BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. — Of the thousands of people who turned out early at the polls Tuesday morning, Frank Sternberg didn’t expect to see one of them.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, greeted voters lined up outside Farmersville Elementary School.
“I figured everybody would be here but I didn’t think he would be here,” said Sternberg, who has lived in Bethlehem Township for more than 30 years. “It’s pretty exciting for the Lehigh Valley. We’re getting all the stars of the political world.”
A day after Vice President Kamala Harris visited Muhlenberg College in Allentown, and a week after Donald Trump held a rally in the same city, voters went to the polls on Election Day across the Lehigh Valley and the nation.
Long lines, wait to vote
By 9 a.m., the wait was about 45 minutes or so at Farmersville Elementary. Long lines of voters were reported at several precincts across Lehigh and Northampton counties.
“We have 435 members of Congress and I could be anywhere in the country but we came here to this district because it’s so critically important,” Johnson, who was elected House speaker last year, said between shaking hands and taking pictures with voters.
“If we have a good turnout, and it looks like there’s a brisk turnout here — someone just told me this is the longest line he’s ever seen at this precinct — that’s a good sign, I think.”
The Lehigh Valley’s 7th Congressional District is one of the most closely-watched in the nation and could play a hand in determining the balance of power in the U.S. House.
“It’s pretty exciting for the Lehigh Valley. We’re getting all the stars of the political world.”Frank Sternberg, 60, Bethlehem Township
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh Valley, is seeking a fourth term against Republican state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.
Mackenzie accompanied Johnson on Tuesday. Earlier in the morning they visited Superior Restaurant in Emmaus, where a crew from FOX News Channel’s “FOX & Friends” went live.
Johnson said he was headed north to meet voters in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, which covers the Poconos and northeastern Pennsylvania, before heading back to his home state of Louisiana later in the day.
He said he had a good feeling about Trump’s and his party’s chances as the presidential campaigns reached the finish line.
“We feel very bullish about today,” he said. "I’ve been traveling around the country nonstop. No matter where I am, even if it’s a deep blue district or a swing district, people are concerned about the same things – cost of living, rising crime, open border, weakness on the world stage. You just hear it over and over and over.
“I think this election is ultimately going to be about record over rhetoric. And on the record it’s absolutely clear. We should win this.”
Those words were in contrast to the scene in Allentown less than 24 hours earlier, when Harris’ first visit to the Lehigh Valley since becoming the Democrats’ presidential candidate brought out thousands to Muhlenberg’s Memorial Hall. Harris and her surrogates said they felt like momentum was on their side.
A long campaign season
In Bethlehem Township, voters exchanged pleasantries with each other and waited patiently in line. Some eagerly shook hands with Johnson as he walked along the line greeting them; others ignored him.
Besides being encouraged by the turnout, Johnson said he was confident in the integrity of the American election process and planned to vote to certify the results.
“There’s more work that’s been done on election security than I think ever in American history,” he said. “We’ve invested almost $9 million in election security efforts around the country. … We feel very hopefully optimistic about this, and the fact that there is some element of fraud in every election, it’s just a reality.
“But the objective is to keep that as limited and as small as possible and I think a lot of good work’s been done to ensure that this time around.
“We’re going to follow the Constitution. It’s very clear. We’re going to do our duty. I always do. I’ve been demonstrating that my whole life.”
For voters like Sternberg, a media consultant, Election Day was the end of a long road that he said he hoped wouldn’t get any longer.
“I’m just concerned for the well-being of our country,” he said when asked how he was feeling. “I hope it’s a decisive victory for whoever wins, just to minimize the ugliness of the aftermath.
“I hope it can defy the polls and give one or the other a victory and keep the country moving forward rather than backward.”
