Mako defeats primary challenger in 183rd House District race
Four-term incumbent will face off with Democrat Joe Lenzi in November
In the 183rd House District race, four-term incumbent Republican Zachary Mako easily fended off a primary challenge from Zachari Halkias, a 22-year-old member of Slatington Borough Council.
Mako received 5,216 votes and Halkias received 1,997 according to unofficial results from Pennsylvania.
The 183rd District is a Republican stronghold that crosses through northern Lehigh and Northampton counties, encompassing Slatington, Walnutport, Lowhill Township, North Whitehall Township, Lehigh Township, Moore Township, Allen Township, East Allen Township, Northampton and North Catasauqua.
Mako said he first ran for office in 2016 because he was “tired of career politicians looking out for themselves.” Halkias was Mako’s first primary challenge since 2018 when he defeated Cynthia Miller, a Lehigh Township supervisor, with nearly 73% of the vote.
Mako enters the general election with $46,469 cash on hand according to his most recent campaign finance report. He carried over $28,808 from 2023, raised $31,450 between Jan. 1 and April 8, spent $13,789 and received $10,202 in in-kind contributions.
Halkias raised $7,914 in his campaign to unseat the incumbent, according to the Team Halkias report filed for March 5 to April 8. He spent $3,599 and had $3,705 in in-kind services. His mother Barbara Halkias contributed most of the in-kind donations, including $2,333 for a billboard.
Half of his cash donations – $4,000 – came from Bill Bachenberg, co-owner of Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays in North Whitehall. In December 2020, Bachenberg served as chairperson of the so-called alternate Pennsylvania Electoral College members who stood ready to cast their votes for Donald Trump if he prevailed in his lawsuits claiming he, not Joe Biden, had won the state. Halkias also received $100 from Paul Moat of Whitehall Township, an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Lehigh County commissioner last year.
Halkias is a third-generation resident of Slatington who graduated from Northern Lehigh High School in 2020 and studied business at Lehigh Carbon Community College.
He did not say explicitly why he was challenging Mako but believed Lehigh Valley voters deserved a legislator “who will stand firm for conservative values.”
Outside the Northampton Memorial Community Center on Tuesday morning, Mandy Housenick, 44, of Northampton shared why she voted for Mako. “He’s done a lot for our country as a serviceman,” she said.
Mike Rogers, 48, said it was a “tossup” but he voted for Mako. He noted that he thought about voting for Halkias since he wasn’t a career politician, but ultimately did not know enough about him.
Vickie Zmarzley, 66, of Northampton voted for Halkias even though she had voted for Mako in prior elections. “My husband has remarked to me so many times that we have not seen much that Mako’s done,” she said.
Joseph Lenzi of Northampton was the only candidate seeking the Democratic nomination and won his primary. Mako and Lenzi will face off in the general election on Nov. 5.