1997 Allentown mayoral election

1997 Allentown mayoral election

←  1993 November 4, 1997 (1997-11-04) 2001  →

Candidate William L. Heydt Martin Velazquez III Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 10,446 8,734 Percentage 54.42% 45.50%

Mayor before election William L. Heydt Republican Elected Mayor William L. Heydt Republican

The 1997 mayoral election in Allentown, Pennsylvania was held on November 4, 1997, and resulted in the Republican incumbent mayor William L. Heydt defeating Democratic challenger and city councilmen Martin Velazquez III. ^[1] This election is remembered for its razor thin margin for the Democratic primary which saw Velazquez win by a singular vote against Emma Tropiano after a lengthy and hotly contested recount. ^[2]

Background

Incumbent Republican mayor Heydt had been elected in 1993 with 51.9% of the popular vote and vowed to not seek reelection and limit himself to a single term. ^[3] However, he would go back on his promise and touting his long list of accomplishments as mayor, including a $4.8 million surplus in the city budget, a greatly expanded and equipped police force, as well as many new businesses moving into the city, as his justification to seek reelection. ^[4] However, he did face a large amount of criticism for the two lengthy legal battles between the mayors office and the police department. The first was over the city's pension plan with Heydt eventually conceded to increasing the pension to 70%. ^[5] And the second prevented Heydt's firing of trooper Thomas Siteman over purported bigotry. ^[6]

Campaign

Republican primary

Heydt's greatest challenge in the election would come from in the form of a primary election against David K. Bausch. Bausch, a businessman and former Lehigh County executive and member of the Allentown city council, had been defeated in a primary election during his time as executive and sought to do the same against Heydt despite his endorsement from the county's Republican Party. Because of this he had to finance his entire campaign out of pocket and against resistance from local Republican officials. ^[7] Heydt also faced another challenger, Alton Frey. A former Democrat who switched his party affiliation for the election, Frey centered his campaign over a perceived "lack of change" in the city during Heydt's first term and vowed to combat growing privatization in the city. ^{[8] [9]} Heydt would defeat Bausch by just 245 votes to go on to the general election. ^[10]

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary saw a three-way race against Martin Velazquez III, Emma Tropiano, and Martha E. Falk. Velazquez was a freshmen city councilmen and an assimilated, second generation Puerto Rican who used his name to connect with the city's large and growing Hispanic population, despite himself not being able to speak Spanish. His father was an immigrant from Puerto Rico while his mother was Pennsylvania Dutch. He was a member of the Lehigh County Democratic Committee, a delegate to the 1996 Democratic National Convention, and was involved in the Lehigh valley Hispanic Business Council. He was given a better chance to win against Heydt in opinion polls despite running a grass-roots campaign with little support from the party. ^[11] Tropiano was a four term veteran councilwomen who entered the city council promising to abolish the downtown historic district law to allow massive demolitions and construction. Unable to revoke the law as a member of the city council she hoped that being mayor would give her more political capital to achieve her goal. She also garnered the ire of the city's Hispanic population when she proclaimed that the English language should be made sole official language of the United States as well as claiming Hispanics committed 99% of Allentown's crime. She described herself as a champion of the working class and proposed outlawing sofas on front lawns and yard sales. ^[12] Falk was the Lehigh County commissioner and ran on a six-point plan to implement urban renewal in Allentown. She also sought to reduce the number of at-large city council seats from seven to three and having the four seats be elected via districts to better represent the different neighborhoods of the city. ^[13] However, she was heavily criticized for her fiscal policy as commissioner as the county's debt increased by $39 million during her tenure. ^[14] Despite this she had the endorsement and support of the city's Democratic "kingmakers" and entrenched political elite. ^[11] Initial results showed Tropiano holding a slim 30 vote victory over Velazquez with 2,656 votes to his 2,626 with Falk coming in third with 1,796. However, other results showed the lead as just being 3 singular votes, while still other results showed Velazquez leading with 3 votes. ^[15] It was determined that 50 of the city's 57 voting machines where faulty and that all votes would have to be recounted by hand. ^[10] After a lengthy recount, Senior Judge James N. Diefenderfer announced that Velazquez had won by a singular vote with a total of 2,681 to Tropiano's 2,680. ^[2] Velazquez would be the first Latino nominee for mayor from either party. ^[11]

General election

The general election between Velazquez and Heydt was hard-fought with Velazquez focusing his campaign on the shortcomings of the Heydt administration and his abrasive personality while Heydt promoted his successes as mayor namely with the budget surplus and police expansion. ^{[16] [17]} Attempting to turn Heydt's talking points against him, Velazquez argued that a large budget surplus was a sign of sloppy accounting, over-taxation and under utilization of public services. He proposed rebating $4.7 million in municipal funds back to the taxpayers of the city. Heydt responded by proposing a tax cut. ^[16] Velazquez also argued that despite the expansion of both personal and spending to the police department, Heydt had neglected the force by failing to reduce drug use in the city and to effectively combat the city's violent gangs. Heydt responded by pinning the blame on outgoing police chief John Stefanik and pointed out his close cooperation with the DEA to fight drug related crime. ^[17] Additionally, Republican candidate Frey, who Heydt beat in the primary, attempted to run a Write-in campaign. Heydt would defeat Velazquez by a comfortable margin and pledged to return Allentown to its title of “Queen City” of Pennsylvania, after he takes a post-election vacation. ^{[1] [18] [19]}

Results

Mayor of Allentown, Republican primary, May 20, 1997. ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William L. Heydt	2,427	46.88%
	Republican	David K. Bausch	2,182	42.15%
	Republican	Alton W. Frey Jr	568	10.97%
Total votes			5,177	100.00%

Mayor of Allentown, Democratic primary, May 20, 1997. ^{[10] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Martin Velazquez III	2,681	37.46%
	Democratic	Emma Tropiano	2,680	37.45%
	Democratic	Martha E. Falk	1,796	25.09%
Total votes			7,157	100.00%

Mayor of Allentown, November 4, 1997. ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William L. Heydt	10,446	54.42%
	Democratic	Martin Velazquez III	8,734	45.50%
	Write-In	Alton W. Frey Jr	16	0.08%
Total votes			19,196	100.00%
	Republican hold

Legacy

Heydt was the first mayor since the 1920s to win re-election to a second term at the end of their first term. ^[1] As of 2023, this would be the last mayoral election in Allentown that the Republican party would win. Mayor Heydt would again refuse re-election in 2001, but this time remained faithful to his promise. ^[20] Following a Republican defeat in 2001 that saw Velazquez go on to be named the new Democratic mayor Roy Afflerbach's deputy mayor, Heydt would run for a third, albeit non-consecutive term in 2005 but was handily defeated by Ed Pawlowski. ^{[21] [22]} It is also statistically impossible for any other Allentown election to come as close as the singular vote difference between Tropiano and Velazquez.

See also

• 1997 United States elections
• Mayors of Allentown, Pennsylvania

References

1. "HEYDT RETAINS MAYOR'S SEAT * AFTER DEFEATING VELAZQUEZ, HE PLEDGES TO RETURN ALLENTOWN TO TITLE OF 'QUEEN". The Morning Call . November 5, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
2. "VELAZQUEZ BEATS TROPIANO BY ONE VOTE JUDGE DECLARES HIM WINNER OF DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION FOR ALLENTOWN MAYOR". The Morning Call . July 15, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
3. Pflieger, Martin (January 4, 1994). "A change of leadership. Heydt: Allentown must reclaim glory". The Morning Call.
4. "WILLIAM HEYDT TO RUN FOR 2ND TERM * ALLENTOWN MAYOR LISTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, INCLUDING NO TAX HIKE, BUDGET SAVINGS". The Morning Call . January 12, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
5. "MAYOR WON'T FIGHT 70% POLICE PENSIONS * HEYDT WILL DROP COURT APPEAL BECAUSE ALLENTOWN HAS BEEN TOLD PA. WON'T PENALIZE THE CITY". The Morning Call . April 17, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
6. "ALLENTOWN LOSES APPEAL, MUST RECONSIDER FIRING". The Morning Call . October 20, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
7. "BAUSCH MAY RUN FOR MAYOR THERE ARE SIGNS HE IS PREPARING AN UNENDORSED CHALLENGE AGAINST HEYDT". The Morning Call . February 26, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
8. "FREY PLEDGES CHANGES, OPENNESS * MAYORAL CANDIDATE SAYS HE'D HOLD MONTHLY CABINET MEETINGS". The Morning Call . May 12, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
9. "HEYDT, FREY SPAR OVER ISSUES INCLUDING LAND-VALUE TAX, FUNDS * INTERVIEW WITH ALLENTOWN MAYOR, PRIMARY ELECTION RIVAL WILL AIR MAY 9 ON CHANNEL 39". The Morning Call . April 26, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
10. "HEYDT FENDS OFF CHALLENGE; DEMO FOE IDENTITY IN DOUBT THE MAYOR'S OPPONENT COULD DEPEND ON RESULTS FROM A FAULTY VOTING MACHINE". The Morning Call . May 21, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
11. "VELAZQUEZ VICTORY COULD MARK POLITICAL WATERSHED ALLENTOWN DEMO MAYORAL CANDIDATE DRAWS FROM LATIN, ANGLO ROOTS". The Morning Call . June 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
12. Wittman, Bob (January 10, 2002). "Emma D. Tropiano, colorful catalyst of Allentown politics, is dead at 71 ** Ex-city councilwoman tangled with Hispanics. Even foes mourn her loss". The Morning Call . Retrieved February 18, 2023.
13. "FALK WOULD BOOST PROGRAMS TO REVIVE NEIGHBORHOODS * ALLENTOWN MAYORAL CANDIDATE ALSO WANTS TO CHANGE THE WAY CITY COUNCIL IS ELECTED". The Morning Call . April 29, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
14. DOUGHERTY, DANIEL G. (May 15, 1997). "FALK WAS A 'RUBBER STAMP'". The Morning Call . Retrieved February 18, 2023.
15. "VOTE RECOUNT FOR TROPIANO, OTHERS SET". The Morning Call . June 17, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
16. "SHOULD SURPLUS MEAN TAX REBATE? * MARTIN VELAZQUEZ III, A MAYORAL CANDIDATE, THINKS ANSWER IS YES. HE ALSO WANTS MORE ARTS FUNDING". The Morning Call . September 16, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
17. "MAYOR BLASTED BY FOE * MARTIN VELAZQUEZ III SAYS WILLIAM HEYDT HAS NEGLECTED THE ALLENTOWN POLICE FORCE". The Morning Call . September 30, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
18. "LAST WEEK IN THE VALLEY". The Morning Call . November 9, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
19. "STRONGHOLDS PULL HEYDT TO VICTORY * ANALYSES SHOW TURNOUT IN HIS WARDS STRONGER THAN IN VELAZQUEZ'S". The Morning Call . November 6, 1997. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
20. Wittman, Bob (December 22, 2000). "Allentown Mayor Heydt says he will not run for re-election ** "It's time for me to move on,' he announces tearfully. He led efforts to fluoridate water and remove canopies". The Morning Call . Retrieved February 18, 2023.
21. "MUNICIPAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 2005". home.lehighcounty.org. Lehigh County, Pennsylvania . Retrieved February 17, 2023.
22. Nerl, Daryl (November 21, 2001). "Councilman named next deputy mayor for Allentown ** Martin Velazquez will take command when needed. ** Allentown". The Morning Call . Retrieved February 18, 2023.