In 137th, incumbent Republican in a rematch with Democrat who came close to defeating him
In the 137th House District, a longtime incumbent is facing a rematch with a challenger who stunned both parties when she lost to him by 703 votes in 2022.
Incumbent Republican Joe Emrick, a former teacher from Upper Nazareth Township, is seeking his eighth term in office.
Trying to oust him again is Democrat Anna Thomas, a member of the Bethlehem Township Planning Commission, who believes she would do a better job of representing the 137th.
Thomas, 28, said she is running to give a voice to four issues: reproductive rights, warehouse development, education and property taxes.
“I think it's more important than ever to know that your state legislator has your back, and you can be certain that I'll have your back,” she said in an interview.
Emrick, 52, did not respond to two requests for an interview made through the House Republican Campaign Committee.
On his campaign website, he said he wants to protect tax dollars, combat warehouse development and truck traffic, create more family-sustaining jobs and secure education funding.
The two candidates offer sharp contrasts on the issues.
Thomas is pro-choice. “I am of the belief that the government does not belong in your family planning decisions, period,” she said.
She called Emrick an “extremist” who has “repeatedly voted to make it more difficult to access abortion care.”
Emrick’s record shows he has voted to restrict access to abortion over the years, including supporting a failed 2017 bill that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks without exceptions for rape, incest or fetal abnormalities.
State law permits abortions through the 23rd week of pregnancy. After that, they are only allowed where the life or health of the mother is at risk.
Both candidates want to curb warehouse development, which has led to residents in the 137th packing township meetings to protest them.
Emrick proposed a bill in January that would let residents vote in a referendum on whether to allow large warehouses or distribution centers.
“These high-impact warehouses and distribution centers have had a devastating impact on our region,” Emrick said in a press release announcing his bill.
Thomas called Emrick’s proposal as being "a little too late.”
As a planning commission member, Thomas said she learned municipalities are hamstrung at the state level by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
The code, written in 1968, gives guidance to municipalities on land development but restricts what they can require of developers who meet zoning and planning ordinances.
She said the law was written before anyone imagined million-square-foot distribution centers.
“Our hands are tied to our backs,” she said.
Thomas said change must come from Harrisburg and she would be a leader in making sure it happens.
Emrick’s website says he has supported school funding “to fully empower tomorrow’s workforce.”
He voted in favor of the 2024-25 state budget, which included a $1 billion increase in K-12 funding and used a new formula to make funding more equitable.
Thomas said inadequate and unfairly distributed state funding is the reason why school districts must raise taxes to make up for budget shortfalls.
“These issues are connected and together they combine to impact everyone in the district,” she said.
In June, before the state budget vote, Thomas pointed out that Emrick voted against House Bill 2370, an education package that included the new funding formula.
“So, unlike my opponent, I am on the front lines advocating for a more common sense approach to deliver education funding at the state level and the investment that students in [Northampton County] deserve.”
With Democrats holding a 102-101 majority in the House of Representatives, the 137th is considered critical to gaining party control of the legislative branch.
As a result of new boundaries created under redistricting in 2022, the district is roughly split with 20,386 Democrats and 19,270 Republicans as of Sept. 30. The rest of the 9,892 voters are independents or third-party members.
Democrats view the 137th as winnable. They supplied Thomas with a campaign manager and brought in Gov. Josh Shapiro to go door-to-door on her behalf. Outside political action committees and donors have contributed to her campaign.
As of May 13, Thomas was ahead in fundraising with $395,038 in cash on hand versus Emrick’s $143,081.
Those numbers foretell another race where $1 million in cash and in-kind services could be spent in the 137th. The next report isn’t due until Oct. 25.
State House members serve two-year terms and earn an annual salary of $106,422, which is adjusted annually in January for inflation.
The district includes Bethlehem Township, Lower Nazareth and Upper Nazareth townships, most of Palmer Township, the fifth ward in Hanover Township as well as the boroughs of Nazareth and Tatamy.
Following is a closer look at the candidates.
JOE EMRICK
Background
Emrick grew up in Bangor, where he played football at Bangor Area High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in history and secondary education from Lycoming College and a master's degree in education from Kutztown University. He then taught in the Stroudsburg, Pleasant Valley and Lower Moreland school districts.
Foray into politics
Emrick served one year on the Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners before moving to Upper Nazareth Township in 2003. The next year, he lost by about 1,000 votes in the general election to incumbent Democrat state Rep. Richard T. Grucela. Emrick was appointed to the Upper Nazareth Board of Supervisors in 2006 and eventually became chairman.
When Grucela announced his retirement, Emrick ran again in 2010, defeating Democrat Charles Dertinger. He has won reelection ever since.
In Harrisburg, Emrick is the Republican chair of the Commerce Committee.
Property taxes
Emrick told Lehigh Valley News that he wants to use a commonsense approach to lower inflation, which would lead to lower taxes. He also said he never voted to raise taxes. Emrick was the prime sponsor of a law that waives the 10% penalty during the first year of home ownership if the new owners did not receive a tax bill.
Warehouses
In January, Emrick proposed House Bill 1960, which would require a voter referendum for a warehouse or distribution center that is a development of regional significance at least 100,000 square feet in size and on three acres of land or more. The bill was referred to the local government committee. No new action has been taken.
“While high-impact warehouses and distribution centers are approved by local governments, the people who are most affected — the community — have no say in whether they should become part of the fabric of our region,” he said in a press release.
Abortion
Besides his vote on the 2017 bill, which was vetoed by Gov. Wolf, to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks, Emrick has cast other votes regarding abortion.
He voted yes to a constitutional amendment package that included language stating that women have no guaranteed rights to abortion or public funding for abortion. The 2022 measure failed to move on after Democrats took control of the House in 2023.
Emrick voted in favor of House Bill 321, which would have prohibited abortions because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. The 2019 bill was vetoed by Wolf.
He voted in favor of Senate Bill 857, which in approving telemedicine, banned the use of the technology to prescribe mifepristone, which is used to induce medical abortions. Wolf vetoed the 2019 bill.
Emrick voted in favor of 2021’s House Bill 118, which would require the burial or cremation of abortion remains by hospitals or clinics with penalties for failure to do so. While approved in the House, it was not taken up by the Senate.
Emrick voted yes to 2023’s House Bill 1786, which would prevent public officials in Pennsylvania, where abortion is legal, from cooperating with authorities in other states from trying to prevent their residents from seeking abortions in Pennsylvania. The measure passed the House but did not receive a Senate vote.
Emrick voted in favor of House Bill 1140, which would require insurance companies to cover all contraceptive drugs, devices, and other products and services at no cost to the consumer. The measure passed the House 133-69 in June but has not been taken up in the Senate.
He voted in favor of a June resolution recognizing July 25 as World IVF Day.
Voting
Emrick voted yes to 2019’s Act 77, which legalized no-excuse mail-in voting.
He voted yes on the GOP's 2021 election reform bill, which would require voter identification at the polls, changed the voter registration deadline from 15 to 30 days before an election and created earlier deadlines for mail-in voting. Wolf vetoed the measure.
In 2020, after President Donald Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden, Emrick was a part of the group of Republican Pennsylvania legislators who filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court expressing support for a lawsuit Texas filed against Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin over changes to voting procedures in the 2020 presidential election. In Pennsylvania, the changes included extending the deadline to return mail-in ballots because of pandemic-related mail delays. The Supreme Court declined to hear the lawsuit,
Guns
Emrick has a 94% approval rating by Gun Owners of America. Emrick voted for bills that would protect gun owners and against bills that would make it harder to obtain firearms.
In 2021, he was marked absent on a procedural vote on House Bill 770 which would have banned owning, selling or making high-capacity, semi-automatic weapons. He voted yes on Senate Bill 565, which would have allowed anyone to conceal-carry a weapon without a background check or permit. It was vetoed by Wolf.
Emrick voted for House Bill 979, which would have restricted municipalities from regulating firearms and allow aggrieved parties to sue municipalities. It was also vetoed by Gov. Wolf.
In March, he voted against House Bill 777, which would ban the purchase, sale and production of untraceable gun parts, so called ghost guns. After passage, it was referred to the Senate.
Education
Emrick voted in favor of a measure vetoed by Wolf that would require school districts to post curriculum online. He voted yes to a bill vetoed by Wolf that would ban transgender women from playing on public school and public college sports teams.
ANNA THOMAS
Background
Thomas grew up in Bethlehem Township. She said her Christian faith, instilled by her immigrant parents, led her to a life of public service.
Thomas is a graduate of Freedom High School. She said she was inspired to run for office by a ninth grade teacher who told her she could do anything in her life, including running for president.
As a sophomore, Thomas was in shock when the teacher was among district employees who were furloughed in the Bethlehem Area School District in the face of steep funding cuts enacted by the Gov. Corbett administration during the Great Recession.
“That’s what started me to get involved,” she said. “I started going to every single school board meeting.”
Thomas ended up serving as a student representative on the school board from 2011 to 2013.
At Wellesley College, Thomas majored in chemistry after a professor discussed its applicability to other careers as well as the need for scientists in government.
“It totally flipped a switch in my brain,” Thomas said. “I think what chemistry teaches you is to approach bigger problems from a systems perspective.”
After graduating in 2018, Thomas earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania in August 2022.
Run for office
Thomas was still in graduate school when she decided to run in the 137th in 2022.
After coming so close, Thomas said she decided to forgo looking for a full-time job and run against Emrick in 2024. She has done part-time consulting work as she campaigns. She was unopposed in the primary.
Abortion
Thomas said she thinks it’s important to elect pro-choice candidates such as herself.
“Since the Dobbs decision, state legislatures are the last line of defense against attacks on reproductive freedom that threaten women like myself,” Thomas said.
Warehouse development
Thomas said, “Warehouse overdevelopment has made one of the most negative impacts on quality of life in the Lehigh Valley.”
She said she joined the Bethlehem Township Planning Commission in 2023 “to learn what I needed to do to stop the construction of new warehouses in our area.”
Thomas said there needs to be a distinction in the law between warehouses that are used for storage and mega distribution centers.
She said it will take strong leadership at the state level, someone who can strike a balance to provide smart development and economic growth. She sees changes to the Municipalities Planning Code as an option to do that.
She chided Emrick for coming up with his referendum idea in January.
“These warehouses have been coming up over the last five, 10 years,” she said. “If that's the best solution we've got coming from someone who's been doing this for 14 years, I don't know what to say.”