[2] The Democratic primary was far more competitive, with the two front runners being former State Representative John Pressman, who lost a re-election bid in 1990 and sought to stage a political comeback, and veteran city councilwoman Emma Tropiano.

He proposed creating civilian sanitation teams led by volunteer "captains" that would patrol their neighborhoods cleaning them, as well as vowing to pass a more stringent anti-litter law.

Frey Jr. focused his campaign on reducing the real-estate tax, overhauling the Allentown School District and cutting the city's budget.

[1][6][7][8] Heydt largely performed a grass-roots campaign, targeting the general Allentown public instead of just Republican voters.

Pressman largely focused on increasing turnout for staunchly Democratic super-voters, and ran an overall more relaxed campaign compared to Heydt.