Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

The Democrats have been vocal about leading an about-face on a number of township issues, including the expansion of the Bethlehem Landfill and resident access to the Hellertown Area Library.

Northampton County held a swearing-in ceremony for recently elected council members, others on Tuesday.

Gavin Holihan took the oath of office Tuesday morning as Lehigh County's new district attorney. He said he'll divert resources away from penny-ante issues to focus on battling violent crime.

The 20-year-old is a youth director with Promise Neighborhoods of Lehigh Valley. She graduated from William Allen High School in 2021 and won election to the school board in the November general election.

The Pennsylvania Department of State is starting a new office to help train county election workers, Pa. Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said. It also plans to update its guidance for logic and accuracy testing that could have caught issues with the Northampton County voting machines.

In a letter to Gov. Josh Shapiro, state Rep. Milou Mackenzie asked the Department of State to provide Northampton County with instructions on how to avoid more Election Day mistakes with their voting machines.

Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure on Friday named a human resources department manager as his acting director of administration. She joined the county in May 2022.

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

Mark Pinsley announced Friday, Dec. 1, that he will run for auditor general in 2024. The position oversees financial and performance audits of Pennsylvania state government.

County Executive Lamont McClure reiterated Thursday he will not step down after the county experienced widespread problems with its voting machines on Election Day. Despite the problems, the county's Election Commission certified the results last week.

Pennsylvanians have been slammed with political messages this election season. That’s thanks, in part, to the Commonwealth being a swing state. And voters found it hard to catch a break.

Voters across the Lehigh Valley experienced long wait times Tuesday morning, but things were moving more quickly in Lehigh County by mid day. But as WLVR’s Tyler Pratt reports, wait times weren’t the only concern for some Spanish speakers at the polls.

Mail-in ballot counting kicked off in Lehigh County this morning just before 9 a.m. WLVR’s Tyler Pratt was there, along with poll watchers as the first ballots were opened and the first “naked ballots” were found.

Senator and Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris was in the Lehigh Valley today as part of Biden's final campaign blitz across the Keystone State.

As millions of Pennsylvanians are expected to take to the polls for in-person voting tomorrow, the state’s top health official is asking residents to take COVID precautions.

Control of the state legislature is at play this Election Day. For years, Republicans have dominated Pennsylvania’s House and Senate. But now, Democrats see a path to take control of both chambers.

Pennsylvania officials are imploring voters to return their mail-in ballots now, and in-person at drop boxes - following a recent decision from the U-S Supreme Court that’s called into question the future of ballots that arrive after 8 p.m. on Election Day - and whether they’ll be counted immediately.

With the election less than a week away, Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley are in the spotlight. Wednesday, Allentown was a stop on the democratic campaign trail for Doug Emhoff, husband of democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a quick, pre-election review on Wednesday to a new Republican appeal on mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania. The GOP sought to exclude votes received after Election Day. But the matter isn’t completely settled yet.

Voter registration for the presidential election topped nine million this year in PA, an all-time high.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a rally this morning in Allentown as part of a trio of stops today across the state as candidates head into a pitched battle for the swing state’s 20 electoral votes.

WLVR’s Community Correspondent Genesis Ortega spoke with Jose Rosado, the first Latino to be elected mayor in the history of Pennsylvania - in Fountain Hill. He says that getting even a third of registered Latinos to the polls could swing the election -- but that political parties need to do more to reach those voters.