2005 Lehigh County Executive election

2005 Lehigh County Executive election
	November 8, 2005
County Executive before election; Jane Ervin; Republican	Elected County Executive ; Don Cunningham; Democratic

The 2005 Lehigh County Executive election was held on November 8, 2005. Incumbent Republican County Executive Jane Ervin ran for re-election to a second term. She narrowly defeated engineer Kevin Ryan in the Republican primary, winning 53-47 percent, and advanced to the general election, where she was opposed by former Bethlehem Mayor Don Cunningham, the Democratic nominee. Cunningham defeated Ervin in a landslide, winning 62 percent of the vote to Ervin's 38 percent, largely over voter frustration at a 70 percent property tax hike, enabling him to become the first Democratic County Executive in county history.^[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Don Cunningham, former Pennsylvania Secretary of General Services, former Mayor of Bethlehem^[2]

Results

Democratic primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Don Cunningham	11,782	99.73%
	Democratic	Write-ins	32	0.27%
Total votes			11,814	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Jane Ervin, incumbent County Executive^[4]
Kevin P. Ryan, consulting engineer, perennial candidate^[5]

Declined

Andy Roman, County Commissioner^[6]

Results

Republican primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jane Ervin (inc.)	7,104	53.13%
	Republican	Kevin P. Ryan	6,260	46.82%
	Republican	Write-ins	6	0.04%
Total votes			13,370	100.00%

General election

Results

2005 Lehigh County Executive election^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Don Cunningham	33,263	61.60%
	Republican	Jane Ervin (inc.)	20,721	38.37%
	Write-in		14	0.03%
Total votes			53,998	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

References

^ Hartzell, Dan (November 9, 2005). "Cunningham ousts Ervin". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. A1. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
^ Hartzell, Dan (March 6, 2005). "Cunningham joins race for Lehigh executive". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. B1. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
^ ^a ^b "MUNICIPAL PRIMARY - MAY 2005". Lehigh County Office of Voter Registration. 2005. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
^ Hartzell, Dan (December 9, 2004). "Ervin wants to lead Lehigh for second term". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. B1. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
^ Hartzell, Dan (May 6, 2005). "GOP challenger campaigns on the bottom line". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. B4. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
^ Hartzell, Dan (February 20, 2005). "Roman will not run for Lehigh executive". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. B4. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
^ "MUNICIPAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 2005". Lehigh County Office of Voter Registration. 2005. Retrieved July 9, 2025.

[1] Hartzell, Dan (November 9, 2005). "Cunningham ousts Ervin". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. A1. Retrieved July 10, 2025.

[2] Hartzell, Dan (March 6, 2005). "Cunningham joins race for Lehigh executive". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. B1. Retrieved July 10, 2025.

[primary_results-3] "MUNICIPAL PRIMARY - MAY 2005". Lehigh County Office of Voter Registration. 2005. Retrieved July 9, 2025.

[4] Hartzell, Dan (December 9, 2004). "Ervin wants to lead Lehigh for second term". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. B1. Retrieved July 10, 2025.

[5] Hartzell, Dan (May 6, 2005). "GOP challenger campaigns on the bottom line". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. B4. Retrieved July 10, 2025.

[6] Hartzell, Dan (February 20, 2005). "Roman will not run for Lehigh executive". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. B4. Retrieved July 10, 2025.

[7] "MUNICIPAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 2005". Lehigh County Office of Voter Registration. 2005. Retrieved July 9, 2025.

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