Democrats Choose Callahan For Executive

Northampton County Democrats appear to have chosen Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan as their pick for the next county executive.

Unofficial results from the county election office showed Callahan leading challengers Glenn Reibman, the former executive, and county Councilman Lamont McClure.

Results from WFMZ had Callahan winning 50 percent of the vote with 82 percent of precints reporting.

Callahan will face Republican John Brown in this year's general election. Brown, the mayor of Bangor, had no opposition for his party's nomination. The winner will replace John Stoffa, who is not seeking re-election.

All three Democratic candidates had campaigned on platforms that stressed economic development and the need to keep Gracedale—the county-owned nursing home—in public hands.

McClure had said his record on council and his work as one of the prime opponents of the Gracedale sale made him the best choice to continue that fight as executive.

Reibman had asked voters to let him finish the work he started as executive, a job he held from 1998 to 2005.

And Callahan had run on the progress Bethlehem has made during his tenure, saying the city had added 5,000 jobs and attracted billions of dollars in investment.