Four Bethlehem City Council seats are up for election this year, and seven people are running to fill them, setting up a competitive primary election this May.
Two incumbents are running for reelection — Hillary Kwiatek and Rachel Leon are both seeking a second term. City Council member Kiera Wilhelm did not file to run again, nor did two-term Council member Grace Crampsie Smith, who is challenging Mayor J. William Reynolds in the Democratic mayoral primary.
Here are the candidates for Bethlehem City Council, including six Democrats and one Republican. The primary election is May 20.
Incumbents
Hillary Kwiatek
Kwiatek is a marketing and communications director at Lehigh University. She is chair of the council parks and recreation committee and liaison to the Bethlehem Housing Authority. She has also been a member of the city’s Democratic Committee since 2005.
As a council member, she has broken with the rest of City Council to vote against the sale of police handguns to retiring officers, saying that the city should not be in the business of selling weapons.
Rachel Leon
Leon is Bethlehem City Council’s vice president. She is a Navy veteran and longtime resident of and advocate for the city’s South Side neighborhood. She is chair of the council public safety committee and council liaison to the Bethlehem Area Public Library board.
Newcomers
Celeste Dee
Celeste Dee is the owner of political consulting firm Advantage PEP. Before moving to Bethlehem around 12 years ago, she worked for several corporations in New York, including the Federal Reserve, Capital One and NBC Universal, before pivoting careers to become a political consultant for Democratic campaigns.
She ran for City Council in 2023, losing in the Democratic primary by just 50 votes to the third-place vote getter, Bryan Callahan.
Jo Daniels
Daniels is running for her first term on City Council. She is backed by Esther Lee, longtime Bethlehem community advocate and director of the Bethlehem NAACP, and Wandalyn Enix, a former Bethlehem Council member who was the first Black person to serve on the board.
She has spoken at City Council meetings asking city officials to better enforce city ordinances on building maintenance issues and landlord/tenant concerns.
Justin Amann
Amann is a lifelong Bethlehem resident and director of theater at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, according to a news release from his campaign. He also is executive director of the Foundation for the Bethlehem Area School District. In a news release, Amann said that he looks forward to “visiting my neighbors and learning about their needs and the vision they have for the city and its leaders.”
Tina Cantelmi
Cantelmi is a Bethlehem native and professional writer and artist. She is a former columnist for The Morning Call who has also written for publications including Women’s Wear Daily, and runs a small public relations firm, Tina Bradford PR. Her firm has led communications efforts for the Judith Adele Agentis Education Fund, the Palliative Care Fellowship at St. Luke’s University Health Network and the Bethlehem for Unique Neighborhoods initiative, made up of neighbors of the First Presbyterian Church opposed to its plan to build 200 units of affordable housing on its property in northeast Bethlehem.
Joseph F. Poplawski
As the only Republican to file to run for Bethlehem City Council, Poplawski’s name is likely to appear on the ballot in November, barring any challenges to his candidate petitions. He has not yet launched a visible campaign.
