ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Two of the Lehigh Valley’s major political party committees have turned to new leadership as the midterm elections shift into high gear.
Lehigh County Republican Committee Chair George Rivera and Northampton County Democratic Committee Chair Baron Vanderburg are tasked with mustering voters, assisting state and federal campaigns and promoting their parties’ messaging in local neighborhoods ahead of the consequential state and federal elections.
Next year, the two will help recruit candidates in local races such as school boards, county commissioners and township supervisors. The candidates they back have the potential to shift conversations about tax rates, development and policing across the Lehigh Valley.
Lehigh Valley Public Media spoke with the two about their goals and approaches to leading their local parties.
Baron Vanderburg
Vanderburg ousted longtime committee chair Matt Munsey in June following a series of poor results for Democrats in 2024. While Democrats bounced back strong in 2025 – Democrat Tara Zrinski won last year’s Northampton County executive race by nearly 20 points – the party’s rank-and-file felt a new direction was needed, Vanderburg said.
Vanderburg, a Palmer Township supervisor, said he is intent on building a more active Democratic committee that provides more ways to participate in local politics. Outrage about national issues often spurs people to get involved in their local parties, he said.
“The [passion] about national politics is what I think can cause a trickle to care about local politics,” he said.
It’s up to the local committee to give them an outlet for their motivation. The end goal isn’t just to convince them to volunteer to knock on doors or text campaign messages to voters, though that is important, he said. The goal is to remind local Democrats they’re part of a larger community with similar values, he said.
“There should be a party that people can refer to, to visit and to know who to go to when they have questions,” Vanderburg said.
The national Democratic Party has complicated that goal at times, he said. Despite President Donald Trump’s sinking approval ratings, opinion polls show voters hold the Democratic Party in similarly low regard.
Vanderburg believes the problem isn’t with the values of the Democratic Party itself, however. Marriage equality, opposing book bans and staying out of senseless wars are key planks of the party platform that are broadly popular, he said. It’s his goal to focus local voters on the policies that matter to them and what Democrats are doing on those fronts.
“I want to make sure that people can vote for Democrats with pride and not with fear,” Vanderburg said. “My goal is to make Democrats happy to be Democrats again.”
George Rivera
Meanwhile, Lehigh County Republican Committee voters rallied around Rivera this summer. Joe Vichot, the former chair, opted not to seek re-election after receiving a promotion at work.
While he praised Vichot’s work reconnecting with the party’s grassroots base in the region, Rivera said it’s his goal to widen the party’s tent. Allentown and its burgeoning Latino community present an opportunity for growth, he said.
The city’s voter registration figures overwhelmingly favor Democrats, but Rivera held himself and Vice-Chair Jacqueline Rivera as examples of people capable of engaging with the city’s Latino base. The goal is to be present in the community and showcase conservative values like community support and fiscal responsibility, he said.
Rivera’s team has already started efforts to recruit Republican candidates to run for city council, the Allentown School Board and the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners. The goal is to assemble a team that exhibits personal success, family values and financial literacy, the former Parkland School Board candidate said.
“We’ve just kind of left [Allentown] alone and focused on where we had an easier time of winning. Those days are over. Those days are over,” Rivera emphasized.
He acknowledged the 2026 election may not be the ideal time to start that effort. Election cycles tend to favor the party out of power, and President Donald Trump’s sinking approval ratings are creating strong headwinds against Republicans. Last year’s local elections and special elections in 2026 have seen Democrats overperform.
To address that, he’s been out knocking on doors armed with a message of stark contrasts. The Democratic Party is undergoing a sharp transition as politicians such as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani rise to prominence, he said.
It’s a strategy national leaders such as U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson have employed in recent weeks.
“Do you want to vote for the socialist or do you want to vote for the Republican? That was my message that was received very well while talking with independents and Democrats,” Rivera said.
Building the party infrastructure
Both Rivera and Vanderburg said one of their most pressing responsibilities was to get more people involved not just in campaigns but in the parties themselves.
In theory, local outreach is supposed to be driven at the precinct level. These local committee members, sometimes called precinct captains, serve as a resource and rallying point for the party in their neighborhoods. In addition, they get to vote for their committee chair and weigh in on who should appear on the ballot in special elections.
But it’s a far different picture in practice. Hundreds of these positions go unfilled every primary election, leaving committee officers to fill in the gaps. Chairs are empowered to make appointments to vacancies, but neither party has come close to filling every slot in recent years.
Rivera said he wants to change that. He viewed these positions as the lifeblood of the party. While priorities like fundraising and candidate recruitment are glaring needs, these precinct captain roles are too important to leave on the back burner.
“Anything short of having the committee completely filled would be a loss,” Rivera said.
Vanderburg stopped short of filling every position on the Northampton County Democratic Committee but agreed it needed far more attention. Precinct captains serve as a way for locals to learn more about the party or see it in practice. Leaving these spots empty is akin to leaving voters in the lurch, he said.
“We have an infrastructure that needs to be repaired,” Vanderburg said. “If you can ask somebody if they have a touch point with their local party and they know somebody in the Democratic Party, that will be a sign of success.”
