start" to 2026 and could set the stage for the rest of the year.

“I have no doubt about what’s going to happen over the next four years,” Reynolds said. “We’re going to have more parks, we’re going to have the community center, we’re going to invest in education, we’re going to build trust."

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie voted to triple ICE's budget as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill last year. The extra funding has allowed the agency to hire more officers who are being deployed in force to major cities across the nation.

Julian Guridy lived in Florida within the past four years, making him ineligible to serve in the state House of Representatives. Just a few days ago, many political observers said he was in line for clear sailing to join the Pennsylvania Legislature.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie touted his office's efforts to help Lehigh Valley residents secure tax breaks, receive passports and navigate the federal bureaucracy through 2025.

Julian Guridy abruptly dropped out of the special election for Pennsylvania's 22nd District House race, leaving Democrats to scramble for a candidate at the 11th hour.

Lewis Shupe, who tried to run as an independent in 2018 and 2024 but failed to make the ballot, has lodged his candidacy as a Democrat with the Federal Election Commission.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, and 16 other Republicans voted for a Democratic bill to extend tax credits for the Affordable Care Act on Thursday night. Mackenzie called on senators to reject the House version but find a deal to keep the credits and reform the health care system.

This week's episode welcomes former Lehigh Valley representatives in the U.S. House. Susan Wild and Charlie Dent join host Tom Shortell to discuss campaigning and the stakes in PA's 7th District.

The Pa. Supreme Court has ruled that mail-in ballots that are missing a date or have a date written incorrectly will need to be set aside by county election boards.

Lehigh Valley voters will help decide some of the nation's most closely-watched contests — Fetterman vs. Oz and Wild vs. Scheller. Here's a look up and down the ballots.

Oz took over a Bethlehem Township warehouse to rally voters along with Congressional candidate Lisa Scheller, with 48 hours to go in the race.

Senate candidate Mehmet Oz will hold a get-out-the-vote rally with House candidate Lisa Scheller in Bethlehem Township on Sunday.

Abortion is a key reason many people will be casting a ballot in the midterm election. People in Bethlehem talk about why they feel so strongly about the issue.

Democratic challenger Anna Thomas faces off against Republican incumbent Joe Emrick for the Pa. House District 137th race.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro spoke to about a hundred supporters at the Teamsters 773 building in Whitehall Township.

When lawmakers redrew the map for Pennsylvania's 18th Senate District last year, they made it more competitive. As a result, incumbent Lisa Boscola has drawn a challenger for the first time in 12 years.

A look at the candidates vying for the newly redistricted 22nd District in the state's House of Representatives.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman thanked canvassers in Whitehall Township as they worked to turn out voters in the closely contested with Mehmet Oz for U.S. Senate.

The attorney general will stop at a teamsters' hall.

Lehigh County's election drop boxes were the focus of a case that could have reverberated throughout the state, and may have had ramifications over how the rest of Pennsylvania handles election drop boxes. This is a deeper look at what happened in the courtroom during that hearing.