Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and City Council member Ed Zucal faced off Tuesday to serve as Allentown’s mayor in 2026.

Tuerk, a former vice president at the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., is seeking a second term at the helm of the city. He faced a challenge in the primary from Zucal, a security guard at Muhlenberg Elementary School and former Allentown police officer.

Tuerk handily defeated Zucal, a conservative Democrat, in the May primary, capturing around 80% of votes, or 4,919 ballots cast, to Zucal’s 1,189 votes. However, Zucal mounted a successful write-in effort for the Republican nomination, receiving 498 write-in votes, which put him on the general election ballot.

Results are not yet available; check back for updates.

Tuerk, a former economic development director in the Lehigh Valley, has lived in Allentown since 2007. He has touted the city’s development boom, reduction in violent crime and economic stability as he makes his case to voters for a second term. Other accomplishments of his administration include the Recompete grant, the city’s largest ever federal grant, which will inject $20 million into the city’s coffers to address high levels of unemployment in some of the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Zucal, a City Council member since 2017 and former Allentown police officer, had adopted the campaign slogan “Let’s bring Allentown back to the all-American city together.” He  criticized Tuerk’s approach to public safety and said a Zucal administration would embrace “broken windows” policing — targeting low-level crimes like vandalism and loitering in order to improve quality of life and thereby discourage violent crime.

He has also been a vocal critic of Tuerk on council, spearheading a push for an outside investigation into alleged discrimination among City Hall employees, for which he blamed Tuerk. Tuerk has said the city thoroughly investigates allegations of discrimination in City Hall.

Tuerk, who won a crowded mayoral primary in 2021 with little name recognition against three other elected officials seeking that office, said his aggressive approach to campaigning was key to his victory. According to a 2021 Morning Call article, Tuerk’s campaign made a goal of talking to 150 voters per weekday, 250 on Saturdays and at least 200 on Sundays.