In a surprise move, Pennsylvania Democrats have chosen a new candidate for next month’s special election for the 22nd state house district, Josh Siegel’s former seat.
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party Executive Committee announced Saturday evening they had chosen Ana Tiburcio, an Allentown School Board member, as their candidate, replacing Julian Guridy, who withdrew “due to personal reasons” on Friday.
Tiburcio will face Republican Robert Smith Jr. in the Feb. 24 election. The winner will fill the remainder of Siegel’s seat representing parts of Allentown and Salisbury Township. Siegel resigned last month to become Lehigh County executive.
“While this was unexpected, I am looking forward to this new opportunity to serve my community,” Tiburcio said in a statement. “Since I was first elected to the Allentown School Board, I have worked as hard as I can to make the lives of Allentown’s families better. I look forward to listening to the residents of this district in Allentown and Salisbury to hear their concerns and ideas on how to make our community even stronger.”
Tiburcio is chair of the school board’s education committee and vice chair of the Allentown Public Library Board. She said her priorities will be affordable housing, education, and addressing rising costs of health care, electricity and everyday goods.
Party leaders said in a statement: “The PA HDCC is fully committed to supporting Ana — we appreciate this is an unexpected situation and appreciate Ana and local and state party leaders for stepping up. We look forward to protecting our humble Democratic Majority on February 24th.”
Guridy, a constituent services representative for state Sen. Nick Miller’s office, had been chosen as the Democratic candidate earlier this month by Democratic party precinct committee members. Tiburcio was not considered as a candidate at that time.