Browne concedes to Coleman in 16th GOP primary
Vote certification halted in 14th District over mail-in ballot lawsuit.
Sen. Pat Browne, whose reign in Harrisburg stretches 28 year to his time as a state representative, has formally conceded to Jarrett Coleman, an airline pilot, in the May 17 Republican primary in the 16th Senate District.
Coleman will face Democrat Mark Pinsley, the Lehigh County controller, in November.
Browne’s loss is the biggest upset among races for the state House and Senate in the Lehigh Valley.
But it’s not the last unresolved race in the Lehigh Valley.
Under an agreement, Northampton and Lehigh counties will not certify the results in the 14th Senate District the outcome of litigation.
Judge John M. Gallagher issued an order Friday on the agreement in a ruling on a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania that sought a temporary injunction to halt the certification.
The lawsuit also seeks to count 260 mail-in ballots in the 14th that were rejected because they lacked a secrecy envelope or were received after the 8 p.m. May 17 deadline for receipt.
The 14th, as a newly drawn district, lacks an incumbent. Dean Browning, a former Lehigh County commissioner, won the GOP primary.
Tara Zrinski, 46, a Northampton County commissioner, is behind Nick Miller, 27, an Allentown School Board member, in the 14th District Democratic primary 8,828 votes to 8,741, according to unofficial state results.
While Miller has declared victory, Zrinski has not conceded and is backing the lawsuit filed by the nine Lehigh Valley voters.
On Monday, the Republican National Committee and Republican Party of Pennsylvania asked to intervene in the case.
The GOP has opposed no excuse, mail-in ballots even as a majority of its legislative members in Pennsylvania voted to allow them in 2019.
The GOP previously asked to join a lawsuit Mehmet Oz filed against David McCormick as he sought to include mail-in ballots without required dates on outside envelopes in the U.S. Senate GOP primary. McCormick has since conceded.
On Tuesday, Miller filed a motion to also intervene in the Lehigh Valley case filed against the Boards of Elections in Lehigh and Northampton counties and Leigh Chapman, acting secretary of the Department of State, which oversees elections in Pennsylvania.
The plaintiffs – Ruthann Bausch, Marcia Day Dondiego, Judith Reed, Rhoda Emefa Amedeku, Daniel Strohler, Sharon Strohler, Bernard Boakye, Lori Rieker and Lisa Danner – are among more than 260 voters in the 14th Senate District who saw their mail-in ballots rejected over secrecy envelopes and arrival dates.
As mail-in votes were being tabulated after the primary, Zrinski became alarmed over the number of ballots rejected over the lack of secrecy envelopes and late arrivals. She vowed to bring the matter to the public’s attention.
In the 16th District race, Browne’s concession was issued three weeks after Coleman defeated Browne 17,041 to 17,022 in unofficial results.
In a statment given to Armchair Lehigh Valley, Browne said:
“After a thorough review and careful consideration, we are confident that all votes cast in the Republican primary election for the 16th Senatorial District were counted properly. I want to congratulate Jarrett Coleman in securing the nomination and wish him the best of luck in the fall general election.”
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the citizens of the 16th Senatorial District as their Senator for the past 17 years and the Commonwealth as a member of the General Assembly for 28 years. I look forward to finishing my service by delivering a budget this year which places Pennsylvania in its strongest financial position in decades.”
Browne’s loss came as Coleman, 32, portrayed Browne, 58, as a Harrisburg elite who needed to be removed from office.
Coleman could not be reached for comment. He previously declared victory and thanked Browne for his time in office.
His anti-mask and anti-CRT stances, which saw him elected to the Parkland School Board in November, put him more in lockstep with Republican primary voters who gave the GOP gubernatorial nod to state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who has vowed to make abortions illegal at conception if he wins in November and has cited CRT and masks in his campaign.
Coleman was financially backed by $376,885 in donations and in-kind contributions from the Citizens Alliance for Pennsylvania – a political action committee tied to Jeffrey Yass, a Montgomery County billionaire and the richest man in Pennsylvania, according to campaign expense reports.
He also received $100,000 in loans and contributions from Lehigh Valley business owner William Bachenberger, who was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, and his wife Laura.