Congressional candidate may have difficult choice

As Election Day was coming to an end Tuesday, Marty Nothstein told reporters that he was disappointed that he had not won the 7th District Congressional seat, but he expressed satisfaction that it appeared that he was going to win the special election to fill out the remaining six weeks of U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent’s term in the 15th District.

At the time, Nothstein had a fairly comfortable lead of about 2,100 votes, but, since then, the margin has dwindled to just 42, with absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted.

During his comments on election night, Nothstein said he was fully prepared to go to Washington until the end of the year, grateful that the voters had given him this opportunity and promising that he would undertake the role “to the best of my ability.”

The day after the election, Nothstein told his Facebook followers: “We won the special election, which is a small consolation. I will serve proudly, then return home to continue my work in Lehigh County.”

With the razor-thin margin, it appears as if Nothstein will have to wait until the votes are made official in the five counties that make up the current 15th District — Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Lebanon and Dauphin. That could take more than a week.

The 7th District winner, Allentown attorney Susan Wild, leads by about 14,600 votes in Lehigh County and by about 2,800 in Northampton County, but Nothstein leads by about 4,800 votes in Berks, by about 9,200 in Lebanon and by about 3,450 in Dauphin.

Even if the results remain unchanged, it would mean that Nothstein would have to be sworn in, leaving him with about six weeks in the job, even under the most optimistic of time frames.

Although the Nothstein campaign said it would have no further comments until the official vote tabulation is made, their candidate must decide whether he wants to take this short-term job or whether he wants to remain as member and chair of the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners.

The Lehigh County Home Rule Charter will not allow him to hold both offices simultaneously. According to the charter, “During his or her term of office, an elected officer shall not hold any other county office or county employment for compensation, any other elective public office, any other political office or political employment for compensation.”

As commissioners’ chair, Nothstein makes $9,000 a year. A member of Congress receives $174,000 annually. If Nothstein served six weeks in the U.S. House, he would earn $20,077 prorated, more than twice his annual county commissioners’ salary.

Now, here is where things get interesting. The Lehigh commissioners last month sent a 2019 budget to County Executive Phillips Armstrong with no tax increase. Armstrong had previously submitted a budget to the commissioners calling for a 4.1 percent real estate tax increase.

The commissioners rejected the tax hike proposal. They voted 6-3 along party lines with Republicans, including Nothstein, favoring no tax increase, while the three Democrats voted for the tax increase, saying that it is needed for county initiatives and to stave off a steep tax increase in 2020.

Armstrong, a Democrat, has sent signals that he intends to veto the document. To overturn his veto, the Republicans would need all six votes — including Nothstein’s — to achieve the two-thirds majority required to override the county executive.

The unusual situation that had voters in Lehigh and part of Northampton counties making two selections for Congress in the same election came about because of Dent’s sudden resignation in May, leaving the seat open for the last seven months of his term.

Dent was a moderate Republican who, at times, took issue with some of the policies and pronouncements of President Donald Trump. He announced he would not seek re-election in 2018, but then he abruptly resigned seven months early.

Gov. Tom Wolf could have called for a special election immediately after Dent’s resignation, a costly option. Instead, he chose to hold the special election concurrently with the Nov. 6 general election and after the state Supreme Court had approved a redistricting map for the entire state.

Wild handily won the newly configured 7th Congressional District race, defeating Nothstein by about 25,000 votes. The new district includes Lehigh and Northampton counties and Ross and Eldred townships in southern Monroe County.

Wild will be sworn in after the new year to begin her two-year term.