Municipal election results: Democrats sweep local races in Bethlehem and Northampton County

Municipal elections were held across the country on Tuesday, where voters cast their ballots in Northampton County executive and court races, as well as Northampton County Council and Bethlehem City Council. 

Voters also took part in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention election races.

The Brown and White compiled unofficial election results from Northampton County and Lehigh County as of Tuesday night.   

By 11 p.m. there was a 37.8% voter turnout in Lehigh county, with 95,020 ballots having been counted out of 251,316 registered voters. In Northampton County, voter turnout was 40%. There were 91,622 ballots cast out of 229,230 registered voters as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. 

State Supreme Court Justices

In Pennsylvania, State Supreme Court Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin M. Dougherty and David Wecht were all retained by margins of 20% or greater.

The unofficial results reaffirmed the 5-2 Democratic majority on the State Supreme Court. According to NBC News, Dougherty and Wecht will both serve 10-year terms. Donohue will serve until 2027.

Northampton County Elections

Democratic candidate and Northampton County Controller Tara Zrinski was elected county executive, defeating Republican candidate Tom Giovanni 59.38% to 40.56%. 

For Judge of the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas, Democrat Jeremy Clark won with 60.04% of votes against Republican James Fuller.

Samuel P. Murray and Paula A. Roscioli were also retained as judges on the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas. 

Democrat Brandon Neuman defeated Republican Maria Battista and Liberal Daniel Wassmar for Judge of the Superior Court. Alice Beck DuBow, who is also a Democrat, was retained. 

The seats for the Northampton County Council race are decided through a block system where voters select five out of 10 candidates and the five candidates with the highest percentage of votes win.

Democratic candidates Lori Vargo Heffner, David Holland, Jason Boulette, Theresa Fadem and Nadeem Qayyum won against Republican opponents Sam Elias, John P. Goffredo, John Brown, Daniel Campo and Juan E. Martinez Brown. Each Democratic candidate received over 40,000 votes.

Bethlehem City Council

In the Bethlehem City Council race, voters selected their top four candidates from five on the ballot. The Brown and White reached out to all candidates for city council on election night. 

Democratic candidates Rachel Leon, Hillary G. Kwiatek, Justin Amann and Jo Daniels were elected to Bethlehem City Council, defeating Republican candidate Joseph F. Poplawski. Incumbents Rachel Leon and Hillary Kwiatek will return for another four-year term.

Leon received 23.19% of the votes for city council. 

Leon, who was sworn into city council in 2022, said she first ran in that election because former Councilwoman Olga Negron opted to not seek reelection.

Afterwards, Negron approached Leon and asked her if she would consider running. Negron had known Leon’s mother for years, and at the time, she had just returned to Bethlehem from the military. 

Leon said her top priorities are to make sure Bethlehem is strong, safe and has public resources, so if there is cutting in programming from federal funding cuts, investments in the city can help the community. 

“There’s a lot going on in this country, but the truth is to focus on making sure that we can change the places that we have power to affect,” Leon said.

Hillary Kwiatek, the marketing and communications director at Lehigh and chair of the council’s Parks and Recreation Committee, will also return for her second term and received 22% of votes. 

She said in her second term, she wants to continue working on affordable housing and helping Bethlehem’s unhoused population find stable housing.

Kwiatek also said there is an opportunity to transform Bethlehem’s park system. The city’s “40 in 10” plan is a ten year proposal to update the 40 parks in Bethlehem with amenities and updates.

“There’s an imbalance where the smaller parks are neglected or different neighborhoods don’t have a water feature, so we want to work for equity in our parks,” Kwiatek said. 

Daniels received 22.47% of votes for city council. Daniels is a lifelong resident of Bethlehem who will be serving her first term. She did not respond to a request for an interview. 

Amann was also elected for his first term on council, earning 22.69% of the votes. He is the executive director of the Foundation for the Bethlehem Area School District. 

“I always want to advocate for people when I think I can amplify their voice,” Amann said. “I want to help the community who helped me.”

Amann said his main goal is making sure people feel physically safe in their city. He said he wants to take care of first responders and make sure police and EMS feel valued and respected. 

Amann also said taking care of infrastructure is necessary for people to be able to prosper in the city. He also said he wants to prioritize housing affordability.