Lehigh County News

Since it's not a presidential or midterm election, the 2023 municipal primary election may have snuck up on folks. If that surprises you, here are some other things you may not know about how our local elections are run.

Gavin Holihan, the uncontested candidate for Lehigh County district attorney, has been endorsed by incumbent Republican Jim Martin and Democratic County Executive Phil Armstrong, among others.

Three candidates for the local office said they focused on juggling campaign tasks around full-time jobs in the lead-up to the primary election. All were driven by a desire to educate voters and help people understand county government and its services.

They have been working without a contract since last summer and say they are overworked and short-staffed.

National issues are seeping into local races, turning elections into proxy partisan fights over race and gender.

Local elections rarely get the same level of participation as presidential races, but the outcomes often have greater impacts on voters' quality of life.

Like all the other major cities in the Lehigh Valley, Allentown is a patchwork of neighborhoods, some with good tree cover and some without any. Officials plan to use a mapping tool as a starting point to make planting trees city-wide more equitable.

Former journalist Ann Wlazelek pays tribute to her mother in a new book.

Debates in the South Whitehall commissioners race have taken place on the candidate's Facebook pages. The posts have primarily debated candidate Ben Long's positions and campaign style.

Concerts on the Grange is a two-day music festival that continues at 5:30 p.m. today, May 13, with tribute acts portraying The Doors and The Grateful Dead. Tickets, at $22 and $34, remain available on the SteelStacks website.

These are searchable, unofficial results as reported by the Lehigh County elections office on Tuesday night. Provisional ballots are not included. The vote will remain unofficial until certified in several days.

Republicans needed to win two of the four seats up for grabs on the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners Tuesday to regain the majority.

The unofficial but complete results for the 2023 Parkland School Board election results are in: the Democratic slate, made of mostly incumbents, has swept all six seats.

Unofficial results showed Democratic incumbent Mark Pinsley leading Republican challenger Robert Smith Jr. by more than 6,200 votes with nearly all precincts reporting. Pinsley has made headlines for his unconventional audits through his first four years in office.

Buglio, a Democrat from South Whitehall Township, has served as coroner since being appointed by the county commissioners in April 2022.

Several county and municipal races in the Lehigh Valley were uncontested in the general election. That includes two of the highest-profile jobs in Lehigh and Northampton counties, as well as elected city representatives in Easton and Allentown.

North Whitehall Township's Zoning Hearing Board will hold a special meeting to discuss the zoning appeal for cat nursery Foxy’s Cradle on Nov. 20.

Some voters in Lehigh County said they came out to make their vote count in the school board elections. Others said they wanted to see what candidates would do for the community.

The three townships in the Parkland School District rejected an agreement to continue to give the district $5 from its Local Services Tax. The district will now lose an estimated $300,000 in revenue.

North Whitehall Township is hosting its second Veterans Day Luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 9. It will take place at the banquet hall of Schnecksville Volunteer Fire Company from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Voters are casting ballots in several races at the county and local levels in Tuesday's general election. School board seats and statewide judicial posts also are up for grabs. Check out our rundown and last-minute checklist to get up to speed.

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.