ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Allentown School Board member Nick Miller won the Lehigh Valley's newly redrawn 14th District Senate seat after a fierce competition against Republican Dean Browning.
Miller, a Democrat, faced off against Browning, a former Lehigh County commissioner who twice previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress.
"I’m honored to be the next senator for the Lehigh Valley," Miller said in a statement. "I look forward to working on a bipartisan basis to serve the district and be an effective leader in Harrisburg."
"I look forward to working on a bipartisan basis to serve the district and be an effective leader in Harrisburg."State Senator-elect Nick Miller for the 14th District
- Miller earned 53.3% of the vote compared with Browning's 46.7%
- Browning called Miller on Wednesday morning to concede the race
- The new 14th Senate District was supposed to allow for more Latino representation
Miller had garnered 53.3% of the vote to Browning's 46.7%, an unofficial margin of just over 5,700 votes, according to complete but unofficial returns. Miller outperformed Browning in Lehigh County, but the outcome was flipped in Northampton County.
Browning said he called Miller on Wednesday morning to congratulate him.
Browning said he's happy with the race he ran. He attributed his loss to higher-than-expected Democratic turnout in Allentown and other parts of Lehigh County, and GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano's poor performance against Democrat Josh Shapiro. As of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Shapiro had a 13% lead over Mastriano in the vote total.
"The fact that I was able to run a race that was within six points, I will take as an indication that we did our job well in the campaign," Browning said. "It's just, unfortunately, we did not get the turnout on the Republican side that I anticipated and the Democratic turnout was higher than we thought it was going to be."
"It's just, unfortunately, we did not get the turnout on the Republican side that I anticipated and the Democratic turnout was higher than we thought it was going to be."Republican state senate candidate Dean Browning
The 14th District now runs across the border of Lehigh and Northampton counties, including Moore, Bushkill and Lehigh townships in Northampton County. It was reimagined to allow for more Latino representation, but no Latino candidate was on the ballot for the general election.
Complete but still unofficial election returns in the two counties show Miller getting 45,944 votes to Browning's 40,202. Miller outperformed Browning in their home bases of Lehigh County, where Miller got 31,891 votes to Browning's 21,859, according to uncertified results. That was flipped in Northampton County, where Browning received 18,343 votes to Miller's 14,053.
Around midnight on Tuesday, Browning said he was a little frustrated with how the votes were coming in Lehigh County.
"I won the Northampton County day of voting," he said. "Wiped out the mail-in voting in Northampton County. So I'm up 5,000 votes there. Where I'm behind right now overall about 5,000 is coming in Lehigh County."
Browning had said he hoped to make up ground in places like South Whitehall, Coplay and Salisbury in Lehigh County. Miller did not comment Tuesday night.
Miller said during the campaign that if elected, he would hire employees who reflect the diversity of the district.
“I’ve been committed to having office staff that’s representative of the community,” he said. “To be bilingual, interacting with our community members.”
Browning pitched himself as someone who could make hard decisions to control spending, while Miller campaigned as a “middle-of-the-road guy” who highlighted a need for investment in schools and infrastructure.
The campaign turned negative in the final weeks of the race. Browning's campaign threatened to sue Miller for defamation stemming from Browning's viral 2020 tweet claiming he was “a black, gay guy.” The tweet said life had gotten worse under President Barack Obama and had improved under former President Donald Trump.
Browning, who is white and married to a woman, later explained he intended to quote that message from a follower. A recent cease-and-desist letter to Miller's campaign said a man named William Holt, using the pen name Dean Purdy, later took ownership of the message.
The cease-and-desist letter also accused Miller’s campaign, Friends of Nick Miller and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party of sending a mailer directing people to a website with what it called false and racist statements attributed to Browning about Black women.
Both campaigns accused each other of mischaracterizing the other's positions on school choice. They also disagreed on the support the state should give the Allentown School District.
Miller said he believed the school district needs more state funding and Pennsylvania lawmakers need to fix the funding formula. Browning argued against giving Allentown schools more money, saying the district needs better leadership.
Miller was among six board members in October to approve a severance agreement for Superintendent John Stanford, who had not yet completed a year of work in his position after being hired last year. The board has not publicly given a reason and has hired Acting Superintendent Carol Birks to replace Stanford until a permanent superintendent can be found.
