Tom Shortell
Politics ReporterI cover all things politics for LehighValleyNews.com. As veteran reporter of the region, I previously covered the Slate Belt, Northampton County, Lehigh County and local courts during stints at the area’s two newspapers. I also penned the popular Road Warrior column at The Morning Call, keeping readers up to speed on transportation news. I graduated from St. Bonaventure University and have yet to find a pun I don't like. I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. Contact me at toms@lehighvalleynews.com or 610-984-8209.
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Nadeem Qaddum, the husband of Easton City Councilwoman Taiba Sultana, will run for one of five at-large seats on Northampton County Council in the 2025 election. -
U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh Valley, will close her third term in Congress on Jan. 3 after being defeated in the election by Republican Ryan Mackenzie. From the inside, Wild has been a witness to major swings in American politics in her six years in Washington.
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U.S. Sen. Bob Casey conceded to Republican challenger David McCormick on Thursday night. The Pennsylvania Department of State ended the automatic recount in the unusually close race since the result was no longer contested.
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FirstEnergy sought to raise local customers' electric bills by more than 9%, but the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission blocked the higher rate.
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U.S. Rep. Susan Wild said the House Ethics Committee is split in deliberations over how to handle an investigations into former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz on allegations of sexual misconduct. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Gaetz to lead the Justice Department.
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The Lehigh County Board of Elections voted 3-0 to certify 191,158 ballots Wednesday afternoon. Fights over how to count contested provisional ballots are already popping up in the neck-and-neck U.S. Senate race between Bob Casey and David McCormick.
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U.S. Rep.-elect Ryan Mackenzie said he expects the incoming Congress and Trump administration to attempt to pull back funding for some projects approved by the Biden administration. "We do want to make sure that the priorities and that the things we want to be achieving, not only as a country but in our local community, are met," he said in an interview with LehighValleyNews.com.
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Northampton County officials will sort through nearly 4,000 provisional ballots. A significant portion of them came from the polling places serving Lehigh University and Lafayette College.
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Since the start of the 20th century, Northampton County has backed the winning president all but three times. It lived up to its bellwether status again by narrowly backing President-elect Donald Trump over Kamala Harris in last week's 2024 presidential election.
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State Sen. Jarrett Coleman challenged over 500 mail-in ballot applications of former Lehigh County voters. Coleman said in a text that he will pursue other ways to challenge how counties register voters living abroad.
