ALLENTOWN, Pa. — State Rep. Josh Siegel confirmed Tuesday that he will run for Lehigh County executive in 2025, the latest campaign in the young Democrat's political career.
Siegel made his plan public while attending a Harris-Walz debate watch party at Brü Daddy's Brewing Company.
Citing the toxicity that has enveloped national politics since Donald Trump kicked off his first presidential campaign in 2015, Siegel said people are looking to local government as a source of stability.
"The next county executive has a tremendous opportunity to shape the future of the Lehigh Valley."State Rep. Josh Siegel
"People want to move beyond that, and they want elected officials that will bring communities back together," Siegel said.
The county is a particularly important place to achieve that trust, he said. County governments not only run elections, but the executive is the swing vote on the county Board of Elections.
The executive has direct control over matters such as ballot drop boxes, Siegel said.
The county also is positioned to address critical issues affecting society, such as housing. He pointed to a Lehigh Valley Planning Commission study that found the region needs 34,716 more housing units for households earning more than $100,000 and 51,606 housing units for households earning between $25,000-$99,999.
While the county doesn't set local land use laws, it does have a housing authority that could create more units serving the region, Siegel said.
"The next county executive has a tremendous opportunity to shape the future of the Lehigh Valley," he said.
An adult life in politics
Siegel, 29, has spent his adult life in Lehigh County politics.
Fresh after graduating from Seton Hall University, he was among six Democrats who unsuccessfully ran against Ed Pawlowski in 2017 as the mayor was under indictment on federal corruption charges.
After finishing with 5% of the vote, he wound up working in the final weeks of County Executive Tom Muller's administration before transferring to County Controller Mark Pinsley's office.
In 2019, Siegel won election to Allentown City Council, where he advocated for the city to contribute $1.5 million to renovations to Coca Cola Park from its pool of $57 million of American Rescue Plan funding.
While Siegel argued that keeping the IronPigs in the city would ensure the city remains economically competitive, a split council voted to contribute nothing to the renovations.
Lehigh County, which owns the facility, ultimately picked up more of the $9.5 million tab to complete upgrades mandated by Major League Baseball.
Before completing his first term on council, Siegel ran for Pennsylvania's newly redrawn 22nd House District, which represents East Allentown and parts of Salisbury Township.
He bested former Allentown School Board Director Robert Smith Jr. in the 2022 general election and now is running uncontested for a second term in the heavily Democratic district.
First announced candidate
Siegel's proposed legislation has focused on community and economic development as well as pedestrian safety.
With his former job at the county, his time on Allentown City Council and his role as a state lawmaker, Siegel said he's built the connections to lead Lehigh County, its more than 2,000 employees and its $522.9 million budget.
Siegel is the first candidate to publicly express intent to run for county executive next year. Incumbent Phil Armstrong is in his second term and cannot run for a third.
Siegel said he has worked to unify the Democratic Party behind him for months.
Democrats have enjoyed a prolonged string of successes in Lehigh County elections.
Republicans controlled the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners for more than 30 years before Democrats won the majority in 2019; they've protected it in the two elections since.
Democrat Mark Pinsley won the county controller race the same year. And the GOP hasn't won a county executive race since 2001, after Republican Jane Ervin signed a 69.5% property tax hike into law.
