The politics of 2024 were, in the words of President-elect Donald Trump, “huge.”
The politics of 2025, by comparison, are smaller in their geographical reach but could be even more impactful in terms of how they shape the daily lives of Lancaster County residents.
In next year’s municipal election, voters will pick school board members, township supervisors and borough mayors and council people, as well as a couple of county row officers and district justices, and a handful of state judges.
Democrats and Republicans get a shot at narrowing the field during the May 20 primary, and a recent resignation in the Pennsylvania Senate will spur meaningful campaigning in just a few weeks.
Standing on the doorstep of a new year, here are five things to think about ahead of the next election cycle.
Jockeying for Aument’s seat
When state Sen. Ryan Aument announced earlier this month that he would step down to run the state office of U.S. Senator-elect Dave McCormick, his decision pricked the ears of some of the county’s top Republicans.
County Commissioner Josh Parsons, an East Hempfield Township resident, is actively seeking support from fellow Republicans to fill Aument’s seat in the 36th District, which covers much of northern and western Lancaster County, including the Lancaster city suburbs of Manheim, East Hempfield and West Hempfield townships.
Sources inside the county GOP say state Rep. Brett Miller may be exploring a run as well. In November, Miller comfortably won reelection in the increasingly purple 41st state House District, which encompasses both Hempfields and Columbia Borough.
Local Republicans will choose the party’s candidate Jan. 25. Democrats say they will field a candidate as well, though no names have surfaced as possible contenders.
By Jan. 10, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis will decide when to hold a special election, which could precede the May primary or correspond with it.
If Parsons runs for the seat and wins, Lancaster County Court’s new president judge, Leonard Brown, would appoint a successor on the board of commissioners (or Brown could ask his fellow judges to help him review candidates and make a decision).
If Miller runs and wins, House Speaker Joanna McClinton would need to schedule another special election to fill his seat in the 41st.
School boards and the ILC
In 2022, Penn Manor School District Superintendent Mike Leichliter resigned his post. In September of this year, Warwick School District Superintendent April Hershey did the same.
What do these two school districts have in common besides the resignation of their superintendents? The school boards in both districts recently contracted with the religious-rights law firm Independence Law Center to help them shape district policy.
When Hershey discussed with LNP | LancasterOnline her reasons for leaving Warwick after 15 years on the job, she shared a note of advice Leichliter passed on to her:
“Superintendents don’t leave districts,” he said. “They leave boards.”
During the 2023 municipal elections, members of Warwick’s already-conservative, all-Republican board were attacked from the right by fellow Republicans, and school board members who had a good working relationship with Hershey were replaced by candidates who opposed new federal rules expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students.
In May, the Warwick board ignored Hershey’s counsel and unanimously approved a contract with the law center, which recently drafted a policy for Penn Manor that allows teachers to claim an exemption to using a student’s preferred names and pronouns if it “violates their conscience.”
In both districts, 2023 was a watershed year in terms of participation in school board races. Intraparty challenges in the GOP primaries were followed by a general election crowded with candidates from both parties.
While Democrats came up short at the polls, the issues that fueled political enthusiasm still remain two years later — especially in Penn Manor, where its all-Republican board split 5-4 on whether to allow the law center to help shape district policy.
Expect new challengers.
The Hempfields
Nowhere in the county did Democrats make greater gains in the 2023 municipal elections than in Lancaster’s western suburbs, and while the hot-button issues have shifted, emotions remain high and could motivate voters in Hempfield School District and East Hempfield Township.
In 2022, the school district, which serves East and West Hempfield, became the first in Pennsylvania to require student athletes to compete on sports teams that align with their sex at birth, not their gender identity.
The move fueled a wave of resentment that crashed at the ballot box. Voters ousted Dylan Bard, president of the all-Republican board, and installed a pair of Democrats, Megan Eshleman and Judy Brady. Of the five directors elected in 2023, Eshleman received the most votes, and a third Democrat fell just 38 votes short of winning a seat.
While the district largely steered away from the culture wars in 2024, contentious teacher contract negotiations stoked the political fires. School board and union officials alike fielded accusations of improper conduct during a bargaining session that included the threat of a strike before reaching an agreement in November.
The school board may have taken a step back from controversial social issues, but East Hempfield stepped directly into a big one.
In March, Lancaster Public Library was slated to host a Drag Queen Story Hour that was ultimately canceled due to a bomb scare. Even though the event was never held, the township’s Republican supervisors objected to the library’s attempt to host the family-friendly story hour and pulled the township’s $26,700 annual donation to the library.
During the last municipal election, with relatively little at stake, voters in the rapidly purpling township installed Democrat Robert Johnson on the five-member board of supervisors. No one in the township could remember a Democrat ever being elected to the post.
In the coming election, voters in the township will be motivated — the Drag Queen Story Hour issue packed the supervisors’ meeting room in April — and control of the board is at stake.
In the 41st District, which contains East Hempfield, nearly 1 in 5 residents are independent or third-party voters, and the Republicans’ 46% plurality of registered voters makes them vulnerable to challenges from the left.
Mayoral races
Lancaster County’s mayors will be up for reelection too. Many sitting mayors said they were not sure whether they would run again when contacted by LNP, though a few races are sure to generate keen interest as longtime incumbents step away from office.
Lancaster city Mayor Danene Sorace this summer said she would not run again after serving two terms, and a pair of prominent Democrats have begun campaigning for her seat.
City Council Vice Chairman Jaime Arroyo and fellow council member Janet Diaz will vie to be the Democrats’ nominee. Diaz has proven to be a skilled vote-getter in previous campaigns, but she has little support among local committee members and elected officials. Arroyo, meanwhile, is already stacking up local endorsements.
The GOP has yet to put forward a candidate in a city that skews increasingly Democratic. A Republican hasn’t sat in the mayor’s chair for nearly two decades. The late Charlie Smithgall, whose final term expired in 2006, was the city’s last Republican mayor.
In Ephrata Borough, Republican Ralph Mowen will not be the town’s mayor for the first time in more than 30 years. He has decided to step down and clear the way for new blood.
If local party demographics are any indicator, that blood will continue to flow red, not blue. Despite Vice President Kamala Harris establishing a campaign office in Ephrata this year, nearly two-thirds of the borough’s voters chose Trump.
It’s a different story in Lititz, where Republican Mayor Timothy Snyder will retire after 12 years in office. The borough has become more purple in recent years, with four of its six precincts breaking for Harris in November.
If Republicans and Democrats can each field a qualified candidate, the race could be close.
Running for office
Just about anyone who is at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen can run for a local elected office.
Potential candidates who want to run as a Republican or Democrat must file a nomination petition with the county board of elections between Feb. 18 and March 11. Those who do not belong to one of the two major parties must file nomination papers between March 12 and Aug. 1.
Candidates also must file a statement of financial interest that explains their sources of income and financial obligations.
For more information about becoming a candidate, call the county elections office at 717-299-8293 or visit lanc.news/2025candidates.
The last day to register to vote for the May 20 primary is May 5.
LNP | LancasterOnline reporter Ashley Stalnecker contributed to this report.
