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Democrats won big in last November's state and local elections by promising to govern differently than Republicans in Washington. A few months into 2026, we're checking in on how that new leadership is doing. NPR's Stephen Fowler visited Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley and has this story.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: When Joshua Siegel won the race to be Lehigh County executive in November, with more than 60% of the vote, people took notice. Previous elections to choose the leader of the county, home to fewer than 400,000 people, had been much closer. The county sits in a congressional district that has flip-flopped support between parties lately, and the district sits in the presidential battleground of Pennsylvania. So it's no surprise that it was standing room only at the baseball park of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs late last month to hear his take on the state of the county.
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JOSHUA SIEGEL: This really is a packed house. It may not be baseball season here at IronPigs Stadium, but I got to tell you - we really filled the freaking parking lot. So...
FOWLER: There's nothing minor league about Joshua Siegel's vision for government. The 32-year-old is the youngest county executive in Pennsylvania history. At a time when there's a lot of talk about how state and federal government does and does not work for people, Siegel's looking to make waves at the municipal level.
SIEGEL: There hasn't been an administration in Lehigh County like this, really, like, ever. I certainly have a more expansive view of what county government or local government needs to do in this moment.
FOWLER: Since President Trump's return to office, there's been a pendulum swing away from the Republican Party and voters unhappy with the new status quo. That's led to a new crop of candidates like Siegel, happy to change things. And those new officials increasingly say Democrats aren't getting it done either.
SIEGEL: We need a Democratic party that wins by design, not by default. And I think we're in a dynamic right now where we win by default.
FOWLER: Siegel's specific vision for Lehigh County is ambitious, like calling for a 1% local option sales tax to fund things like housing and mental health programs.
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SIEGEL: Look, I know we can do all of this without sacrificing the things which we already do well.
FOWLER: But his State of the County address was equally a declaration of sorts about something bigger than the budget.
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SIEGEL: Democracy is messy, and disagreement is good. We cannot avoid difficult issues or difficult votes for the sake of comfort. We will not limit ourselves only to the lanes we've previously traveled. Our great system is alien.
FOWLER: In many ways, some of the most salient changes and challenges found in this current political environment are on display in Lehigh County. The decline of the steel industry gave way to a boom of manufacturing, technology and logistics companies that have flocked to the region midway between Philadelphia and New York City. A growing economy has led to a growing, diversifying population, including a surge in millennials and Latino residents. Still, there are growing pains.
HOWARD LIEBERMAN: Lehigh Valley is very, very Pennsylvania Dutch, and they're very, very set in their ways.
FOWLER: Howard Lieberman is a volunteer with the AARP who watched Siegel's address and used to work in economic development for the city of Bethlehem.
LIEBERMAN: While there's a younger generation coming up that has some ideas, like Josh says, changing the older generation is still going to be difficult.
FOWLER: The same malaise folks feel towards government in Washington hasn't magically disappeared just because Siegel and other newly elected Democrats took over in places across the country. There's concerns about housing affordability, cost of living and how to raise and spend tax revenue. Lieberman says Siegel brings a sense of urgency that matches the urgency that voters say those issues require.
LIEBERMAN: What's happening in the state and the federal level have an impact, but it's not an impact tomorrow. And no matter what happens there, it's not going to impact me for months down the road. What he does here can be a tomorrow thing.
FOWLER: There are a lot of tomorrow things on Siegel's plate, but he's also thinking about the future.
SIEGEL: Failure, to me, is not delivering on the way we talk about politics, the way we talk about solutions, not changing the culture and the discourse around what's possible.
FOWLER: That sort of bigger-picture ambition is not unique to Joshua Siegel and Lehigh County. Similar conversations are playing out in the Democratic Party across the country ahead of the midterms.
Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Allentown, Pennsylvania. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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