GOP’s Caffrey, Capehart lead in 6-way Lehigh County judge race
Republicans Tom Caffrey and Tom Capehart held on to solid leads in the six-way race for three seats on Lehigh County Court after mail-in votes were added to the tally early Wednesday.
The race for the third seat, however, may now come down to the processing and counting of provisional ballots. Republican David Ritter’s margin over Democrat Zachary Cohen narrowed to only 0.06% with the addition of the mail-in ballots. Ritter, who holds a 124-vote advantage, said he was cautiously optimistic but would wait for the provisional ballots to be counted later this week. Cohen did not return a call Wednesday
Caffrey led the pack with more than 18% of votes cast while Capehart received 17%. Ritter received 16.73% and Cohen had 16.67%. Democrats Maraleen Shields and Rasheed Santiago received 16% and 15% of the vote, respectively.
The new judges will take seats vacated by two seasoned criminal court judges who retired last year and a civil and family court judge whose term expires at the end of this year. In January they will join a 10-judge bench working through a backlog of cases caused by the 15-month halt in jury trials as the Lehigh County Courthouse largely closed to the public during the pandemic.
When jury trials resumed in June, priority was given to criminal defendants in jail and then criminal cases in general, so a backlog of civil cases remain. In August, Lehigh County had more than 2,300 pending cases.
Ritter said he was humbled and honored to have been elected and thanked voters and his volunteers for their support. He said his fellow candidates ran respectful races focused on qualifications and issues.
“After nearly 25 years of practicing law as a courtroom attorney, I look forward to the opportunity to serve the residents of Lehigh County as a judge,” Ritter said.
Caffrey said he was pleased with the election result and said that voters had six very strong candidates to choose between.
He said the Republican candidates had the advantage of strong turnout by their party’s voters Tuesday.
Caffrey, 59, of Whitehall Township, is Lehigh County’s top legal officer and has served as a lawyer for the county in different roles for 33 years. As solicitor, Caffrey oversees a staff of 13 and advises county administrators on legal matters. He has also worked as a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office, an assistant solicitor and a juvenile master, presiding over juvenile delinquency and dependency cases. Additionally, Caffrey has also practiced law privately with law firms Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba and Norris McLaughlin & Marcus handling insurance defense, product liability and business matters.
Capehart, 57, of Upper Milford Township, is a partner at Gross McGinley in Allentown and has practiced law in Lehigh County for 32 years. He has handled a broad range of civil law matters and litigation in Pennsylvania courts and has also represented clients in U.S. Bankruptcy Court throughout the state.
Ritter, 50, of Lower Macungie Township, is a criminal defense lawyer with a private law practice in Allentown who has handled cases ranging from minor drug offenses to largescale financial fraud and capital murder. Ritter served for more than seven years in the Lehigh County district attorney’s office, where he was head of the juvenile division and rose to chief deputy district attorney. He also worked in the Lehigh County public defender’s office and continues to represent indigent defendants as a part-time public defender.
Shields, 43, of South Whitehall is an attorney at Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba, where she is the first person of color to become a shareholder and a member of the firm’s health care and litigation and trial practice groups.
Cohen, 44, of Upper Macungie Township, is a partner at Lesavoy Butz & Seitz where he conducts business and general litigation and represents stakeholders in company mergers and acquisitions. In addition to his work as a litigator, Cohen served for 15 years as an arbitrator in state and federal court and represented children in juvenile court.
Santiago, 37, of Allentown, is a magisterial district judge whose court covers parts of Center City and west Allentown, where he has served since 2014.