School board wins set stage for November repeat of primary contests

On one side are bipartisan incumbents, the other slates of newcomers

Photo by MChe Lee on Unsplash

The Lehigh Valley saw victories in school board races that set the stage for a repeat of Tuesday’s primary in November in many districts. 

Whereas, the candidates cross-filed and faced each other on both ballots on Tuesday, in November they most often will appear as Democrats versus Republicans – even if they don’t carry those party affiliations. 

Driving the situation in some districts was a decision by Democratic voters to pick incumbent Republicans on their ballot along with Democratic incumbents and newcomers, and by Republican voters to shun incumbent Republicans and Democratic candidates altogther.

Here is a look at unofficial results of some of those races. Armchair Lehigh Valley will be reporting on all school board races in coming days. Please note that all of Northampton County’s results were not final Tuesday night so totals may change.  

EAST PENN - FIVE SEATS

In East Penn, two slates whose battles were fought with zeal on Facebook will again go head-to-head. 

Republicans Paul Barbehenn, Kristofer DePaolo, Lawrence Huyssen, Matt Mull and Angelic Schneider, who ran as a slate under the name Your Voice on the Board – captured all five spots on the Republican ballot.  

Board President Joshua Levinson, a Democrat, board Vice President Jeffrey Jankowski, a Republican, Democrats Shonta Ford and Gabrielle Klotz and Republican Tim Kelly won all five spots on the Democratic ballot.  

DEMOCRATIC BALLOT VOTES
Joshua Levinson - 3,940
Paul Barbehenn -  472
Angelic Schneider - 1,041
Shonta Ford - 3,617
Kristofer DePaolo - 522
Timothy Kelly - 2,924
Lawrence Huyssen - 373
Jeffrey Jankowski - 3,152
Brian Wessner - 1,858
Matt Mull - 538
Gabrielle Klotz - 3,683

REPUBLICAN BALLOT VOTES
Barbehenn - 3,481
DePaolo - 3,340
Levinson -1,288
Schneider - 3,426
Mull - 3,462
Jankowski - 1,347
Huyssen - 3,081
Klotz - 973
Kelly - 1,176
Ford - 821

The Your Voice on the Board candidates were endorsed by the Lehigh County Republican Committee. They were backed by an eponymously named political committee that received $5,000 from Paul Martino, a Bucks County venture capitalist who founded the now-conservative political action committee Back to School USA.

Levison, Jankowski, Ford, Klotz and Kelly were endorsed by Defend East Penn, a local group that says it is proud of East Penn’s accomplishments and aims to stop what it calls the nationwide movement of extremism.

Defend East Penn linked the Your Voice on the Board slate to extremism, pointing to a February Moms for Liberty - Lehigh County meeting where Frank Dumbleton, who who led a June meeting on critical race theory sponsored by Restoring Excellence in East Penn Education (REEPE), spoke on behalf of the slate and handed out literature. 

The Your Voice on the Board candidates refuted the alliance, saying they stood for fostering constructive discourse, creating open and honest dialogue with parents, teachers, students and taxpayers and ensuring that students have the strongest academic foundation possible, 

Levison, Jankowski, Ford, Klotz and Kelly were supported by the Valley Values PAC, which raised $10,202 between the Jan. 1 and May 1 reporting period, including $1,000 each from the fundraising committees of Democratic State Rep. Peter Schweyer and state Sen. Nick Miller, whose districts include Emmaus. 

NAZARETH AREA
In Nazareth Area, Republican voters picked two out of three candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty - Northampton County to run in November. Elmo Frey Jr., a former long-time district justice, and Melissa G. Gladstone won the Republican nomination for two seats in Region 1. The third Moms for Liberty candidate, Thomas McElroy, lost to board President Gregory C. Leh, a Republican who cross-filed in District III and was the only incumbent seeking reelection.  

Frey and Gladstone’s wins come as members of Moms for Liberty – Northampton County have urged the board to adopt family- and parent-first policies such as those passed in the Central Bucks School District on restricting books with sexual content and setting up a process for book removals. 

DEMOCRATIC BALLOT VOTES

Region I (vote for two)
Jeff C. Greener - 491
Sariann L. Knerr - 561

Region II (vote for one) 
Christopher G. Miller-  442
Jason M. Swails - 482

Region III (vote for one)
Gregory C. Leh - 631

REPUBLICAN BALLOT VOTES

Region I (vote for two)
Melinda G. Gladstone - 344
Sariann L. Knerr - 146
Elmo L. Frey Jr. - 532
Erin Ferguson - 259
Jeff C. Greener - 136

Region II (vote for one)
Jason M. Swails - 164
Christopher G. Miller - 608 

Region III (vote for one)
Gregory C. Leh - 257
Thomas McElroy - 193

PARKLAND — SIX SEATS

In Parkland, where 14 people sought nominations for six seats, the Elevating Excellence in Parkland slate swept nominations for the Republican ballot while all but one incumbent landed a spot on the Democratic ballot. 

That candidate, Patrick Foose, a Republican who has been outspoken about transparency and spending, lost on the Republican side as well, meaning he will not be on any ballot in November.  

Five of the seats are for four-year terms while the sixth is for the two years that will be left on a seat held by Republican Jarrett Coleman, who was elected to the state Senate in the 16th District in November. 

Republicans Michael Deering, Beth Finch, Natalie Janotka, Bobby Lanyon and George Rivera, who ran on a slate called “Elevating Excellence in Parkland,” won all five GOP spots for the four-year terms. Republican Mike Millo, who was also part of the group, won the Republican nomination for the two-year term.  

The group said it stands for parent choice, exemplary education, accountability, reasonable spending, improved communication and transparency. Janotka is listed as a moderator for the Moms for Liberty Lehigh County website. 

Incumbent Republicans Carol Facchiano and Lisa Roth and Democrats Jay Rohatgi and Marisa Ziegler won the Democratic ballot for the four-year term. They were joined by Democrat Christopher Pirotta. 

DEMOCRATIC BALLOT VOTES
Lisa A Roth - 2,588
Patrick H Foose - 780
Laura Warmkessel - 756
Jay Rohatgi - 3,599
Bobby Lanyon - 383
Marisa Ziegler - 3,751
Joanne Dillman - 2,210
Christopher Pirrotta - 3,125
George Rivera - 491
Natalie Janotka - 597
Mike Millo - 621
Michael Deering - 378
Carol L Facchiano - 2,347
Beth Finch - 690

REPUBLICAN BALLOT VOTES
Rohatgi - 1,030
Millo - 1,213
Ziegler - 961
Foose - 835
Lanyon - 2,505
Deering - 2,501
Warmkessel - 904
Finch - 2,564
Roth - 1,236
Janotka - 2,314
Rivera - 2,332
Facchiano - 1,129
Pirrotta - 805

Two-year term votes – one seat
DEMOCRATIC BALLOT
Facchiano - 1,251
Millo - 465
Roth - 856
Rohatgi - 2,292

REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Rohatgi - 495
Facchiano - 621
Millo - 2,621
Roth - 529

SAUCON VALLEY – Five Seats
In Saucon Valley, two slates — one composed of incumbents running on their record and the other saying current leadership has brought on unnecessary controversy — will have another run.  

The incumbents – Republicans Susan Baxter, Shawn Welch and Bryan Eichfeld, and Democrats Michael Karabin and Laurel Erickson-Parsons, all won nominations on the Republican ballot.

They said they were running on their record, which included an early teachers contract, steering the district through covid, improving academic standards and hiring a security firm.  

Democrats Bill Broun, Donald L. Carpenter III, Vivian Demko and Jay Santos, who ran as a slate called Saucon School Board Choices for Change, won the top four spots on the Democratic ballot. Erickson-Parsons placed fifth on the Democratic ballot, making her the only incumbent to win nominations for both parties. 

Broun, Carpenter, Demko and Santos said the current leadership has brought on unnecessary controversy, including the lawsuit over the After School Satan Club, while seeing academics slip and staff turnover. 

DEMOCRATIC BALLOT
Erickson-Parsons - 761 
Eichfeld - 331 
Baxter -751 
Broun - 972 
Santos - 1,093
Welch - 318 
Karabin - 501
Carpenter - 953 
Demko - 1,355

REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Santos - 347 
Eichfeld - 752 
Welch - 703 
Demko - 468 
Karabin - 730
Broun - 290 
Baxter - 825 
Geyer - 629
Erickson-Parsons - 667 
Carpenter - 327

SOUTHERN LEHIGH — FIVE SEATS
In Southern Lehigh, a slate of Republican candidates that vowed to take up a study of transgender policies as its first act in office, won all five nominaitons on the Republican ballot.

But another slate of Republicans held them off on the Democratic side, claiming all five seats with the help of the lone Democrat running for office, setting the stage for an election redux. 

On the Republican ballot will be Paul Deebel, Lance M. Tittle, Danelle Roy, Maria L. Schantz and James Pica. They ran on a slate, calling themselves “True Republicans” on yard signs.

They also signed a 2½-page pledge called “My Commitment to the SLSD Community” that includes an immediate vow to vote on a resolution to evaluate alternatives to allowing students to use bathrooms and locker rooms or participate on sports teams that do not align with the student’s biological sex.

The pledge is endorsed by Southern Lehigh Putting Families First and the Southern Lehigh Grassroots PAC.

On the Democratic ballot will be Republicans Eric Boyer, Timothy Kearny, Candi Kruse, Emily Gehman and Democrat Melissa Torba. Boyer, Kearny, Kruse and Gehman were supported by Southern Lehigh Community Partners, a group that said the election was important because new board members will make decisions that will have lasting impact on school infrastructure, staffing, curriculum and safety. 

DEMOCRATIC BALLOT
Kruse - 1,688
Boyer - 1,650
Deebel - 292
Pica - 265
Kearney - 1,687
Gehman - 1,789
Torba - 1,895

REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Tittle - 1,831
Roy - 1,867
Pica - 1,776
Kearney - 587
Boyer - 555
Torba - 411
Schantz - 1,812
Deebel - 1,829
Kruse - 475
Gehman - 556