Before the primary election last week, my hunch was that if Zucal could reach 40% of the Democratic votes, combining that with Republicans and independents, might take him over the top in November. Well Zucal came up short in the primary, by about 20%. Does that mean that November is a lost cause for him?
I believe that Zucal is still viable for November, and here's why. Tuerk was a little nervous for the primary. Witness his absurd meltdown about Zucal being MAGA, and Police Chief Roca rolling out neighborhood crime stats, just a week before the election. The patter about violent crime being down is nonsense, witness a shooting last Wednesday at 18th & Chew Streets. Tuerk and Roca will not crack down on noise and litter, they're too woke for any culture clashes.
Tuerk got out his vote for the primary, but Zucal has plenty of people to mobilize. The. homeowners on the east and south sides knew and remember a better quality of life. Overcoming Tuerk will not be an easy task, Zucal will have to knock on a lot of doors. He was essentially a one man band for the primary. Although not really a Republican, will the soldiers from that party get behind him? I can tell you that as an independent, life long Allentonian and chronicler of this city, Zucal has my support.
Did Zucal get enough write in votes to appear on the Republican ballot?
ReplyDeleteTuerk is the Queen City’s Sun King. After him…the deluge.
ReplyDeleteThese ARE the good old days!
Don’t forget, Mayor Matt didn’t waste his time on the 5th floor managing the City of Allentown. The Hipster Mayor was out visiting schools, parks, playgrounds, class rooms, libraries, groceries, groups, organizations, institutions, churches, festivals and festivities, not to mention flag raisings. (He didn’t do as many ribbon cutting as Councilman Hendricks, but in the final analysis that strategy petered out.)
ReplyDeleteMayor Matt has a personal relationship with his people even while gaining national exposure on network television and the New York Times. Mayor Matt is practically a household word. Allentown’s first Hispanic mayor will make a stellar Congressman.
I just love the idea that Allentown and Boulder Colorado are Sister Cities. It seems like a natural. It was meant to be.
DeleteA household name 🤣? In whose household? Yea he is mentioned in mine as a dirty mayor who lies to the public. Embarrasses the city. Covers up crime. Uses city tax dollars to further his campaign. Put out a ton of things three weeks before the election to make it look like he has done something. Roca (I wont refer to him as a Chief) has done little if anything on quality of life issues. The parks are littered, loud music everywhere, dirt bikes. Etc. He doesn't care. Zucal actually cares about the city. Will treat ALL PEOPLE EQUAL. Patel, Shoddy, Roca, the Solicitor's office, Kisler, all need to go. Take out the trash with the new company next week
DeleteHopefully Zucal prevailed in his Republican write-in effort.
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else, it will force Tuerk to hold off on his tax hike this year, as he certainly doesn’t want to have to release a budget that raises taxes right before Election Day.
You have a good point regarding a tax hike. 69 News said he got almost 500 well above what he needed.
ReplyDeleteNewsflash, Allentownians... taxes will rise but certainly NOT due to spending on infrastructure. Now that we're in an election year, it see,s they're going full speed ahead fixing some of our washboard roads... too little, too late.
ReplyDeleteWe had neighborhood WALKING the beat police during Mayor Heydt which disappeared shortly after he was out of office, and the neighborhoods WERE better... with less taxes... hmmm.
We have a people problem, not tree, sidewalk nor any other idiotic perceived problem. Allentown has devolved from the "Queen" city to the "Pee" city.
Heydt pulled the Community Police and a few weeks later the Egyptian grocery store operator was shot dead at noon at 14th. and Union.
DeleteIt took huge neighborhood protests to bring the bike patrol back.
Your memory is failing you.
Mayor Heydt could not protect Union Street pool from broken glass. He closed the busy pool, permanently, pushing the city’s poorest kids into the Little Lehigh Creek. His solution to crime and gun fire reaching a new high was to famously hire Chief Pappy Yocum.
DeleteHeydt was serious about being mayor, and he had some good people around him. Still, your recollections are through rose colors glasses.
Buck up.
That conflicts with my memory of Afflerbach ending community policing shortly after taking office. During the campaign he stated he supported community policing. He was a terrible mayor, the first of many.
DeleteI stand corrected!!! Thank you!
DeleteMayor Heydt had an excellent budget guy and a great city manager. Neighborhood groups were in their heyday at the time, even if the “Crime Watch” deal was an old boy act.
DeleteThe Hipster Kid mayor has neither, but he does have those groovy tattoos. The hipster act has a pretty good following in a town where voter turnout is pathetic. That and the “first Latino Mayor” thingie is all the votes ya’ need in a one party system where almost nobody bothers to vote.
Let’s consider the Allentown School District…okay, let’s not.
Zucal received 500 Republican write in votes. An astounding achievement. There were only 1800 total Republican votes cast.
ReplyDeleteScott, fuzzy logic. Tuerk got 20% of the write in republican vote without sending out a flyer telling people to vote for him. With zucal getting 20% of the democratic vote after campaigning for it, the Clear conclusion is it will be Tuerk 4 to 1. Independent voters will also favor Tuerk. Zucal's shameful mailers offended lots of voters. Most of the posters on this blog are like minded right wing, and you don't have a clue as to what more liberal Republicans and more conservative democrats appreciate about Tuerk.
DeleteThose mailers were the truth. Too many woke picked last in sports got offended because of the truth? Tuerk is a weirdo and isnt cool. The flyers show the real Tuerk. He might be likeable but what people are missing is it's fake. Esp the Latinos. He is only giving lip service to get your vote. He hasn't proven himself in 4 years and neither has his cabinet.
DeleteIm not saying Zucal will win, but he will surely tighten up the gap and make it a closer race.
plus if there had been no contention for republican county executive candidate, there’s no way zucal would have even gotten the 500 writeins. people had to show up to the poll anyway so they may as well have gotten their moment to say “f matt”
Delete@3:48
DeleteMy public record is clear. I have spent an active civic and political life well left of center. I’ve been politically active since the Tet Offensive. I finally reregistered Independent when I returned home from the Philadelphia Convention in 2016.
Have the courage to step out from the cloak of annon and I will tell you how I really feel about your simplistic accusations.
mj adams
Mayor Heydt and his police chief were on the trailing edge on the APD Bike Patrol but to their credit they did get there.
ReplyDeleteThe Lincoln School Neighborhood Civic Association and Block Watch purchased a police mountain bike and all necessary accoutrements for their excellent Community Police officer, Sev Berrouse (?).
One day the Chief was amazed at how quickly this officer got from his beat to Allen H.S. and suddenly the effective of police mountain bikes clicked.
mj adams
@3:48PM
ReplyDeleteDo tell, precisely what is it that “liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats” like about Matt Tuerk’s capability as the chief executive of the third largest municipality in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?
1. This blog does not cater to chats, i.e. back and forth questions and answers.
Delete2. This blog keeps baker hours, often comments submitted after 6:00 PM will not appear to early morning.
I believe Matt Tuerk said it best in the May 23 Morning Call “[Local Republican committees] have a county executive race in Northampton County and in Lehigh County that they may want to financially support, so I just, I have a hard time believing that he is going to be able to generate a ton of financial support for a campaign,” Tuerk said.”
ReplyDeleteZucal really doesn’t stand a chance in November.
Zucal and Tuerk aren’t running for the mayor of South Whitehall or Lower Macungie or Salisbury or Hanover, Mike. The base of disaffected East and South Siders who still participate in local democracy does not exist. Tuerk will win by at least 30 points in November.
ReplyDeleteanon@8:43, 7:32: I believe the base of disaffected is considerably larger, well over a majority. It will be take considerable work to motivate them to vote in November.
DeleteIt’s just as likely that the Charlie Dent Republicans and independents of the West Side who have stopped short of registering as Democrats will turn out in November to vote for Tuerk.
DeleteI don't see how the math works for him. The primary voters were the Democrats most motivated to support Zucal, and he got less then 1200 votes. Why would a dem suppoter of Zucal skip the primary and just hope they would get a second chance in the general election. His primary dem vote count is a hard ceiling. And with the Republicans, he only got 500 of 1800 votes. So over 2/3 of republican voters wouldn't waste 3-5 seconds to write down the name of a lifelong Democrat. This one is over, Republicans should focus on the competitive elections for Judge and county exec.
ReplyDeleteZucal should have run as a Republican. That way he could have had a clean shot at Turek with party support in the general election.
ReplyDeleteNow he's got to do an 'independent' write-in campaign. I don't think the planets have aligned yet for that to win him an election