PALMER TWP., Pa. -- On a cool, sunny August afternoon, Anna Thomas climbed out of her green Subaru sporting a Canadian tuxedo — comfortable jeans and a denim jacket.
Armed with a travel mug, her cell phone and campaign literature, she headed out to knock on doors in a neighborhood of single-family homes outside Easton within earshot of Route 22.
The Bethlehem Township Democrat is making her second campaign for Pennsylvania’s 137th House District. So she pounded the pavement, striking up conversations with residents that answered their door.
If they didn’t answer, she’d drop off a pamphlet. Sometimes, she left a message on their doorbell cameras, pitching her candidacy and stressing the difference they could make.
“You could be the deciding vote that gets me in,” Thomas said over and over again.
That could be hyperbole in some races, but not the 137th. The Lehigh Valley is a critical swing region in a purple state — and this suburban district is its beating heart.
Pennsylvania’s biggest toss-up
When a state commission redrew the legislative map following the 2020 census, the 137th District became the biggest toss-up in Pennsylvania. Little has shifted in the years since.
As of last week, Democrats held a slim voter registration advantage of 2.14 percentage points over Republicans, according to Northampton County voter data. But 20.11% of its registered voters are not affiliated with the two major parties, making it anybody’s race.
Incumbency typically provides a comfortable cushion in state legislative races. But the district is nearly brand new to state Rep. Joe Emrick, the Republican incumbent, too. The new map shifted him from a Slate Belt-centered district to one based around Nazareth. He wound up defeating Thomas in their 2022 matchup by just 703 votes — 2.3% of all votes cast.
“Not for nothing, but abortion wasn’t on the ballot before.”Anna Thomas, state House candidate, on her increased campaign contributions
The two candidates and their supporters spent a combined $1.1 million in that race.
Emrick, a former Upper Nazareth Township supervisor, did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this article or during his 2022 campaign. The stakes may have only gotten higher since then.
Democrats currently hold their first state House majority in over a decade — a lean 102-101 advantage over Republicans. With control of the chamber so contested, the winner of the 137th District could determine who sets the legislative agenda in Harrisburg.
Both candidates appear to be gearing up for another expensive battle, according to their most recent campaign finance reports from May. Emrick had more than $143,000 on hand -- enough to bankroll a county-wide race, let alone an enclave of suburbs. Thomas, meanwhile, reported having more than $392,500 available.
“Not for nothing, but abortion wasn’t on the ballot before,” Thomas said of the rise in campaign spending.
Her two campaigns came on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case. The 2022 ruling put states in control of legislating abortion access. Fourteen states have banned it entirely since, and Pennsylvania Republicans have attempted to change the state’s abortions laws in the past decade.
Over his tenure, Emrick has supported a proposed constitutional amendment that would clarify that the Pennsylvania Constitution does not guarantee rights to abortion and that state dollars cannot fund abortions.
He also voted to restrict abortion access in 2017, pushing the cutoff from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. That bill was vetoed by then-Gov. Tom Wolf.
Quality-of-life concerns
Thomas looked for opportunities to paint Emrick — a former high school teacher — as an extremist as she knocked on doors, bringing up his abortion votes and an amicus brief he signed contesting Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results.
But she also let residents drive the conversation to whatever issues they deemed important.
More often than not, they brought up more parochial issues. One woman gave Thomas a brief tour of her property, saying a township pipe was damaging her fence and yard and flooding the street.
Emrick had canvassed the neighborhood and already heard her frustrations, she said.
“He offered to help me mulch my yard,” the woman said.
Down the street, a neighbor voiced concerns about the Lehigh Valley’s housing crunch and its limited capacity at shelters. She was houseless during her teens and 20s, she said. Now, she and her partner are able to raise their child in their home, but rising costs are stretching their budget, she said.
“If that were to happen to me now, I don’t know how I’d climb my way back up the ladder,” the woman said.
Incumbency typically provides a comfortable cushion in state legislative races. But the 137th House District is nearly brand new to state Rep. Joe Emrick, the Republican incumbent, too. The new map shifted him from a Slate Belt-centered district to one based around Nazareth.
The rising cost of living is a common refrain, and one Thomas knows firsthand. Many of her campaign volunteers are the parents of her childhood friends from the Bethlehem Area School District, she said. But few of those friends are still in the area, according to Thomas.
The Lehigh Valley has become too expensive for young adults to stick around after completing their education, she said. Thomas, who earned a master's degree in public administration at the University of Pennsylvania, said she pays rent to her parents.
Emrick lists “protecting our tax dollars and lowering the cost of living” as the first of four priorities on his campaign website. But Thomas argued that after 14 years in office, Emrick has little to show for his constituents.
The district has some of the highest property taxes in the state, she said, and Emrick hasn’t provided relief.
“I don’t have to say much. People will tell you about their demand for change at this level,” she said.
The 137th House District represents Nazareth; Tatamy; Bethlehem, Lower Nazareth and Upper Nazareth townships and parts of Palmer and Hanover townships in Northampton County.
