During the 2017 Allentown mayoral election, three-term mayor Ed Pawlowski was indicted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and faced fifty-four charges, including multiple counts of conspiracy, bribery, attempted extortion, making false statements to federal officials, mail fraud, and wire fraud with some charges dating as far back as 2012.[2] He refused to step down or stop campaigning for his fourth term as mayor.[3] He narrowly won the election, 39.37% to his Republican challenger's 36.74% with write in votes for city councilman Ray O'Connell reaching roughly 18%.[4]
Pawlowski was then found guilty on forty-seven charges shortly after the election on March 1, 2018. Forced to resign as mayor on March 9, 2018, he was sentenced to twenty years in federal prison.[5]
With the office of mayor vacant, a special election was held to fill the seat. Councilman Ray O'Connell was appointed interim mayor by the city council until the election.[6]
There was only one primary, the Democratic primary, because Republican Tim Ramos ran unopposed. There were four Democratic candidates:[7]
Interim mayor Ray O'Connell, who, during his brief time in office, had already become unpopular due to a 27% tax hike and a $10 million loan to cover the city budget;
Cheryl Johnson-Watts, a Financial adviser and Allentown School Board director was a key critic of O’Connell's economic plan of increasing taxes and taking out loans to fix the budget deficit;
Patrick Palmer, an insurance representative and political outsider who based his campaign on ensuring that low and medium density housing would be set aside during rezoning ordinance; and
Michael Daniels, a former Constable who had not been licensed since 2017, and who ran as an anti-establishment candidate, calling for an increased police presence in the city.
Interim mayor O'Connell successfully defeated his three primary challengers, gaining 53% of the vote and advancing to the general election. He then defeated Republican challenger Ramos 66.73% to 32.99%.[1][8][9][10][11]
