The district attorney race in Northampton County, notable for dueling campaign fliers turning up in mailboxes, is being propelled by more than $300,000 in campaign funding.
Democrat Stephen Baratta, a retired Northampton County judge, posted the biggest tally with $131,875 in total funds available and also raised between Jan. 1 and May 1, according to the Friends of Stephen Baratta campaign expense report. In addition, he had $49,501 worth of in-kind donations.
Democrat Terry Houck, who is seeking his second term, listed $99,363 in available funding, including $64,026 raised between Jan. 1 and May 1, according to the Terry Houck for District Attorney campaign expense report. He also had $2,478 worth of in-kind contributions.
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Houck and Baratta, who retired as judge in December to run against Houck, are seeking the Democratic nomination for DA in the May 16 primary.
With no candidate on the Republican ballot, the race has taken on the air of a general election contest with both sides trading political barbs and accusations at debates and in campaign ads and fliers.
Both candidates are seasoned attorneys with nearly 90 years of law enforcement and legal experience between them. Both served as first assistant district attorney under former DA John Morganelli, now a county judge.
Houck is a former Philadelphia police officer who put himself through college and law school while working as a beat cop and detective. He rose up over the years to become chief deputy district attorney in Bucks and Lehigh counties before becoming first assistant DA under Morganelli.
Baratta has deep roots in the county. He graduated from Pen Argyl High School in 1974 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College. His late father Renald Baratta was a criminal defense attorney. He was first elected judge in 1997 and was twice retained.
Here is a closer look at their campaign expense reports.
Terry Houck
Houck, 67, of Forks Township had a total of $99,363 for the Jan. 1 to May 1 reporting period. He carried over $35,337 from his committee’s last campaign expense report. He raised $64,026, including $25,000 from his wife Linda Houck. Other individual donors included his daughters Tierney Smith ($2,501) and Taylor Houck ($2,500); developer Abe Atiyeh ($5,000) and lawyer David Ceraul of Bangor ($2,500).
He had $10,500 in contributions from PACs, including $5,000 from the Sheet Metal Workers, $5,000 from the International Union of Operating Engineers and $500 from the Allentown Firefighters Local 302.
Linda Houck also gave $25,000 on May 2, according to Houck’s late contributions 24-hour report, bringing her total contribution to $50,000.
Houck’s in-kind contributions included $1,857 for food and hall rental from The Steel Club in Hellertown and $620 from the Northampton County Democratic Committee.
Houck spent $87,760 on services that included professional photographs, graphic designs, signs, mailers, newspaper ads and television air time.
He had $11,602 leftover. His report listed $94,100 in unpaid loans owed to Linda Houck from 2019, the year he defeated Nuria DiLuzio in the primary with 69.76% of the vote and defeated Republican Tom Carroll in November with 55.5% of the vote.
Stephen Baratta
Baratta, 66, of Bethlehem raised $131,875, including a $37,500 loan from himself, $2,000 from Patricia Baratta, $2,500 from Maria Baratta and $1,000 from Peter Baratta. Donors included attorney Raymond Lahoud ($10,000); J.B. Reilly and Kathleen Waterbury (5,000); Joseph and Maureen Topper ($5,000); Zhongxue Hua ($4,000); Thomas and Donna Caracio ($2,500); Sally Slifer-Ryan ($2,500); Gary Strausser ($2,500); George Hathaway ($2,500); Daniel Baurkot ($2,500) James Dieter ($2,000) and Harry Singh ($2,000).
Nancy Aaroe, a Republican who cross-filed to run for Baratta’s judicial seat, and her husband Paul gave $250.
State Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18th, who endorsed Baratta, gave him $5,000 through her campaign committee Friends of Lisa Boscola.
Reilly and Topper, the developers responsible for downtown Allentown’s renewal, also each gave another $5,000, according to a late contribution, 24-hour report. Tom Williams and Michael Tuskes each gave $2,500, according to the report.
Baratta loaned his campaign $12,337 on May 2 to pay for a mailer, the report said.
Lahoud also donated about $37,900 worth of in-kind services that included a laptop purchase, email server fees, media consulting, robocall service, media buys and streaming ads. Leo Rooney donated about $10,000 in campaign manager fees.
Baratta spent $115,433 in the reporting period for services such as website design, polling services, mailers, consultants and photos. His ending cash balance was $16,441.
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