A Lehigh student’s guide to the 2022 midterm elections

Midterm elections will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 8. In Pennsylvania, voters will elect a new governor, senator, 17 seats in the House of Representatives and various state-specific and local positions.

The candidates to replace Gov. Tom Wolf (D), who can not seek re-election due to his term ending, are Josh Shapiro (D) and Doug Mastriano (R).

A group of recent poll results organized by Ballotpedia has Shapiro with a couple-point lead over Mastriano, both of them mostly in the 40-percent range.

The candidates to replace Sen. Pat Toomey (R), who is not seeking re-election, are John Fetterman (D) and Mehmet Oz (R). 

Fetterman currently serves as Lt. Gov. of Pennsylvania. His platform covers criminal justice reform, marijuana legalization, manufacturing in America, immigration reform and LGBTQIA+ rights.

Oz’s platform includes energy independence, Second Amendment rights, health care, immigration and anti-abortion advocacy. 

According to FiveThirtyEight, using a model that simulates the election 40,000 times, they generated a sample of 100 possible outcomes which has Fetterman favored to win 80 out of every 100 outcomes. 

In the 7th Congressional District, which includes Northampton and Lehigh Counties, as well as parts of Monroe County, Rep. Susan Wild (D) is running for re-election against Lisa Scheller (R).

Wild has focused on healthcare, bipartisanship, mental health advocacy, job creation and public safety.

Scheller focuses on healthcare, securing borders, education and job creation.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Scheller is slightly favored to win in the 7th District. Using the same model that generates 100 outcomes, Scheller is expected to win 55 in every 100 outcomes. 

According to the Northampton County Elections Department, as of Sept. 8, there are 11,071 registered voters ages 18-22. 

In 2018, 34 percent of Lehigh University students were registered to vote. 

In a social media poll conducted by The Brown and White of 38 Lehigh students, 89.5 percent were registered to vote, and 55.9 percent were registered in Pennsylvania. Of the 55.9 percent registered in Pennsylvania, 78.9 percent were not originally from Pennsylvania. 

67.6 percent said they were planning to vote in the midterm election and 16.2 percent said they would possibly vote. 

Cece Garvey, ‘25, is originally from Massachusetts. She said she registered as an independent to vote in her home state when she got her driver’s license and will vote in the midterms using a mail-in ballot.

For future elections, Garvey said she may switch her registration to Pennsylvania. 

“Pennsylvania is a swing state, and I feel like my vote could have more of an impact that way,” Garvey said.

Missy Connolly, ‘23, is originally from New Jersey and is registered to vote there as an independent. She said she plans to switch her registration to Pennsylvania for the midterm elections. 

“I only have one year left at Lehigh, but my roommate is vice president of the Lehigh College Democrats and has been walking around campus getting people to register to vote,” Connolly said. “She convinced me to switch my registration.” 

Sam Denison, ‘24, is originally from New York but is registered to vote in Pennsylvania. He is also an intern for Rep. Susan Wild, and president of the Lehigh College Democrats. 

Denison said he wishes the university did more to encourage students to vote.

“The only thing the school does is from the Political Science Department, and the Political Science Department sends out three emails,” Denison said. “The registration deadline is approaching, the mail-in ballot deadline is approaching and (so) is Election Day. That’s all the school does, no matter if it’s a presidential (election) year, midterm or even just for municipal elections.”

Both Connolly and Garvey agreed the university does not do much to promote voting and most of the efforts are student-run.

“I think that giving us the day off on election day is a step in the right direction,” Connolly said.

The first time Lehigh observed Civic Engagement Day was in 2021.

Denison said he has seen an increase in voter registration recently and is hopeful for the future.