Four Democrats remain in 7th Congressional District primary race
Plus, see who filed nomination petitions
The Democratic primary race in the 7th Congressional District is down to four candidates.
Aiden Gonzalez and Lewis Shupe, both latecomers to the race, said they failed to gather the 1,000 signatures required to get on the May 19 ballot.
Filing petitions were Democrats Bob Brooks, a state firefighter union president; Ryan Crosswell, a former federal prosecutor; Carol Obando-Derstine, a former PPL supervisor and aide to former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr.; and Lamont McClure, who most recently was the Northampton County executive.
Incumbent Republican Ryan Mackenzie also filed petitions and is the only candidate on the GOP primary ballot.
Gonzalez, vice president of the Lehigh Valley Young Democrats, is throwing his support behind Brooks, according to a Facebook post. In dropping out, Gonzalez said he gathered 872 signatures, below the 1,000 required.
Shupe said he had trouble gathering signatures due to physical challenges as well as having to deal with gunshot damage to his vehicle.
Meanwhile, nomination petitions filed by candidates show the Lehigh Valley could see five contested primary races on May 19. Besides the 7th, they include the 16th and 18th state Senate districts and the 22nd and 187th state House districts.
The Nov. 5 general election will be a different story with Lehigh Valley lawmakers in the House and Senate facing challenges across the board.
Candidates had to file their nomination petitions by Tuesday. Next up, they could see their petitions challenged in court, meaning they wouldn’t appear on the ballot if enough signatures are invalidated. The deadline to file a challenge is March 17.
Here is a look at petitions listed on the Pennsylvania Department of State website on Tuesday. It’s possible more petitions could appear throughout the week. Armchair Lehigh Valley will post updates should they occur.
Contested races in May 19 primary
18th Senate District: Filing petitions for the Democratic primary were incumbent Lisa Boscola, who was elected in 1998, and Taiba Sultana, who lost a reelection bid to Easton City Council last year. Sultana ran unsuccessfully against Bob Freeman in the 136th in 2024.
Scott Janney, a director of gift planning for the Salvation Army, filed to run in the GOP primary.
16th Senate District: Filing petitions were Democrats Wayne Codner, mayor of Richlandtown Borough; Bradley Merkl-Gump, a Pennridge School Board member and teacher; and Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, who earlier this year was running in the 7th but dropped out of that contest.
Juan Vargas, the owner of Nowhere Coffee, dropped out of the running. He told Armchair Lehigh Valley the race was taking too much time away from his family and business but he hopes to run again in the future.
The winner will face Republican Jarrett Coleman, who is seeking a second term.
22nd House District: Democrats Ana Tiburcio, who won a special election on Feb. 24 for the seat vacated by now Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel, and Ce-Ce Gerlach, Allentown City Council member, filed petitions. Gerlach announced plans to run before Siegel was elected county executive. She was critical of the process the party used to select a candidate for the special election.
As he said he would, Republican Robert E. Smith Jr., who lost to Tiburcio last month, filed a petition to run in the GOP primary.
187th House District: Rachel Marie Guynn-Cuevas and Geoffrey Whitcomb filed petitions to run in the Democratic primary. The winner will face incumbent Republican Gary Day.
Uncontested primaries
14th Senate District
Nick Miller, D, incumbent
Omy Maldonado, R — ran unsuccessfully in the 2022 GOP primary for the seat.
131st House District
Milou Mackenzie, R, incumbent
Meriam Sabih, D – ran unsuccessfully against Mackenzie in 2024.
132nd House District
Mike Schlossberg, D, incumbent
Caren Lowrey, R
133rd House District
Jeanne McNeill, D, incumbent
No other candidate was listed as filing a petition on Tuesday night.
134th House District
Peter Schweyer, D, incumbent
Miriam Maldonado, R
135th House District
Steve Samuelson, D, incumbent
Joseph Poplawski, R – ran unsuccessfully for Bethlehem City Council in November.
136th House District
Robert Freeman, D, incumbent
Pilar Campisi, R – owner of Norwegian Spa in Easton
137th House District
Joseph Emick, R, incumbent
Jeffrey Warren, D, Northampton County commissioner
138th House District
Ann Flood, R, incumbent
Jared Bitting, D – lost to Flood in 2024.
183rd House District
Zachary Mako, R, incumbent
Deidre J. Kamber, D, attorney