Low turnout … again
Tuesday’s primary election continued the trend of low-voter turnout in primary elections when mostly local contests dominate the ballot.
About 20.4% of eligible Lehigh County voters (Republicans and Democrats) cast ballots for the primary while Northampton came in at 22.3%.
That rate was similar to the last two off-year elections.
In 2023, Lehigh reported that 22.5% of voters cast ballots, which included 106 ballots from nonpartisan voters in Whitehall Township where a referendum question was on the ballot. In Northampton, the percentage was slightly higher at 23.7%. In the 2021 primary the turnout rate was 23.2% for Lehigh and nearly 21% in Northampton.
Turnout in such off-year contests generally increases for the general election – 31.1% in Lehigh and 33.1% in Northampton in 2023.
Presidential elections attract as much as three times the number of voters. In 2024, for example, Lehigh’s voter turnout was 73.9%, Northampton’s 76.4%.
Party on
The two Lehigh Valley contests for county judges showed that political party affiliation may be more important in a primary election than how much money a candidate spends.
Consider Northampton County Republican candidate James Fuller and Lehigh County Democratic candidate Mark Stanziola.
They won their party nominations in contested primaries despite spending little money on their campaigns. Each candidate appeared only on their party’s ballot, choosing not to cross-file. Their opponents did cross-file and appeared on the Democratic and Republican ballots.
Fuller spent less than $250 in his race; Democrats Jeremy Clark and Robert Eyer spent significantly more money on their efforts – in excess of $160,000 in total – in reaching out to voters. Fuller won the three-way Republican primary with 47% of the vote; Clark captured the Democratic primary with 52.6% of the vote and will face Fuller in November.
In the Lehigh County judicial contest, Republicans Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen and Jenna Fliszar appeared on the GOP ballot and on the Democratic ballot with Stanziola.
They also outspent Stanziola, whose campaign finance report showed $978 in expenses. By contrast, Mulqueen had $29,167 in expenditures while Fliszar’s campaign spent $38,574 and received another $35,059 worth of in-kind contributions from her husband, Gred Ludel.
In his primary, Stanziola collected 48.8% of the vote in defeating Mulqueen and Fliszar for the Democratic nomination. Mulqueen took the GOP nomination with 61.8% of the vote and will run against Stanziola in November.
Stanziola, Mulqueen to square off for Lehigh County judicial seat
Democrat Clark, Republican Fuller win Norco judicial nominations
Familiarity breeds comfort
Winners of primaries for Lehigh and Northampton county executive were more familiar to voters than their opponents.
Tara Zrinski, who with 57% of the vote defeated Amy Cozze in the Northampton Democratic executive primary, has been elected three times to a county office in the past eight years – twice as a county commissioner and once in her present role as county controller in 2023. She also ran for the 14th District state Senate position in 2022, losing the Democratic primary by 42 votes to Nick Miller, who was elected to the Senate that November.
Cozze’s only bid for public office was seven years ago, when she ran for the state House from the 137th District, losing to incumbent Rep. Joe Emrick in 2018.
MacLean, winner of the Republican nomination for Lehigh executive, was an Allentown police officer for 39 years, the last seven of which he served as police chief and was the public face of the department. He was elected to city council in 2015 and served as council president.
Mike Welsh was elected once to Allentown School Board in 2013 and served three years.
MacLean defeats Welsh in Lehigh County GOP executive race
Zrinski defeats Cozze for Norco executive in Democratic primary
Incumbency reigns
School board incumbents across the Lehigh Valley won at least one spot on the November ballot, results show.
School board races are supposed to be non-political — thus the ability to cross-file. Results suggest voters seemed to know which party the candidates belonged to.
Incumbents tended to capture a ballot position belonging to their party affiliation while losing in the opposing party’s ballot lineup.
That doesn’t mean candidates didn’t break through and win on both ballots as was the case with incumbent Democrat William Whitney in East Penn and incumbent Republican David J. Hein in Parkland. Appearing on both ballots in November does not guarantee a win.
There appeared to be only one incumbent ouster — Democrat Jason M. Bashaw, who placed fifth out of four candidates in the Catasauqua Area School Board race. He was not on the Republican ballot.
Two former board members who lost in 2023 – Easton Area’s Edward Keegan, a Democrat, and Parkland’s Patrick Foose, a Republican – won ballot spots and a chance to return to their positions.
Even with incumbent wins, Lehigh Valley school boards will have new faces in December.
This year’s crop of candidates were among those elected in 2021 – the height of the covid pandemic when school boards were under fire for masking policies and closings.
A slew of school board members elected not to run again.
That was true in Parkland, East Penn, Southern Lehigh, Whitehall-Coplay and Saucon Valley, each of which saw two incumbents bow out of seeking reelection. None of Allentown School District’s four incumbents were on the ballot.
Incumbents lose in Easton and Allentown city council races
It was a day of upsets in Easton and Allentown with voters handing walking papers to three incumbents, unofficial results show.
In Easton’s District 1, Frank Graziano III, a member of the city planning commission, tallied 536 votes to four-term incumbent Roger Ruggles’ 367. The district includes Easton’s Fourth Ward, College Hill and downtown.
In District 3, Easton Area School Board member Susan Hartranft-Bittinger defeated Taiba Sultana, who was seeking reelection to a second four-year term, 403 to 281. The district covers Easton’s Southside.
City council incumbents lose Democratic nominations in Easton but win in Bethlehem
In Allentown, council president Daryl Hendricks finished fifth out of seven candidates in the Democratic primary with 2,585 votes. Council vice president Cynthia Mota won the top spot (3,352 votes), followed by newcomer Jeremy Binder (3,252), incumbent Natalie Santos (2,955) and newcomer Cristian Pungo (2,610).
Allentown council president Daryl Hendricks loses reelection in tight race
Going into the race, one seat on council opened up for newcomers. Incumbent Democrat Ed Zucal ran for mayor – unsuccessfully – in the Democratic primary instead of seeking reelection. He is awaiting results of his write-in campaign for the GOP nomination for mayor. With no Republicans in the running for council, the top four finishers are likely to win in November.
In Bethlehem, incumbents Rachel Leon (4,425 votes) and Hillary Kwiatek (4,247) finished one and two on the Democratic ballot. They were followed by newcomers Justin Amann (4,061) and Jo Daniels (3,283).
Joseph F. Poplawski was the only Republican on the GOP ballot and will be among the five candidates seeking four seats on council in November.
Two positions on council opened up when incumbents Kiera Wilhelm and Grace Crampsie Smith did not seek reelection. Crampsie Smith, who ran for mayor instead, lost the Democratic primary to Mayor J. William Reynolds.