Often being engaged in inflammatory remarks and being blamed by the council for all the city's woes, including the falling through of a possible minor league baseball team, the Ottawa Lynx, relocating to Allentown.

Due to the hostility directed towards him, and the stress of having to run the city, Afflerbach chose to note seek re-election opening the door to a fresh slate of Democratic candidates.

Siobhan "Sam" Bennett, former first vice chair of the Lehigh County Democratic Party and former CEO of both the Women's Campaign Fund and She Should Run as well as a candidate for congress who ran on a tough on crime platform.

Another contentious issue would be Heydt's refusal to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day during his time as mayor, and Pawlowski vowed Affirmative action in the hiring of his cabinet if he was elected to better reflect the city's growing diversity.

Additionally, local landlord Michael Molovinsky would run an independent campaign, but was excluded from the main televised debate sponsored by the Morning Call and Muhlenberg College.