Newsletter: March 2026 - Supplement 
President's Report
Election update and post March 10th SLDC meeting notes: Thank you to everyone who came out to either of our petition signings and our meeting on March 10. It’s wonderful to see our community grow and fantastic participation from many different members. We had an enlightening presentation by members Mallory, Amber and Emily and a stand out candidate moderation by Mark from our communications team. Yay team!
The cutoff date for ballot collection was Tuesday, March 10th and most of the candidates who you signed petitions for got on the ballot. While we don’t know the number of verified signatures, we can see how many petitions were turned in PA Voter Services We’ll see who actually gets on the ballot on March 18th when there will be drawings for ballot order and the time for ballot challenges will be past.
Each petition could have as few as one signature to a full petition with 30 signatures. If you click on their name and then “petitions” you can see how many petitions were turned in. The following list shows PETITIONS turned in, not total signatures.
Governor – 2,000 signatures required
* Josh Shaprio – 2,041 petitions turned in
Stacy Garrity – Republican candidate – 1,855
Lt. Governor – 1,000 signatures required
*Austin Davis – 1,891 petitions turned in
Jason Richey – Republican candidate 1,599
John Ventre – Republican candidate 82
US House District 7 - 1,000 signatures required
Bob Brooks- 229 petitions turned in
Ryan Crosswell - 201 petitions turned in
Carol Obando-Derstine – 158 petitions turned in
Lamont McClure – 124 petitions turned in
Ryan Mackenzie Republican incumbent – 351 petitions turned in
Candidates Aiden Gonzales and Lewis Shupe were not able to gather enough signatures
Pennsylvania Senate District 16- 500 signatures required
Mark Pinsley – 101 petitions turned in
Bradley Merkyl-Gump – 75 petitions turned in
Wayne Codner – 54 petitions turned in
Jarrett Coleman Republican Incumbent 101
Candidate Juan Vargas withdrew before turning in signatures.
Representative in the PA State House District 131 – 300 signatures required
Meriam Sabih – 55 petitions turned in
Milou Mackenzie Republican Incumbent – 92 petitions turned in
PA State Committee – 7 people will be elected. Four women and three men. Whoever is elected chair of the Lehigh County Democrats will automatically be given a seat and can choose a replacement to take a seat they may have gotten if they were elected to one. 100 signatures required.
Kathleen Parsons - 32 petitions turned in
Gabriella Klotz – 28 petitions turned in
*Lori McFarland (chair of Lehigh County Dems) – 22 petitions turned in
*Carmen Bell -21 petitions turned in
*April Riddick – 20 petitions turned in
*Denise Shackleford – 20 petitions turned in
*Celeste Dee -18 petitions turned in
Sarina Torres – 9 petitions turned in
Sunny Ghai- 27 petitions turned in
*Aidan Levinson- 20 petitions turned in
*Julian Guridy – 19 petitions turned in
Ben Stemrich – 14 petitions turned in
*Incumbents
The May 19 Primary election will be the final election for State Committee candidates.
Precinct Committee People – 10 signatures required
All of our candidates who decided to run for election or re-election to be a PCP submitted their filled petitions and paperwork on time and should be on the ballot. This is also their final election as winners will get a certificate and able to serve as community resources for the general election in November 2026.
Coopersburg Borough – Debra Craig and Shelley Sorenson-Bauder
Lower Milford – *Katherine Harrington and Timothy Shelly
Upper Saucon 1- *Roberta Barnes and *Carol Obando-Derstine
Upper Saucon 2 – Patricia Carlis and *Cassandra Scully
Upper Saucon 3 – We need people here and they only need 11 signatures to be elected as write in candidates on election day! Let me know if you are interested.
Upper Saucon 4 – *Meriam Sabih and Emily Gehman
Upper Saucon 5 – *Rona Arena and Amber Stern
Upper Saucon 6 – *Mark Miller and *Kathleen Parsons
*Incumbents
PCP’s – There will be a general ZOOM meeting on Monday, March 16, 6:30 pm. This is open to any Democrat, but only PCP’s can vote. I will send the link as soon as I get it.
Post meeting notes – At our March 10 meeting, we reviewed that during the primary season, SLDC does not endorse candidates, as required by our bylaws. The President also does not issue endorsements. However, every member is encouraged to learn about the candidates who will appear on their ballots, make an informed choice, and then advocate for those candidates as individuals.
To support that effort, please visit our website for regularly updated information and updates from trusted news sources :https://southernlehighdemocrats.com/Candidate_Information_Spring_2026_May_Primary
And follow our Facebook page for announcements and events: Facebook
ICE-OUT Red hats available! Thanks to a very generous donation from member Joan L, we now have a handful of really cute handmade red hats! I would suggest a donation of $25, but you can give what you’d like. Here’s the story behind them. Why this red hat? To get yours, contact [email protected] to confirm color and availability before payment.
Calendar of Events
3/14 - Mark Pinsley Fundraiser
3/21 - Carol Obando-Derstine Meet and Greet
3/21 - 3/22 - Ground Truth Canvassing in Allentown
3/28 - No Kings 3.0 Protests
