Thomas takes on incumbent Emrick for control of Pa.'s 137th House District

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Warehouses appear to be the cornerstone of the campaigns for the state House 137th District this year.

And the manner in which incumbent Republican Rep. Joe Emrick and Democratic challenger Anna Thomas deal with the hot-button issue may make or break the competition.

Upstart Thomas is gunning for control of District 137, which has been held by Emrick since 2011, and based on the last election, it could be quite a close race.

In 2022, Emrick was nearly taken down by Thomas, with 15,619 to 14,916 votes in favor of the incumbent.

The district has shifted between parties over the past few decades, going to Democrat Phillip S. Ruggiero from 1969-78; Republican Leonard Q. Gruppo from 1979-98; Democrat Richard Grucela from 1999- 2010; and Emrick since 2011.

The boundary lines have also changed, with the district moving from the Slate Belt south to the Nazareth, Bethlehem Township and Easton areas.

Anna Thomas

Thomas was born and raised in Bethlehem Township, and said she first was inspired to get into state government work as a student in public school.

As a high schooler, she said, one of her favorite teachers was subject to a furlough, along with many other educators, because of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett cutting $1 billion from the state education budget.

Thomas said she began attending every school board meeting, and eventually took a student seat on the board before she went off to college in Massachusetts.

In addition, Thomas said she was inspired to run for office thanks to memories of walks around her neighborhood as a child, especially when she had the opportunity to run around a nearby farm.

“And I think that the most important thing we could do as a state, as someone who is in state government or has the power to be able to work in land preservation and land conservation, is to allow other people that come after us to have those same beautiful experiences," Thomas said.

"And for us to be able to really cherish the beauty of the land as it is."

After securing an undergraduate degree in chemistry, she ran for state representative in 2022, but fell within 700 votes of victory against Emrick.

Going into the 2024 election, Thomas said warehouses are a huge part of her campaign, something she said has been echoed time and again by voters.

“I think it's probably the most common issue that people share with me, what they're concerned about when I talk to people ... especially people in the northern parts of Palmer and in Upper Nazareth,” she said.

Understanding that current zoning standards make fighting warehouse construction a daunting task, Thomas said she wants to address “the root cause of it.”

To make a difference, Thomas said, the municipal planning code, a state-level document originally drafted in the 1960s to help protect farmers and their storage facilities, must be updated to prevent large-scale warehouses and distribution centers from benefitting from those codes.

“That means we have to update the language, and we have to parse apart what is the difference between a warehouse as it was originally intended and a fulfillment center which has thousands of truck traffic trips and is destroying our roads,” Thomas said.

That will help local residents in their fight against warehouse development, which can usually only be stopped if it violates zoning codes, as it currently stands.

Thomas said she also is focused on property tax relief and education funding reform, “making sure that when Harrisburg is dividing up its money across school districts in the state, Northampton County is no longer in the top 5 percent of overburdened taxpayers.”

The way forward, she said, is to construct a fair funding formula “that is actually sending and delivering our fair share of school funding to our local public-school districts.”

“Thanks to his vote to change zoning in 2007, this district has seen a massive, I can't even overstate, massive increase in warehouses that are being built,” Thomas said.

She said truck traffic and pollution have increased while quality of life has decreased for residents.

“So I just feel like it's time for new leadership,” she said.

Joe Emrick

Born and raised in Bangor, Emrick went on to study history and secondary education at Lycoming College, where he was an Academic All-American football player.

He got a master’s degree in education at Kutztown University.

Emrick said he always has had a passion for public service and working to improve the community. He pointed to his 18 years as a high school macro-and-microeconomics and American government teacher.

For the past 14 years, he has served parts of Northampton County as a state representative.

“My involvement in politics began like most," he said. "I love our country and my community, and I wanted to do my part. So I began volunteering on local campaigns, delivering yard signs and knocking on doors.

"I enjoyed the experience and was eventually asked to run for a local municipal office. From 2006 until 2010, I served as an Upper Nazareth Township supervisor.”

Emrick said he was chosen by his colleagues to serve as chairman of the board.

According to Emrick, combating excessive warehouse development in the community has been “more than a campaign talking point,” and “one of my top legislative priorities.”

“As we have seen, high-impact warehouses and distribution centers have been devastating to our region," he said.

"The loss of open space and farmland, coupled with a lack of adequate infrastructure magnified by increased truck traffic and higher amounts of air, sound and light pollution are just some of the negative effects warehouses and distribution centers have had on our area.”

Emrick’s House Bill 1960 would require warehouses or distribution centers of 100,000 square feet in size and located on three acres of land or more to be approved by voter referendum.

“I have heard loud and clear from local officials about the need for more local control in the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Code," Emrick said.

"That is why I introduced House Bill 1960: to maximize local control by giving the people a voice at the ballot box in the final approval of these high-impact warehouses.

"This way the community can say with one voice when and how this kind of growth should continue."

Emrick also said he is focused on implementing a common sense approach to addressing inflation by utilizing a “common sense approach” to lower taxes and costs on everyday expenses such as groceries, gas and energy.

Emrick points to his multiple designations as a Guardian of Small Business by the National Federation of Independent Business as proof of his commitment to fiscally responsible leadership and efficient budgeting.

“I have never voted to increase taxes," Emrick said. "I support cutting taxes for every Pennsylvanian, helped to create Pennsylvania’s first ever child care tax credit to help working families, passed responsible balanced budgets that never increased taxes on our hardworking families and seniors on fixed incomes and increased the Property Tax and Rent Rebate Program for seniors by 70 percent."

Emrick said other legislative priorities include pursuing smart growth policies “that protect and create family sustaining jobs,” fully funding public schools without tax hikes, making communities safer, and improving health care.

“Now more than ever we need team players, willing to put politics aside and go to work for our community," Emrick said.

"It is my honor and privilege to represent a community that I know so well and the citizens I respect so much."

The 137th House District represents Nazareth; Tatamy; Bethlehem, Lower Nazareth and Upper Nazareth townships and parts of Palmer and Hanover townships in Northampton County.