Siegel’s win means a special election will be held for his 22nd House seat
With Democrat Josh Siegel’s win as Lehigh County executive on Nov. 4, his seat in the 22nd House District will be wide open for the 2026 election.
Filling it will require a special election between a Democrat and a Republican to choose who will serve out the remaining year on Siegel’s two-year term.
Then, there will be a May 19 primary race where voters will choose their respective party candidates to serve a full term. In August, candidates unaffiliated with parties can petition to be added to the ballot.
The general election, a midterm when state and federal candidates will be on the ballot, will be held on Nov. 3, 2026.
Siegel told Armchair Lehigh Valley that he is looking at Jan. 1 as his resignation date. He will be sworn into office as executive on Jan. 5.
So far the names of two Democratic candidates have bubbled up for the seat that covers east Allentown and parts of Salisbury.
Ce-Ce Gerlach, an Allentown City councilwoman and former Allentown School Board member, officially announced plans to seek the seat in September. That was before Siegel defeated Republican Roger MacLean, a former Allentown police chief and city council member, with 60.6% of the vote. Gerlach had been an ally of Siegel’s while he was on council.
Julian Guridy, a legislative aide to state Sen. Nick Miller of the 14th District, told Armchair Lehigh Valley he is exploring the idea. He is the son of Julio Guridy, executive director of the Allentown Housing Authority and a former city council member.
For the special election, each party will choose a candidate.
Joe Vichot, chair of the Lehigh County Republican Committee, said he can’t comment at this time as he is waiting to hear from party leaders in Harrisburg.
The Lehigh County Democratic Committee will form an ad hoc committee that will include committee persons from each precinct in the 22nd, according to Jon Irons, a Lehigh County commissioner.
Interested Democrats who live in the district will be able to apply. The committee will review applications and make a recommendation to the Lehigh County Democratic Committee.
The county committee, in turn, will pass the name along to the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee for final review, said Lori McFarland, chair of the Lehigh County Democratic Committee.
Siegel said he has no plans to weigh in on the party’s choice. “I’ll let that process play out,” he said.
According to the state Constitution and the state election code, within 10 days after a vacancy occurs Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton will set a date for a special election.
Lehigh County then have to get the word out to voters in the 22nd district.
For Democrats, the 22nd is a must-keep seat. They hold a one-member edge over Republicans in the House – 102-101.
Besides the 22nd, special elections will be held in the 193rd, 42nd and 79th House seats as their incumbents – two Republicans and one Democrat – were elected to county judicial seats, according to PA Political Digest.
With 31,543 voters, the 22nd District is a heavily Democratic district. It has 16,709 Democrats compared to 6,628 Republicans. At 7,149 voters, independents outnumber Republicans by 521 registrants. There are also 1,057 people registered to other parties.
It also has the third lowest number of voters among the 203 state House districts – with the 127th in Berks County and 116th in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties coming in first and second, respectively.
Demographic statistics gathered by Democrats found the district has about 61,291 residents with an annual per capita income of $22,909. A person with a per capita of $15,060 is considered to be living at the poverty level. About 84% of the 22nd’s residents are people of color.
Siegel, then a city council member, easily won election in 2022. At the time the 22nd lacked an incumbent for reelection. The district had been moved from Allegheny County to Lehigh County after being reconfigured for the term starting in 2023 because of mandated redistricting to account for population changes.
Siegel ran against Saeed Georges, a political newcomer, in the Democratic primary, capturing 63.69% of the vote. He posted a nearly identical win margin in the general election when he defeated Republican Robert E. Smith Jr., a former Allentown School Board member.
Siegel was unchallenged in 2024 after Smith did not win a write-in campaign in the primary.
Smith has said he feels it’s important to have a Republican challenger so voters have a choice.
MacLean and Mike Welsh, an insurance company owner who lost to MacLean in the spring Republican primary, both said they wanted to run for county executive so Siegel didn’t go unchallenged.
Irons said Democrats have a good shot at keeping the seat blue but they’ll have to pay attention to the independent voting bloc, who represent 22% of the voters.
“I believe it’s pretty safe,” he said.
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