Who will fill the shoes of Lehigh DA?
Martin’s retirement offers Dems a chance at post held by GOP since ’60
No candidate has mounted a serious challenge to Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin during his record-setting tenure, so the news that he won’t seek reelection this year will undoubtedly let loose a flood of contenders.
For Democrats, it’s an opportunity to fill an office that has been held by Republicans since 1960. But the contender the Lehigh County Democratic Committee hoped to field, veteran attorney Gavin Holihan, took a job as Martin’s second-in-command early this month.
“Originally Gavin was supposed to run, until that happened,” said committee chair Lori McFarland, who attended inaugural festivities in Harrisburg on Tuesday and didn’t hear about Martin’s announcement until late in the day. “I’d like to see Gavin stay a Democrat and get him elected. We hadn’t really thought about anybody else.”
Holihan, however, said he will run as a Republican if he runs at all, adding he plans to announce his intentions Monday. As of Friday, no one from either party had announced a candidacy. The primary election is May 16, and prospective candidates can begin filing nomination petitions next month. Holihan, 56, has belonged to both parties over the years but said he has been a Republican “for quite some time.”
McFarland said Wednesday other potential Democratic contenders will certainly emerge, but she wasn’t aware of any on the verge of announcing.
Whoever the candidate might be, “We want someone with good character,” she said. “Someone with strong name recognition and somebody who will do right by law enforcement and by the people.”
Lehigh County Republican Committee chair Joe Vichot did not respond to requests for comment.
Martin, 77, the longest-serving DA in county history, was
appointed in 1998 by the Lehigh County commissioners to succeed Republican Robert Steinberg, who became a Lehigh County judge.
Steinberg succeeded another Republican — future Superior Court Judge William Platt — in 1991. Platt took office in 1976, succeeding Republican George Joseph, who had been elected in 1960.
Paul McGinley, a Democrat, held the office before that.
Martin won election to a full term in 1999 and has been reelected five times, most recently in 2019. After debating whether to seek another term, he decided it was time to step aside, he said Tuesday.
Martin faced only a handful of opponents over the years. In the 1999 race, Democrat Glennis Clark, a private defense lawyer and former assistant district attorney, challenged Martin but lost by more than 10,000 votes.
In 2011, Democrat Edward F. Koren, a former state police commander, entered the race. Martin handily defeated him with 65% of the vote. Democrat Jim Moreno, a defense attorney, challenged Martin in 2019 but withdrew from the race after a cancer diagnosis.