Democrats Schweyer, Santiago face each other again, this time in 134th District
District covers parts of Allentown, Salisbury and all of Emmaus
In many ways, the Democratic primary race in the 134th House District is a carbon copy of the 2020 race.
Incumbent Peter Schweyer and his opponent Enid Santiago are approaching the May 17 primary with the same tenacity as seen by Schweyer’s challenge to Santiago’s nomination petition and Santiago’s winning battle to stay on the ballot.
But what’s different is the district. In 2020, both candidates ran in the 22nd House District.
Schweyer and Santiago are now running in the 134th District, which was redrawn as required every 10 years to account for population changes.
While the district remains heavily Democratic, it includes less of Center City, where Santiago finished strong in 2020, and none of East Allentown. It now includes the western half of South Allentown, where Schweyer lives, all of Emmaus and the western part of Salisbury Township.
The reconfiguration has led both candidates to put themselves and boots on the ground in Emmaus and Salisbury.
In this edition, Armchair Lehigh profiles both candidates. Emmaus Borough Council President Brent Labenberg is the only candidate seeking the Republican nomination. He will be profiled in the fall.
ENID SANTIAGO
Santiago, 44, was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Bethlehem as a child. At age 15, she was in foster care and pregnant. Seven years later, she had four children.
Santiago, now a grandmother, said she was a victim of domestic violence. She credits Turning Point of Lehigh Valley, which provides shelter and services for abused women, for helping her get her life on track. She passed the General Educational Development Test.
“You kind of keep fighting and you have no other choice and you want something different for your babies,” she said.
Santiago owns rental properties in Allentown and Bethlehem.
From 2019 to November 2021, she was a supportive services coordinator at Overlook Park in Allentown for Pennrose Development Co., helping residents in the public housing development access services. Santiago was a site manager for SBM Management Services from June 2016 to August 2019.
In 2019, she and her domestic partner Brenda Fernandez founded SELF LV Women’s Reentry, a nonprofit that helps women re-enter society after experiencing traumatic experiences including, but not limited to, incarceration, domestic violence and homelessness.
Foray into politics
In 2020, Santiago lost to Schweyer in the 22nd House District race by 55 votes.
Santiago said the results should not have been certified because an election judge acknowledged improperly darkening voters’ marks on some ballots so the selections could be recognized by voting machine scanners.
The Lehigh County Board of Elections said Santiago never filed a complaint with the county court; by the time she questioned the election results, the deadline to ask the court to consider the case had passed, The Morning Call reported at the time.
In November 2020, Santiago waged a write-in campaign against Schweyer, capturing 2,471 votes to Schweyer’s 13,969.
For the 2022 primary, Santiago’s petitions contained 508 signatures, but Schweyer and two others alleged 240 of those were invalid. A candidate for the state House needs 300 signatures to get on the ballot.
The case went to Commonwealth Court where Judge Patricia A. McCullough ruled that 306 of the signatures were valid.
Issues
Santiago said she is running for office to give a voice to Latinos and others in the 134th where 48% of the district is white and 55.3% is minority, including 38.4% Latino.
She said she knows firsthand what it means to struggle to buy food and pay rent.
“We don’t end up with the resources that we need in this community,” she said. “That’s why a [former] single teenage mom decided it’s time for one of us to do this, it’s time for one of us to be the domino.”
She said she doesn’t think legislators fulfill their obligation of serving the community. “The job of a politician is simply to bring back resources to the community,” she said.
Health care: Believes that Medicare should be for all, not just senior citizens. Advocates for funding for mental health and to combat the opioid crisis.
Housing: Is for fair, safe and affordable housing, just?? housing legislation-s and legal representations for evictions.
Education: Believes in fair funding for public schools, college-for-all legislation.
Climate justice: Supports clean air and safe drinking water, solar energy initiatives and for ending “the greed” of the fossil fuel industry and holding it accountable.
PETER SCHWEYER
Schweyer, 43, is seeking his fifth term in office. He grew up in Allentown, graduating from Allentown Central Catholic High School in 1996.
Though employed by the city, his father suffered from PTSD and addiction from his time in the Vietnam War. His family moved multiple times. “We were the working poor,” he said.
With the help of student loans and Pell grants, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Schreyer’s Honors College at Penn State University.
He later studied elementary education at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia where he taught school as a cohort member of the Teach Philadelphia program.
Schweyer worked as director of community and government affairs for Sacred Heart Hospital in Center City Allentown. He was chief of staff for former state Rep. Jennifer L. Mann for eight years. He had also served as legislative assistant for two other legislators.
Foray into politics
Schweyer ran for Allentown City Council in 2007, finishing second for three open seats with 23.66% of the vote. He served until 2014. The Morning Call said one of his memorable contributions on council was the 2012 passage of his Lazy Double Parkers Bill, which charged violators an additional $100 if a parking space sat open within 10 feet of their offense.
In 2014, Schweyer announced plans to run for the 22nd District, which had been newly reconfigured at the time. In the May Democrat primary, he defeated Tatiana Tooley, a community organizer, with 53.82% of the vote. He then defeated Republican Steven Ramos, an information technology specialist and Army veteran, with 70.18% of the vote.
Schweyer did not face a challenger in the primary or general election in 2016 and 2018.
In 2020, he faced Santiago.
In Harrisburg, Schweyer serves on the following committees: Appropriations, Committee On Committees, Committee On Ethics, Consumer Affairs and Professional Licensure.
Schweyer said he has made it a priority to identify and help steer grants and funding for projects in his district, including $10 million for the construction of a new Da Vinci Center, $1 million for St. Luke’s Allentown Campus to build a parking garage connector and $1 million for Allentown’s Basin Street redevelopment project.
He said he is working with Emmaus to help find funding to help pay for the $400,000 it is costing the borough to restore a borough well that was found to have higher levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate/perfluorooctanoic acid than recommended by the EPA.
Issues
Schweyer said his political views were shaped by his upbringing. “I want folks to understand that I understand what it is like to struggle,” he said.
Issues
Education: Believes education is foundation success. Wants to continue to work toward education funding equity. Is a sponsor of a bill that would create an Affordability of College Education Scholarship Program for low-income students.
Minimum Wage: Supports raising minimum wage to $15 an hour, saying it would help reverse decades of growing pay inequality.
Economic Development: Supports responsible economic development projects done through strategic investments.
Public Safety: Supports giving law enforcement and first responders the tools they need to keep families and children safe.
Guns: Introduced legislation to ban the sale or possession of assault weapons for individuals under age 21.
Voting: Recently joined with Schlossberg and State Rep. Jeanne McNeill in announcing plans to write and introduce a bill that would allow spouses and blood relatives to deliver mail-in voting ballots to drop-off boxes.