Candidates for a consequential state House race representing a district in the heart of Allentown faced off in the first and only televised debate ahead of a special election later this month.
The debate, hosted by Lehigh Valley Public Media and held at the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown, precedes the Feb. 24 special election in the 22nd District to fill the remainder of former state Rep. Josh Siegel’s term. Siegel resigned in late December before being sworn in as Lehigh County executive. The district covers Center City and eastAllentown, along with a portion of Salisbury Township.
Both candidates — Democrat Ana Tiburcio and Republican Robert E. Smith — were selected by their local party via a committee process. Tiburcio is an Allentown School Board member and owner of a tax preparation company. Smith is a former school board member and program specialist for a mental health provider.
The election could help swing control of the state’s House of Representatives, where Democrats currently hold a razor-thin, one-seat majority. However, Democrats are heavily favored in the district, where more than half of registered voters belong to that party.
Both candidates said they would fight to bring better resources to the district, where more than one in four people live under the poverty line.
Smith came to the debate with several specific policy proposals and touted his years of prior experience on the school board, while Tiburcio admitted that she does not “have all the knowledge,” but promised to be a voice for the local community in Harrisburg.
Tiburcio was selected by Democrats just hours before a Jan. 10 deadline. A committee of Lehigh County Democrats originally selected Julian Guridy, but he was forced to drop out because he did not meet a legal residency requirement.
The candidates, both of whom have history on the Allentown School Board, made education a focus of their pitch to voters.
Smith said that he supports school choice legislation, but called for the state to reinstate a policy that reimburses public schools for charter school tuition, a practice that was ended in 2011. He also called on the state to end what he sees as overly rigid curriculum requirements.
“I have teachers in my family, I have friends that are teachers, and they just want to be creative.” Smith said. “They want to be able to teach, and not have to put your curriculum, PowerSchool, these things that they give the teachers, that they have to go through hoops to figure out. It’s just not right.”
Tiburcio called on the state to increase funding for schools like Allentown, but did not detail any specific legislative proposals when prompted by moderators.
“I believe that it has to do more. Our performance, to be honest, it has actually grown, it has made changes from all the changes that we have done compared to other years,” Tiburcio said. “So I think right now we are in the progress to getting better each day.”
Tiburcio, while largely avoiding specific legislative proposals, leaned on her connections to the Allentown community while pitching herself to voters. Tiburcio, who was elected to the school board in 2023, is a member of the Allentown Works cohort and the city’s “Love Your Block” initiative, all of which involve community engagement and outreach such as door-knocking and attending public meetings.
Through those community connections, Tiburcio said she has learned that many residents of the district are not aware of state-provided resources like tax rebates and workforce initiatives. She vowed to remedy that if elected.
“The connection is not there between legislators and the community,” Tiburcio. “Some people are afraid because they don’t believe some information stays in the cloud. And what I mean about that, is just that, how are we able to connect? Whatever we are saying in English, we should also stay in Spanish. You should show up more to the community meetings.”
Smith touted his years of experience on the school board – he served from 2003 to 2019 – as a blueprint for how he would legislate if elected.
“I spent 16 years on the Allentown School Board. serving five times as president,” Smith said during his closing remarks. “During my tenure, we didn’t just talk about progress, we built it. I co-chaired the construction of Hays Elementary, a project we delivered on time and under budget while fighting to keep your property taxes low.”
He voiced his support for lowering the state’s gas tax; a bill to force a public audit of Allentown’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone; and a bill that would ban transgender students from competing in sports leagues that match their gender identity. He also said he would fight to fund more projects in the Lehigh Valley, and said he believes that more money should go to the local region instead of Philadelphia.
The candidates found common ground on certain policies like legalizing recreational marijuana – both are for it – and raising the statewide minimum wage, which they also both support.
Tiburcio and Smith also both announced they would seek election in the May 19 primary for a two-year term in the seat beginning in 2027. Tiburcio will face a challenge from Allentown City Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach in the primary, while Smith is expected to run unopposed.
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.