ALLENTOWN — The candidates in two key Lehigh Valley Democratic primaries agree that housing is too expensive, state services are underfunded, and the minimum wage is too low.
The conflict actually animating these races is more fundamental, and speaks to a larger disagreement playing out among Democrats across the commonwealth and the country: Should the party pursue bold solutions to these big problems, like enacting a graduated income tax, over moderates’ objections? Or should it focus on making incremental progress while protecting unity under a big tent?
On Tuesday, voters will decide.
In the 22nd state House District in blue Allentown, progressive City Councilor Ce-Ce Gerlach is challenging party-endorsed incumbent Ana Tiburcio, running on a platform of “bold, unapologetic change.”
People “are sick of these politicians — these establishment, corporate Dems and Republicans — making all these promises that they're going to stand up for them and fight for them, but then they get their money from the corporate donors,” Gerlach told Spotlight PA in April.
She’s calling for state-level rent control, a ban on state cooperation with ICE, and a constitutional amendment that would allow for a graduated income tax.
In the nearby 16th state Senate District, which sprawls across the Lehigh Valley and into neighboring Bucks County, two Democrats are competing for the chance to oust an incumbent Republican. One is party-endorsed social studies teacher and school board member Bradley Merkl-Gump, who says he believes in gradual change through dedicated public service. The other is Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, who is running despite opposition from the Democratic establishment.
“People are feeling like they are not able to select who they want to be [in office],” Pinsley said. “And what continues to happen behind the scenes is that the establishment, whether overtly or covertly, tries to help whoever they believe … will maintain the status quo. And is the status quo good? No. Status quo sucks.”
While they’re contesting party-endorsed candidates, Gerlach and Pinsley aren’t total outsiders. Both have held multiple elected offices, and there’s evidence their approaches work in the halls of power.
As an Allentown City Council member, Gerlach sponsored an ordinance to codify a policy of not cooperating with ICE and led a campaign to delay sweeps of encampments where unhoused people live. Pinsley used his platform to release a report accusing a local health network of misdiagnosing child abuse — which spurred an investigation by a New York Times podcast — and suggested changes to the county’s healthcare spending, including its use of pharmacy benefit managers, to save millions.
But some of the region's top Democrats are critical of the unendorsed progressives. Spotlight PA spoke to nine state and local elected officials, leaders in state and county Democratic Party organizations, and a range of left-leaning special interest advocates who are familiar with the candidates.
Most refused to give their strongest critiques on the record. Gerlach is viewed as more ideological than Pinsley, but even critics had begrudging respect for her consistency. Meanwhile, Pinsley has maintained better relationships within the local party, but is viewed as more interested in self-promotion.
“Primaries are very messy. And our goal, our only function as a member of the Democratic Party, is to elect Democrats,” Lori McFarland, chair of the Lehigh County Democratic Party, told Spotlight PA. “So we want to avoid as much damage as we can during a primary so we can come together to support the winner of the primary, no matter who it is.”
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, who endorsed both party-backed candidates, told Spotlight PA that he’d take Gerlach or Pinsley over a Republican — but he thinks they’d need to change their approaches to be effective in Harrisburg.
“I am a firm believer in incremental change,” he said. “If you move too far too fast, you can sabotage yourself in trying to get to change.”
An ‘anti-system’ moment
With less than a week to go before the primary, there are signs that voters want candidates who promise radical change. Take progressive state Rep. Chris Rabb’s late surge of donations and support in his campaign for Congress.
As consumer costs rise and politicians appear unable to find solutions, voters are getting frustrated, said Alison Dagnes, a political science professor at Shippensburg University.
For instance, 44% of registered Pennsylvania voters said the state is on the wrong track in a March 2026 Franklin & Marshall poll. The last time a majority of registered voters believed the state was headed in the right direction was January 2020. National surveys have similar findings (alongside low approval of Congress and both political parties writ large).
Dagnes argued this attitude creates “anti-system” feelings among voters. These people, she said, often approach politics through a lens of, “We don't trust anybody. We hate all politicians. Let's get somebody who's going to really shake things up.” Dagnes added that this belief has helped politicians across the political spectrum succeed — most notably President Donald Trump.
“I understand citizens feeling ignored. Because many, many citizens are ignored,” Dagnes told Spotlight PA. “When you have that many people who are like, ‘We're going in the wrong direction,’ then it opens the door for anti-system [candidates].”
These are the voters Gerlach hopes to reach in the 22nd state House district, which covers part of Allentown and a sliver of its suburbs, and whose majority-Latino voters mostly make under $75,000 a year.
She often sees the local Democratic Party power structure as more of a hindrance than a help in doing so.
In an interview with Spotlight PA, Gerlach expressed dismay that Democratic state senators in the Lehigh Valley — Lisa Boscola and Nick Miller — have voted alongside Republicans to limit transgender kids’ participation in sports and to require prosecutors to report criminal defendants they believe are undocumented to ICE.
This willingness to criticize fellow Democrats is one of the main things that has alienated Gerlach from party leaders like McFarland, the Lehigh County Democratic Party chair. McFarland told Spotlight PA that Gerlach once said she hates Democrats as much as Republicans.
The “extreme progressive wing,” McFarland said, “wants to burn the Democratic Party down” with “purity tests.”
Gerlach laughed when asked about this.
“I don't think there's any more way to demonstrate your loyalty than loving a party that doesn't always love you back,” she said.
The 22nd District seat was previously held by Democratic state Rep. Josh Siegel, who resigned to become Lehigh County executive. Gerlach was among the Democrats who sought the local party’s support in a special election to replace Siegel, but leaders passed her over — first picking the scion of a local political family, then pivoting to Tiburcio when the original candidate failed to meet residency requirements.
Tiburcio told Spotlight PA that she agreed with Gerlach that issues like housing should be at the top of the Democratic agenda. But she doubted a statewide rent freeze could pass in Harrisburg, instead arguing for more financial literacy and noting a recently passed bill to cap rental application fees. Tiburcio also said she needed more information before she could give a position on a graduated income tax.
“Everything is a process,” Tiburcio said. “We have to start with the small bills, so that way, the big bills [can] pass.”
Gerlach has support from the Working Families Party and the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, among other progressive backers. Initially, Tiburcio — the first Latino to represent the majority-Latino district — had broad support from the local establishment, including Siegel.
But Gerlach has made some inroads in recent months. In February, Siegel threw his support behind her, saying Gerlach “understands that people are frustrated with the status quo and want to see a Democratic Party that fights harder.” (The pivot earned Siegel critics among his former colleagues.)
As she canvasses in the lead-up to the election, Gerlach wants to show voters that she’s both progressive and reliable. One April weekend, she bumped into Elliot Ortiz, a 36-year-old father and manufacturing supervisor, as he and his wife, Jessica, ushered their kids into their car.
Self-described progressives, the Allentown natives said they are frustrated with bloated defense budgets, want the power and reach of ICE to be contained, and have concerns about state funding flowing to cyber charter schools. Gerlach assured them she wants to increase funding for public education and end state cooperation with ICE.
Ortiz was receptive, telling her, "You're saying all the right things."
But he had one caveat: "Don't do a turncoat like [U.S. Sen. John] Fetterman."
Fetterman, a Democrat who positioned himself as a progressive during his initial statewide runs, has pivoted in recent years, defending Trump’s actions and the Israeli government while siding with Republicans in some high-profile votes.
Gerlach laughed at the comparison. That’s impossible, she replied — her values are not up for debate.
What makes an insider?
In the relatively wealthy 16th state Senate District, which includes upper Bucks and most of Lehigh Counties, the dynamic in the Democratic primary is slightly different.
While Pinsley identified as an outsider, he maintains a decent relationship with his party, even citing former Democratic state party chair Marcel Groen as a mentor. And he has a lot of the same policy priorities as Merkl-Gump, a party-endorsed fresh face to state politics.
Both candidates’ agendas center on “affordability” — the idea that the state should, through various means, do more to make energy, housing, and transportation cheaper.
But there are some key divergences. While Merkl-Gump wants a $15 an hour minimum wage (along with annual increases and allowing local governments to set their own rates), Pinsley said it should be set even higher, to $22 an hour.
“You don't have to start so close to the other side, right?” Pinsley said. “Start where you are, have a true negotiation.”
Part of the reason Pinsley hasn’t gotten establishment support is — by his own admission — because he’s frequently sought higher office. This marks his third run for the 16th District, which began after he dropped out of a crowded congressional primary. He also unsuccessfully sought the 2024 Democratic nod for auditor general.
“He’s not the only person running for office big on press releases and short on intentionality,” said Cathleen Palm, a statewide advocate for protecting children from abuse who said Pinsley rebuffed her solicitations to join her efforts. “We all can identify problems. The hard work is getting to tangible action.”
“If you look at it from my perspective, which is — we have an existential threat going on right now, and we need to change what we're doing — then you don't see me as a ladder climber,” Pinsley said in response to those concerns. “You see me as somebody who's fighting for the people rather than the powerful.”
The Bucks County Democratic Party tried to avoid a primary by coalescing committee support around a single candidate before petitions. While they failed to clear the field, state Senate Democrats have made it clear that Merkl-Gump is their candidate. He has received $170,000 from sitting lawmakers’ PACs, according to campaign finance records, and Pinsley told Spotlight PA that when he approached Senate Democrats’ campaign arm about running for the 16th District, they tried to discourage him.
In a statement, the caucus campaign arm’s executive director did not dispute Pinsley’s description of events, saying that “we will support the winner of the primary after an open, competitive process where we worked with several candidates.”
The Harrisburg endorsements have been weaponized against Merkel-Gump. Mailers, funded by a PAC linked to the skill games industry, called him a “puppet” of “party bosses” and said he was picked by “the corporate, Israel-first Democratic party boss and insiders.”
Senate Democrats’ campaign committee condemned the latter mailer as antisemitic. By urging voters to pick Pinsley, the committee argued the industry is trying to advance a weaker Democrat to face the GOP incumbent, a skill games supporter.
(The PAC’s chair did not immediately respond to questions about the mailers. Pinsley said he doesn’t think the messaging is antisemitic, but decried “big money groups acting as agents of chaos.”)
Merkel-Gump argued he’s not even a party insider. His run, he said, has been buoyed by community members rather than power players picking him “from obscurity.”
Merkl-Gump helped flip the school board in Bucks County’s Pennridge School District in 2023, replacing a GOP majority that restricted access to LGBTQ library books and used a civics curriculum prepared by a conservative university. Since then, the board has eased temperatures in the community while also approving full-day kindergarten for the district (alongside a tax increase to pay for it).
While he acknowledges that Harrisburg, with its unlimited campaign finance contributions and legalized gifts, works differently from his school board, Merkl-Gump stands by his approach of making gradual progress by engaging the electorate and finding common ground.
“I'm not saying I'm going to have to use every single trick and tool I've used dealing with eighth graders for the past 15 years that I know,” Merkl-Gump said. But “as long as we continue to believe and fight for what we believe, things get better.”
Knocking on doors in a new exurban development near Perkasie, Merkl-Gump found a willing audience one weekday evening. He fielded multiple questions on data center development — he opposes a moratorium because he thinks it would delay the passage of effective regulations — and got plaudits for his work on the school board during a chaotic time.
“We’ve lost all sense of decency,” said Bonnie Walker, a 54-year-old mother of two who works in insurance.
One of her kids is trans, she added, and was bullied during the school board culture wars that Merkl-Gump’s win helped halt. “I need my son to be protected,” she said.
Walker thanked Merkl-Gump for his work and promised him her vote.
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