Control of Northampton County Council in play with four seats open on Tuesday's ballot

• Four seats on Northampton County Council will appear on Tuesday's ballot
• The two contested races, for seats representing districts one and three, will decide whether Republicans maintain or lose a majority on the council
• Democrat Ken Kraft and Republican William “Bill” Rowe are competing to serve District One; Democrat Jeff Warren and Republican Casey Foreman seek to represent District Three

EASTON, Pa. — Control of Northampton County Council is in voters’ hands, with seats representing each of the council’s four districts on Tuesday’s ballot, with two seats contested.

Democrat Ken Kraft and Republican William “Bill” Rowe are competing to serve District One, representing Bethlehem and Southern Northampton County.

Democrat Jeff Warren and Republican Casey Foreman both seek to represent District Three, covering part of the county West of Route 33 and North of Bethlehem.

Kelly Keegan, Democrat and former Forks Township supervisor, is running unopposed to represent District Two after incumbent Kerry Myers failed to make it onto the general election ballot.

Republican incumbent Tom Giovanni is unopposed in the race for District Four.

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Republicans have held a majority of seats on the county council since Council President Kerry Meyers switched parties this year after a challenge to his nominating petition saw him removed from the Democratic primary for his seat.

With Meyers on track to be replaced by Keegan, a Democrat, Republicans will need to win both contested races to retain control of the body.

The Democrats in both contested races have run on avoiding tax increases, kept the Gracedale nursing home county-owned and -operated, and continued spending on farmland preservation.

The Republicans running for council aren't that different. They, too, want to keep taxes flat and preserve farmland. Both parties’ candidates have voiced support for Gracedale.

The two Democrats said they intend to approve County Executive Lamont McClure’s planned health care clinic for county employees, run by New Jersey-based Integrity Health.

Rowe said he supports creating the proposed employee health center, though he has more research to do. Foreman has not shared a position.

McClure said the county is all but guaranteed to save money on employee health care by building the clinic, but the council voted down a contract with Integrity in July, after several members expressed doubts.

McClure promised last month that if Kraft and Warren win seats on the council, he will resurrect the employee health center proposal "in January."

The Democrats running have vastly outraised and outspent their opponents, according to campaign finance reports released late last month: Kraft’s campaign has spent $26,000 to Rowe’s $1,800; Warren has spent $15,000 to Foreman’s $2,800.

Both Republican candidates are mostly self-funded.

Democrats in the race each received the bulk of their contributions from labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the plumbers’ union and the insulators’ union.

District Three

Warren and Foreman both seek to represent County Council's District Three, which covers part of the county west of Route 33 and north of Bethlehem.

Foreman, a newcomer to politics, built a career as a real estate agent based out of Bethlehem Township.

He did not respond to requests for an interview, but videos posted to his campaign’s social media accounts show a campaign built on positioning himself as a non-politician outsider.

"I’m running because I’m not about the politics, I’m about the people," he said in one clip. "I’m about change and making things happen. I’m not going to talk about it, I’m going to be about it.”

If elected, he would prioritize “being a voice” for his constituents, he said in another video.

Foreman called Gracedale “an opportunity for us to move forward,” and told voters to “expect changes to come when it comes to conditions, employment opportunities and overall ability just to be a part of Gracedale is a huge thing for Northampton County.”

In addition to improving Gracedale, he said he wants to continue county grants to small businesses and first responders. Foreman also said he would work to ensure county services are accessible to all county residents who need them.

Warren won his first election in 2007, for a four-year term on Easton City Council; he was re-elected in 2013. In 2019, he moved to Hanover Township with his family, and successfully ran for the township’s board of supervisors soon after.

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All that experience means that county government is an obvious next step, he said, and that he is more qualified than his opponent.

Foreman "seems to be somebody who has good intentions, but being able to help govern a community the size of Northampton County, I'm not sure if a beginner should really take the reins,” Warren said.

Warren has emphasized his support for keeping taxes low, creating a health care clinic for county employees, and sustaining spending to preserve farmland and open space.

“I want to make sure that Gracedale stays county-owned and operated, because I think privatizing it, quite frankly, would be a disaster,” Warren said.

He said there still was room to improve there, and praised McClure’s administration for steps such as a new daycare at Gracedale for employees.

Warren said he would be “a productive partner” of the administration, and work to collaborate with fellow commissioners and members of the administration alike.

“The county executive and myself, from a philosophical governance perspective, we are very much aligned,” he said. “I'm not going to be somebody who is simply going to oppose the county executive for fun or to make headlines.”

District One

District One represents Bethlehem, Lower Saucon Township, Williams Township and Hellertown. Its seat opened after incumbent Democrat Kevin Lott decided not to run for another term.

Rowe, a Hellertown resident seeking office for the first time, works as a compliance officer for financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

“That's my nine-to-five, if you will, but really my passion project, what keeps the fuel running the engine, is my community-development-type work,” Rowe said, including through a nonprofit he founded, The Elevate Foundation.

Running for office is a natural next step, he said.

Kraft said he’s running for “re-election” to council, to reclaim the seat he held from 2011-18, when he resigned to accept a position as the county prison’s public safety administrator.

He retired from the prison in February.

This time on council is central to what would make Kraft an effective commissioner, he said, especially when it comes time to approve the county’s annual budget.

“Do you want somebody to represent you that has no idea what the job is? Or zero idea how government works?” he said.

Like his Democratic counterpart in the District Three race, Kraft’s platform focuses on reducing “warehouse proliferation” by investing in open space preservation, keeping taxes flat, keeping Gracedale county-owned and -operated, and approving the proposed partnership health center.

Rowe said he agrees with the majority of Kraft’s positions, from keeping taxes low to preserving farmland, and intends to work with the administration as a collaborator, never an adversary, he said.

The difference between himself and his opponent, Rowe said, comes in the fresh eyes and independence he would bring to government.

“I'm not going to vote 100 percent Republican; I'm not going to vote 100 percent Democrat," he said. "Everything is going to take careful thought and thinking about the people first, not about party politics.

“I'm not going to highlight Ken specifically, but I think his friendship and ties to Executive McClure are very public and clear. And that's where I'll leave it.”

Kraft said, “I’m not beholden to anybody. If anybody brings something to council that isn't right for the county, I'm not going to vote for it.”

The greatest point of difference between the two may be how to run Gracedale.

Rowe argues that Gracedale should remain county-owned, but specialized consultants should oversee day-to-day operations. He cited poor care, low employee salaries and the home’s net cost to the county.

“I think the approach that was last successful was [County] Executive John Brown's approach, with having a consultant,” he said.

“Our county is not in the health care business. We could certainly keep [Gracedale] county owned, but let's put this under management of people who are experts in this field.”