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Off-year elections, when high-profile contests are not on the ballot, typically draw little interest in local contests and see voter turnout in the low 30% range.

But not in 2025, thanks to a convergence of factors that energized Democratic voters in particular: retention questions for three Democratic state Supreme Court justices, high prices and dissatisfaction with President Trump’s policies.

Turnout for the Lehigh Valley was about 40%, statewide it was 42% and some counties such as Montgomery and Bucks approached 50%. Democrats achieved victories not only in the Lehigh Valley but across the nation, including Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia being elected governor by wide margins.

Democratic wins in the Lehigh Valley, where elections are generally competitive, were “absolutely overwhelming,” said Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

Samuel Chen, a Lehigh Valley-based Republican political strategist, said the results were “a repudiation of the Republican Party” but cautioned about what 2025 means for the 2026 midterm elections.

Democrats get out the brooms

Democrats swept key contests on Nov. 4, winning positions in Lehigh and Northampton county governments and courts as well as in the region’s three cities.

Leading the way were county executive candidates Josh Siegel (Lehigh) and Tara Zrinski (Northampton), with each collecting about 60% of the vote. Zrinski became the first woman elected Northampton County executive.

In Northampton County, Commissioner Lori Vargo-Heffner led a team of five Democrats to win at-large seats on county council, defeating five Republicans, including incumbents John Brown and John Goffredo. Council, with a 6-3 Democratic majority, saw the Democratic advantage increase to 8-1. The lone remaining Republican on council is Tom Giovanni, who lost to Zrinski in the executive election and has two more years remaining on his term representing District 4.

In Lehigh County, Democrats won the only two contested elections for county commissioner. Incumbent Zachary Cole-Borghi was reelected to District 3 while facing drug charges (he maintains his innocence); Sarah Fevig flipped the open District 5 seat from red to blue (Republican Jeffrey Dutt did not run for another term). Incumbents in the other three commissioner contests were uncontested: Republicans Antonio Pineda (District 1) and Ron W. Beitler (District 2) and Democrat Geoffrey Brace (District 4). Democrats, who have a 6-3 majority on council, will have a 7-2 edge.

Democratic judicial candidates Mark Stanziola (Lehigh) and Jeremy Clark (Northampton) were elected to 10-year terms to fill vacant positions on the county courts.

In other down-ballot contests, Democrats ousted Republican incumbents, most notably in South Whitehall and Lower Macungie townships.

Lower Macungie, where Republicans controlled all five seats on the board of commissioners, will have 3-2 Democratic majority. The election of Democrats also made history: It was the first time in more than 50 years a Democrat was elected to the township board.

With two Democrats ousting Republicans in South Whitehall, the board also flipped to a Democratic majority.

Crowded Democratic field for PA-7 emerges

The 2026 election for Congress was more than a year away, but Democratic candidates began their campaigns in 2025 with the goal of unseating first-term incumbent Republican Ryan Mackenzie to represent the 7th District.

The district, which comprises Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties and a small section of Monroe, is again considered a toss-up that is key to which party will control the House in 2027.

In 2024, Mackenzie, who had served 12 years as a state representative, defeated three-term Democrat Susan Wild by one percentage point.

In January, Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure announced he would not seek reelection to a third term, saying he was “exploring other ways to serve the public.” At the end of February, McClure revealed his plans when he became the first Democrat to announce his candidacy for the congressional seat.

In May, Carol Obando-Derstine, who was recruited by Wild, became a candidate. She worked for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey as his regional manager and statewide Latino affairs adviser and with PPL Electric Utilities for nine years in supervisory roles.

Ryan Crosswell, a former federal prosecutor, joined the field in June. A native of Pottsville in Schuylkill County, he made national headlines in February when he resigned to protest the Justice Department’s decision to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

In August, Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley became the fourth Democrat to seek his party’s nomination. As controller, Pinsley has released several reports, including one that identified ways to save money on county employee prescriptions and another on misdiagnosed cases of child abuse.

And also that month, Bob Brooks, a retired Bethlehem firefighter and president of the state Professional Fire Fighters Association, became the fifth candidate. He has collected endorsements from high-profile Democrats, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Chris DeLuzio from western Pennsylvania.

Mayors survive primaries

Two Democratic mayors beat back challenges in the May 19 primary and headed into easy wins on Nov. 4.

Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds defeated Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith by a 2-1 margin in the primary. With no Republican on the primary ballot, Reynolds was unchallenged for a second term in the general election.

Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk had it a little bit tougher. He defeated council member Ed Zucal in the Democratic primary with 80.59% of the vote. But Zucal won the Republican nomination as a write-in candidate.

When the two squared off again on Nov. 5, Tuerk won reelection to a second term with 72.1% of the vote.

Rookie year on school boards

Aspiring candidates defined school board races in 2025, taking advantage of vacant seats and besting incumbents as well.

The door opened up to political newcomers when a slew of incumbents, numbering around 30, bowed out of seeking reelection on the Lehigh Valley’s 14 school boards.

Many school boards had at least two seats with no incumbent running in a year when four seats were up for election in most districts.

In Allentown, all four seats with four-year terms were up for grabs with Democrats capturing three of them.

The surge of Democratic voters propelled Democratic rookies, giving them a boost over seasoned Republican incumbents and slates.

Incumbents who lost included Republicans Christopher Wayock and Stephen Maund in Southern Lehigh, and Melissa Kalinoski and Kathryn Roberts in Nazareth Area.

Northampton Area lost three incumbents – Democrat Parker Flamisch and Republicans Nathan Lichtenwalner and Douglas Vaughn.

Others who fell short were Republicans Michael Felegy in East Penn and Ashley Mort in Bangor Area.

Lehigh Valley Republican settles voter fraud lawsuit

Lehigh Valley Republican Bill Bachenberg agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a federal lawsuit that alleged he wouldn’t pay a cybersecurity company after its audit failed to find fraud in the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania’s Fulton County.

Bachenberg was a co-defendant with attorney Stefanie Lambert, who is headed for trial in Michigan for allegedly permitting an unauthorized examiner to access November 2020 voter data.

The lawsuit alleged Bachenberg, co-owner of Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays in North Whitehall, provided a $1 million line of credit to Lambert’s law office for voter fraud investigations.

It alleged the defendants refused to pay XRVision in June 2022 after its results found no evidence of fraud in the county that overwhelmingly voted for Republican Donald Trump in 2020.

Bachenberg agreed to settle the lawsuit in exchange for being permanently dropped from the lawsuit, June 18 court records show.

Also in 2025, Bachenberg lost a bid to serve as chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party to Greg Rothman, a state senator from Cumberland County backed by U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick.

GOP censures DA Holihan

Are there repercussions for a Republican official who endorses a Democratic candidate?

For Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan, who endorsed Democratic county executive candidate Siegel in February, there were.

Lehigh County Republican Committee members unanimously censured Holihan for his endorsement of Siegel, who was unopposed in the May primary and defeated Republicab Roger MacLean in November.

The vote to censure is purely symbolic, Joe Vichot, chairman of the Lehigh County Republican Committee said at the time, but shows “unity within the party.”

After the committee’s decision, Holihan did not respond to a request for comment but earlier said “this is an issue to be addressed within the party, not in the media.”