A group of left-leaning political advocates in Allentown are accusing the Lehigh County Democratic Party of undermining democracy and transparency in their process of selecting a candidate for an upcoming election to fill a state House seat.

At least two Democrats have announced bids for the 22nd district seat vacated by Josh Siegel, which covers a large portion of Center City Allentown: Julian Guridy, a constituent services representative with state Sen. Nick Miller’s office and former Democratic delegate in the 2024 election, and Allentown City Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach. The election will take place Feb. 24 to serve the remainder of Siegel’s term. Siegel resigned from the seat earlier this month; he will be sworn in Monday as Lehigh County executive.

During a news conference Monday, critics accused Democratic party leaders of unfairly supporting Guridy’s bid for the seat by removing “precinct committee persons” who live in the district and holding meetings that are closed to the public and the media.

Precinct committee persons, or PCPs, are members of the Democratic Party who win an election to represent their local voting district. They will meet Saturday to conduct candidate interviews and select a Democratic nominee, whose name will be on the Feb. 24 election ballot.

Only PCPs who reside in the 22nd district are eligible to vote on their preferred candidate, according to Lehigh County Democrats Chair Lori McFarland.

The Saturday meeting will not be open to the public or members of the media. Around 20 precinct committee members who live in the 22nd district will be eligible to vote for the Democratic nominee, however, there are 28 vacant PCP seats in the 22nd district, according to McFarland.

Erik Rodriguez, an Allentown resident, said Monday that he and his wife were elected as a precinct committee member in the 22nd district around three years ago. They found out they were removed as committee last week when Gerlach informed him.

Rodriguez said he did not know when or why the party leaders decided to remove him as a committee member, because he was not given an explanation.

“My biggest reason why I’m here today is I would like an explanation — why things are being held, the way that they’re being held, why things are being done, the way they’re being done, and I would like an opportunity to fight for the seat that my wife and I, we both worked for,” Rodriguez said. “And I want the people of Allentown to be represented fairly.”

In response to a request for comment, McFarland sent a statement explaining the party’s candidate selection process. She has previously told The Morning Call that the party has the discretion to remove inactive precinct committee persons and appoint new ones without a formal election process.

“State law explicitly prescribes that the respective parties shall internally select their nominee in special elections. The Lehigh County Democratic Committee will follow the law and our bylaws to select a nominee,” McFarland said in a written statement. “Any and all candidates are allowed to apply for an interview, which will be held during the upcoming county committee recommendation meeting. The recommendation will be transmitted to the PA Democratic Party, who makes the final decision on the nomination. The voters will select the next State Representative for the 22nd District in the February 24 special election.”

McFarland told The Morning Call last week that she has paused the process of appointing new precinct committee persons until the election concludes because of concerns that newly appointed persons could give a candidate an unfair advantage.

Critics however accused the party of disenfranchising prospective voters and trying to manipulate the selection process in favor of Guridy, who is a member of the Democratic State Committee.

“They knew this position was coming up, they knew who was running, and they planned accordingly,” said Paulette Hunter, who said she is a volunteer for the Democratic Party. “The difference this time is they did not plan for the citizen involvement, but planned selfishly for their person to win. This is clearly a setup. A planed setup, and we the citizens will not allow it. we want to vote.”

In an interview, Guridy said that he is focused on reaching out to voters ahead of the Feb. 24 election and denied the accusation that his campaign is being improperly bolstered by the county Democrats.

“I am just following the process, I am following the law of what and how [the election] occurs, I mean, this is how every special election is throughout the state,” Guridy said.

Gerlach has been critical of the selection process, and has called upon the party to open the meeting to the public and to host a debate before choosing a candidate.

“Democracy doesn’t happen behind closed doors,” Gerlach said in a statement. “An open debate is a basic step toward restoring trust and ensuring the process serves voters — not insiders.”

It is unclear whether the Republican Party will select a candidate for the heavily Democratic district; party Chair Joe Vichot did not respond to a phone call requesting comment. Therefore, the winner of the Feb. 24 election could be decided by the ad-hoc committee on Jan. 3, barring a successful write-in campaign from another candidate.

Both Guridy and Gerlach have said they would run in the May primary election for the Democratic nomination to run for a full term in November.

Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.