A competitive primary election in the heart of Allentown is pitting local establishment Democrats against the left-leaning wing of the party.
Democratic state Rep. Ana Tiburcio — seeking to hold onto her seat in the 22nd District that she won in a special election in February — faced a primary challenge from Ce-Ce Gerlach, an Allentown City Council member and former school board member.
As of 9:30 p.m., Gerlach had 944 or 55.69% of the votes and Tiburcio had 751 or 44.31%.
Full results are not yet available. Check back for updates.
More than 50% of registered voters in District 22, which includes Center City and East Allentown and a portion of Salisbury Township, are Democrats, so whoever wins Tuesday will be heavily favored to win in the general election. Robert Smith Jr., who lost to Tiburcio in the Feb. 24 special election, was unopposed in the Republican primary, so he’s expected to face the Democratic primary winner in November.
All of the state House seats are up for election in November. Democrats are hoping to expand their razor-thin margin, while Republicans only need to pick up a few seats to take control of the chamber.
Gerlach picked up widespread support among left-leaning groups, including the Working Families Party and Democratic Socialists of America, as well as Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel, who represented the 22nd District until his resignation in December. Tiburcio, also a former Allentown School Board member, has support from the state and county Democratic Party, as well as other prominent elected officials including Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and state Sen. Nick Miller, D-Lehigh.
The two candidates also faced attack ads from “dark money” groups, which do not disclose their donors, that have tried to draw attention to their respective legal records.