Allentown mayoral race officially off the ground
Readers: Armchair Lehigh Valley’s NewsMatch fundraising campaign continues through Dec. 31, with donations matched dollar for dollar by the Institute for Nonprofit News. You’ll find more information on this at the bottom of this post.
The 2025 mayoral race is off and running in Allentown with incumbent Matt Tuerk seeking reelection and council member Ed Zucal declaring plans to run against him in the Democratic primary.
The Democratic primary lineup could be far from settled. Lehigh Valley media have reported that council President Cynthia Mota could run as well. She did not respond to several attempts for comment.
In a Facebook post, Republican Tim Ramos, who faced Tuerk in 2021, said he is weighing another run for Allentown’s top post.
In the Democratic stronghold of Allentown, primaries are often where mayoral races are fought and won.
In his first run for public office, Tuerk faced three challengers in the 2021 Democratic primary – council members Ce-Ce Gerlach and Julio Guridy and incumbent Mayor Ray O’Connell, a former council member who was appointed to the post in 2018 when Mayor Ed Pawlowksi was convicted on federal corruption charges.
Just 122 votes separated Tuerk from O’Connell, the second highest vote getter, in the primary that saw just under 8,000 Democratic voters cast ballots. Tuerk went on to defeat Ramos by nearly 2-1 margin in November 2021.
Whether more Democrats declare their candidacy, the mayoral matchup will be happening beneath a veil of allegations of racial discrimination and mistreatment of city employees that has led to two lawsuits, including one between Tuerk and council.
Following is a look at the race so far.
Matt Tuerk
Tuerk, 49, is seeking his second four-year term in the city of about 125,000, where more than half are of Latino descent. His maternal grandmother was a Cuban immigrant.
His career has included working for the Lehigh Valley Economic Corp. and the Allentown Economic Development Corp.
Tuerk said he remains committed to his promise of an “Allentown for All” with safety, economic opportunity and community partnerships remaining his top priorities.
In listing his accomplishments, Tuerk noted FBI statistics that show violent crime fell in Allentown in 2023.
“Behind these numbers are families feeling more secure in their neighborhoods. This progress came through consistent leadership - having the same police chief [Charles Roca] for three straight years for the first time in over a decade,” Tuerk’s November announcement said.
In addition, Tuerk said he launched a plan to improve traffic signals, pedestrian walkways and roadways near schools with an aim of eliminating traffic fatalities by 2030.
He cited the new Da Vinci Science Center as an example of a community partnership that has created economic opportunity by bringing thousands of visitors to downtown Allentown. He noted the planned spring opening of The Archer Music Hall and the new Moxy Hotel will bring new life to Allentown arts district.
Other accomplishments listed by Tuerk include the $20 million federal grant the city received to help residents access better jobs and Moody’s first A2 bond rating of Allentown. In City Hall, a new digital permitting system has been implemented.
Ed Zucal
Zucal is a deputy coroner and retired Allentown police sergeant who is serving his second term on council, having first been elected in 2017. He made an unsuccessful bid for Lehigh County sheriff in 2014. He is making his first run for mayor.
“I want to make a difference in the city,” he told Armchair Lehigh Valley. “I want to be more available to the public. I’m not going to shut them out.”
Zucal has been highly critical of Tuerk’s tenure at the city’s helm. “Quality-of-life issues are being completely ignored,” he said.
Zucal said the FBI statistics don’t paint a true picture of crime in Allentown. ”There is a shooting or stabbing every other day.” He said morale is low in the police department and he would make changes at the top if elected mayor.
“I believe I have inside knowledge on what needs to be done based on my 25 years with the Allentown police department,” he said.
Zucal said he would be more fiscally responsible than Tuerk, noting his seven years of being involved in city budgets. He said he also prepared annual budgets as the police department’s DUI program coordinator.
He has spoken at council meetings about an exodus of longtime employees, blaming Tuerk for their departures.
He also said the city’s park system is being neglected because employees have left.
“There were good people who were running that program,” he said.
Allegations of racial discrimination in City Hall
Zucal and other members of council have been locking horns with Tuerk over allegations raised by the Allentown branch NAACP and Tuerk’s unrelated decision to terminate three employees in the Human Resources department.
According to city council minutes and legal documents:
On July 15, 2023, the local NAACP sent Tuerk a letter that contained a list of allegations of discrimination against city employees that included racial slurs, mocking of sexual preferences and identities, verbal attacks and denials of promotions.
In response, Zucal and other council members felt an outside investigation was needed.
At a September 2023 council meeting, Tuerk said that his administration “has worked to investigate all claims from day one” and will do everything “to stomp out discrimination” in City Hall. He also said that an internal review would be a better approach, adding that an outside investigation could send shock waves among employees and disrupt city services.
Later that fall, council learned that Tuerk had terminated three employees in the human resources department.
In light of the NAACP letter and HR terminations, Zucal and Gerlach sponsored a vote of no confidence in Tuerk that passed 4-3 on Dec. 6, 2023.
At the meeting, Genesis Ortega, the city’s communications manager, read a statement saying Tuerk enlisted outside counsel in April 2022 to investigate complaints in the HR department. The outside counsel’s report recommended the terminations. She said the interviews, findings and conclusions were confidential and would remain so. (Zucal told Armchair Lehigh Valley that council was unaware of the investigation until the terminations came to light. He said Tuerk is permitted to use his solicitor funding to hire outside counsel for such an investigation.)
In April 2024, council formally voted to allocate $300,000 to fund an outside investigation of the NAACP letter, HR terminations and other allegations. Council formally hired former FBI agent Scott Curtis on June 5.
On June 26, council voted 6-1 in favor of allocating $20,000 to sue Tuerk, with Mota saying council had an obligation to investigate the allegations but that Tuerk was holding up the process.
In September, council officially sued Tuerk and city finance director Bina Patel in Lehigh County Court, alleging they would not approve payments for Curtis’ work. Both sides accused the other of not following the city’s Home Rule Charter in hiring Curtis, who had a role in the FBI’s investigation of the pay-play scheme involving Pawlowski.
On Dec. 4, the day before a hearing on the matter was to take place, council voted 4-3 to temporarily suspend the lawsuit.
In making the motion, council member Santo Napoli, who had been the lone dissent on the June vote to sue Tuerk, said council first agreed to investigate claims in September 2023 and nothing has been done to this point. He said council should work with Tuerk on a solution. Zucal, who was among the no votes, said, “It’s not us who is delaying this, it’s the administration.”
Council’s vote came a week after Tawanna Whitehead, a deputy clerk, filed a federal lawsuit against council, alleging a racially hostile work environment was created by an unnamed city official and by council person Candida Affa.
Whitehead’s job entails assisting city council in preparing the agendas, minutes, resolutions and ordinances. Her lawsuit, alleging violations of her civil rights, was filed in the U.S. District Court’s Eastern District in Pennsylvania.
Affa could not be reached for comment.
Annual fundraising campaign
Our NewsMatch fundraising campaign continues through Dec. 31, with donations matched dollar for dollar by the Institute for Nonprofit News. Armchair Lehigh Valley continued to keep voters informed on election news throughout 2024, and we plan to cover contests for elected offices in 2025.
Your donations will allow us to grow our reporting by expanding our roster of freelancers and covering legal fees, liability insurance and miscellaneous charges associated with accessing voter registration data and court records.
If you’ve donated this year, we thank you. Whether you choose to donate or not, we are committed to providing free campaign and election news and remaining unbiased in our approach.