After left-leaning political advocates alleged the Lehigh County Democratic Party is unfairly supporting one candidate for the upcoming special election to fill a state House seat, another candidate has exited the race.
Douglas Kunkle notified the special election committee via email on New Year’s Eve that he is withdrawing his name from consideration.
Kunkle was one of five candidates vying to represent the 22nd District seat vacated after Josh Siegel was elected Lehigh County executive. Siegel will be sworn in Monday.
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 have launched public campaigns. Kunkle, Erlinda Aguilar and Lewis Shupe also applied but have not campaigned publicly.
Kunkle said news coverage of the party’s decision-making process influenced his decision to drop out.
“It’s come to my attention that a decision has already been made in confirmation of The Morning Call article by at least one member of the committee,” Kunkle wrote. “This is not to say I have abandoned my interest but would rather spend my time in a more productive fashion taking my case directly to the electorate as I did when elected Constable in the future primary should I choose to run for the office.”
The Morning Call article he referred to was about a Dec. 29 news conference at which party critics said leaders are unfairly supporting Guridy’s candidacy by removing precinct committee persons and holding closed meetings.
Precinct committee persons are members of the Democratic Party who are elected 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.
Chair Lori McFarland has defended the selection process, saying that it aligns to state law and Democratic party bylaws.