Lehigh GOP censures Republican DA Gavin Holihan for endorsing Democratic candidate
Gavin Holihan, Lehigh County’s Republican district attorney, was censured by a unanimous vote of GOP committee members Tuesday night for endorsing Democrat Josh Siegel’s candidacy for county executive.
The decision, which carries no penalty, is symbolic but “shows unity within the party,” Joe Vichot, chairman of the Lehigh County Republican Committee, said in a phone interview after the vote. “We do not take lightly a prominent Republican who can support a Democrat, especially a Democrat as extreme as Josh Siegel.”
Vichot said Holihan attended the meeting and explained his reasons for supporting Siegel. Vichot said Holihan declined to rescind his endorsement. “It was not an option for him,” Vichot said.
Holihan did not respond to an email request for comment Tuesday. When the county Republican Committee announced Feb. 13 that it would consider censuring Holihan, the district attorney declined to comment to Armchair Lehigh Valley, saying in an email that “this is an issue to be addressed within the party, not in the media.”
Asked for his reaction, Siegel said in an email, "Tonight the Lehigh County Republican Party doubled down on everything that people resent about our broken political system by choosing to embrace a cult-like political mentality that says party label is everything and the individual no longer matters. This censure was nothing more than cruel political theatrics intended to publicly undermine and intimidate an incredibly talented, compassionate and gifted public servant.”
He said Holihan has “courage in the face of these underhanded tactics – this was a pathetic media spectacle orchestrated by a local Republican Party that is severely out of touch."
Vichot described Tuesday night’s meeting as cordial and respectful, but committee members were not swayed by Holihan.
“If people were going into the meeting with the likelihood that they were going to vote to censure, after hearing the district attorney they were more determined to censure,” he said.
About 50 of the roughly 100 committee members, who are elected from their precincts throughout the county, attended the meeting, which lasted about an hour.
Siegel, a state representative from the 22nd District, announced Feb. 6 that he received Holihan’s support. A week later, the county Republican Committee said in a statement that it “strongly denounced” Holihan’s endorsement as a betrayal of “Republican principles and values, the public's trust and his obligation to public safety.”
The committee said Siegel “has a well-established record of far-left extremism which represents a radical shift from the values that Lehigh County holds dear, particularly with respect to supporting law enforcement. Siegel has defended anti-police rhetoric, participated in anti-police demonstrations, and has supported defunding law enforcement.”
Siegel previously pointed to his record on public safety. As state representative, he said he supported funding for 1,500 additional police officers statewide and obtained money so Allentown could hire 40 police officers; while a member of Allentown City Council for two years, he voted in favor of police budgets totaling $76 million that increased spending. As a county executive candidate, he said he would propose countywide police and fire services and additional resources for the DA's office.
Siegel is the only Democrat to announce his candidacy for county executive. The Republicans likely will have a three-way contest in the May 20 primary, with former 131st District state Rep. Justin Simmons, former Allentown School Board member Mike Welsh and former Allentown police chief and city council president Roger MacLean declaring their intentions to seek the job.
The current executive, Phil Armstrong, cannot seek a third term because the county Home Rule Charter sets a limit of two terms.
In May 2023, Siegel, joined by fellow Democrats Armstrong and state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, supported Holihan’s successful write-in campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for district attorney in that month’s primary election. No Democrat was on the ballot. Holihan was unopposed in the Republican primary.
Holihan was elected district attorney in November 2023 to replace longtime Republican DA Jim Martin, who retired after 26 years in office. In January 2023, Martin selected Holihan as his first assistant shortly before announcing his retirement later that month.
"I was proud to support District Attorney Holihan in 2023, I'm honored and humbled to have his endorsement in my race for executive,” Siegel said Tuesday night, “and I look forward to supporting his reelection in 2027 for district attorney because politics and public service should be about the individual and their plans, not their partisan identity. “I look forward to working with and supporting the District Attorney's Office to keep our county safe."
Vichot said Holihan didn’t wait to see which Republican candidates would run for the job or who would win the primary before supporting Siegel.
“As a party we have to support our candidates and let them show that they are capable of serving in that role of county executive. The fact that he didn’t give them an opportunity to do that was upsetting,” he said. “We have three great candidates who are very interested in being our next county executive. We want to give them an opportunity to see who is the best.”