Armchair Lehigh Valley content is published on lehighvalleylive.com as part of a partnership with the website, which aims to give voters nonpartisan factual information. Armchair Lehigh Valley is run by publisher Katherine Reinhard and editor Robert H. Orenstein. For more information, or to subscribe, visit armchairlehighvalley.substack.com.

Democrat Tara Zrinski rode a well-funded campaign to a convincing victory in the Nov. 4 election for Northampton County executive over Republican Tom Giovanni, according to their most recent campaign finance reports.

Zrinski’s campaign spent about $115,000 on the general election compared to $44,578 for Giovanni.

Including the campaign for her primary victory in May over Amy Cozze, Zrinski spent more than $200,000 on her successful bid. She also received a total of about $108,000 for in-kind services from groups for the primary and general elections. Giovanni, a county commissioner who was unopposed in the GOP primary, received $30,389 of in-kind services.

Zrinski, the county controller, tallied nearly 60% of the vote to become the first woman elected Northampton County executive. The position opened when Democratic incumbent Lamont McClure decided against seeking a third term to run instead for the 7th Congressional District in 2026.

The post-election campaign finance reports, which were filed Dec. 4, reflect the period from Oct. 21 to Nov. 24.

Zrinski campaign finance report

The Friends of Tara Zrinski committee received $17,050 from political committees and PACS, including $5,000 each from Pennsylvania Laborers’ District Council PAC Fund and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 542 PAC; $2,500 from IBEW PAC Voluntary Fund; and $1,500 from Kevin Dougherty for PA, the committee for the state Supreme Court justice who won his retention vote effort in November.

Personal contributions totaled $8,758, including $2,000 from Randy Galiotto, principal architect and a founding member of the Lehigh Valley firm Alloy5, and $2,500 from John Callahan, the former Bethlehem mayor and director of business development for Peron Development. She also received $1,000 from Megan Hull, described by Influence Watch as “a left-of-center activist and political donor” from Oakland, Calif.

The campaign spent $31,716 in the four weeks around the election, including $5,000 to 4C Partners, Washington, D.C.; $18,537 to the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee for campaign materials and support; $2,000 to Viamedia, Lexington, Ky., for advertising; and $3,140 to Fusion Marketing, Lambertville, N.J., for TV ads.

Zrinski’s campaign also benefited by $8,696 for in-kind services: $6,664 from Pennsylvania firstDemocracy PAC for digital advertising, mail, and payroll for campaign support (bringing its total value of services to the campaign to $64,375); and $2,032 from the Jane Fonda Climate PAC for text messaging.

Giovanni campaign finance report

The Friends of Tom Giovanni began the reporting period with a balance of $22,625, which when combined with $10,885 raised in the weeks before and after the election gave the campaign $33,510 to spend on its final push.

Major donors included David Gill, president of Flexicon Corp., Bethlehem Township, and his wife Mabel, $3,000; Bruce Haines, owner of Hotel Bethlehem, and his wife Joann, $2,000; and Gregory Chrin, president of Charles Chrin Companies, and his wife Caryn, $1,000. The committee also received $500 from Maintaining American Competitiveness PAC, Harrisburg, and $300 from Friends of Daniel Campo, the campaign committee for the Republican county commissioner candidate who lost in the Nov. 4 election.

The campaign received in-kind services worth $10,991 from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania for campaign literature and postage.

Giovanni’s campaign spent $32,354 during the reporting period, with the largest amounts going to the Northampton County Republican Committee for mailers, $27,000, and JFH Strategies, Windber, Somerset County, for campaign work, $3,559.

For the entire campaign, the committee raised $44,920 and spent $44,578.

Judicial election spending

In being elected Northampton County judge, Democrat Jeremy Clark spent $33,157 in the four-week period around the election while his opponent, Republican James Fuller, spent nothing.

The Committee to Elect Jeremy Clark’s major expenses in its post-election report included $7,000 each to Baron Vanderburg (chairman of the Northampton County Black Caucus) and Frank Pintabone (Easton City Council member) for consulting fees, and $15,725 to Lehigh Valley Printing for mailers and campaign literature.

Clark won the Democratic nomination in the May primary, defeating county First Assistant District Attorney Robert Eyer. Fuller won the Republican nomination over Clark and Eyer.

In total, Clark’s committee spent $161,501 on the primary and general election campaigns, while Fuller spent nothing in the primary and, according to a pre-election campaign finance report, $2,013 of his own money for the general election.

Clark loaned his campaign $100,000 for the primary and general election. On Nov. 19, the committee paid Clark $14,602 as a “full and final settlement” of the loan. The committee had no money after that payment.