A roundup of Tuesday’s primary races and other important information
Pennsylvania voters on Tuesday will be picking their party’s nomination for a host of offices that range from the presidency to state lawmaker.
Many of the results are foregone conclusions. Incumbent Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump have already secured enough electors to get their party’s nomination for president at the conventions this summer.
In the Senate, incumbent Democrat Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick are running unopposed on their party’s ballot.
The Lehigh Valley has contested races for the Republican nomination in the 7th Congressional District and three state House races.
There are statewide races for attorney general, auditor general and treasurer.
Sample ballots for Northampton County can be found here. Lehigh County ballots can be found here.
VOTING
Only Democrats and Republicans can vote in the primary for their respective party candidates unless it is for a referendum question.
To find out if you are registered to vote, click here. To find your polling place, click here.
Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on April 23. Mail-in ballots must be received by 8 p.m. as well.
Not all drop boxes are open until 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
To check locations and hours for drop boxes, click here for the five locations in Lehigh County and here for the seven locations in Northampton County. (Note that on Election Day the Bethlehem City Hall drop box for Northampton County will be moved to the Rotunda where people vote in person.)
If you haven’t gotten around to filling out your mail-in ballot by Election Day, you can bring your uncompleted ballot to your polling place, surrender it and sign a declaration to vote.
If you forget to bring your uncompleted ballot to the polls, you can vote provisionally – meaning your vote won’t be tallied until verified.
Help for voting issues:
If you are registered to vote but denied the right to vote today, you can call the Election Protection Hotline at the following numbers:
English: 1-866-687-8683
Spanish: 1-888-839-8682
Arabic: 1-844-925-5287
For Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, or Vietnamese: 1-888-274-8683
A LOOK AT THE RACES
7th Congressional District
Democrat:
Susan Wild, incumbent from South Whitehall, unopposed
Republicans:
Kevin Dellicker, Heidelberg Township (Read our profile here)
Ryan Mackenzie, Lower Macungie Township (Read our profile here)
Maria Montero, Easton (Read our profile here)
Municipalities: All of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties as well as Eldred and Polk townships and about half of Ross Township in Monroe County.
More coverage here:
Wild apologizes for expressing ‘dismay’ over Carbon's addition to 7th Congressional District
Part I: Where Republicans in 7th Congressional District race stand on immigration, foreign affairs
Part II: Where Republicans in 7th Congressional District race stand on domestic issues
Dellicker leads money race in 7th Congressional District GOP primary
Local state House races
District 22
Democrat:
Joshua Siegel, incumbent from Allentown, unopposed
Republican:
Robert E. Smith Jr., Allentown, write-in campaign
Municipalities: Parts of Allentown and Salisbury Township.
More coverage here:
Democrat Joshua Siegel to seek reelection in 22nd House District
District 131
Democrats:
Jay Santos, Lower Saucon Township
Meriam Sabih, Upper Saucon Township
Republicans
Milou Mackenzie, incumbent from Lower Saucon Township, unopposed
Municipalities: Lehigh County: Lower Milford, Upper Milford and Upper Saucon townships and Coopersburg with part of Salisbury Township. Montgomery County: Marlborough, Salford and Upper Hanover townships and East Greenville, Green Lane, Pennsburg and Red Hill. Northampton County: Parts of Lower Saucon Township.
More coverage here:
In 131st House District, new school board member faces freelance journalist in Democratic primary
District 135
Democrat: Steve Samuelson, incumbent from Bethlehem, unopposed
Municipalities: Northampton County portion of Bethlehem and parts of Hanover Township (Northampton County).
District 136
Democrats:
Robert Freeman, incumbent from Easton
Taiba Sultana, Easton
Municipalities: Easton, Wilson, parts of Palmer Township, Williams Township, Glendon, West Easton, Freemansburg, Hellertown, and parts of Lower Saucon
More coverage here:
Freeman faces first ever Democratic primary challenge in 136th
Sultana earns spot on primary ballot in 136th District state House Democratic primary
Sultana enters probation program for charges filed last year for a domestic incident
In 136th's Democratic matchup, Taiba Sultana looks to unseat Robert Freeman
PAC mounts $70,000 mission to defeat Sultana in 136th Democratic primary
Spending tops $50,000 in Freeman-Sultana race in 136th District
District 137
Democrat:
Anna Thomas, Bethlehem Township, unopposed
Republican:
Joe Emrick, incumbent from Upper Nazareth Township, unopposed
Municipalities: Nazareth, Tatamy and Bethlehem, Lower Nazareth and Upper Nazareth townships along with portions of Hanover and Palmer townships.
More coverage here:
Democrat Anna Thomas to run again in 137th House District
Thomas has early cash advantage over incumbent Emrick in 137th House District
District 138
Democrat:
Jared Bitting, Bushkill Township, unopposed
Republican:
Ann Flood, incumbent from Moore Township, unopposed
Municipalities: Bangor, Chapman, East Bangor, Pen Argyl, Portland, Roseto, Stockertown and Wind Gap and Bushkill, Forks, Lower Mount Bethel, Plainfield, Upper Mount Bethel and Washington townships with parts of Moore Township.
District 183
Democrat:
Joe Lenzi, Northampton, unopposed
Republicans:
Zachari Halkias, Slatington
Zachary Mako, incumbent from Lehigh Township
More coverage here:
Incumbent Zach Mako facing challenger in 183rd’s GOP primary
Municipalities: Slatington, Walnutport, Lowhill Township, North Whitehall Township, Lehigh Township, Moore Township, Allen Township, East Allen Township, Northampton and North Catasauqua.
District 187
Republican:
Gary Day, Heidelberg Township, unopposed
Democrat:
Stefanie Rafes, Lower Macungie, unopposed
Municipalities: Heidelberg, Lower Macungie, Lynn, Washington and Weisenberg townships and Alburtis and Macungie along with parts of Upper Macungie Township.
Referenda
In Heidelberg Township and Whitehall Township, voters will choose whether to increase taxes to preserve open space. All voters in those areas will receive the ballot question even if they are not registered Democrat or Republican.
Heidelberg Township: Voters will vote yes or no on an additional earned income tax at the rate of 0.175% on an annual basis for a 10-year period beginning on Jan. 1, 2025 “to be used for financing the acquisition, preservation and conservation of open space.”
Whitehall Township: Voters will vote yes or no on an increase of 0.05 mill increase to the real estate tax to be used for open space preservation. The current tax rate is 3.80 mills.
In Northampton County, a question about requiring term limits for the district attorney will not be on the ballot on Tuesday. The county Elections Commission did not approve the ballot question in time, and it will appear on the November ballot instead.