promoted his successes as mayor namely with the budget surplus and police expansion. Attempting to turn Heydt's talking points against him, Velazquez argued that a large budget surplus was a sign of sloppy accounting, over-taxation and under utilization of public services. He proposed rebating $4.7 million in municipal funds back to the taxpayers of the city. Heydt responded by proposing a tax cut. Velazquez also argued that despite the expansion of both personal and spending to the police department, Heydt had neglected the force by failing to reduce drug use in the city and to effectively combat the city's violent gangs. Heydt responded by pinning the blame on outgoing police chief John Stefanik and pointed out his close cooperation with the DEA to fight drug related crime. Additionally, Republican candidate Frey, who Heydt beat in the primary, attempted to run a Write-in campaign. Heydt would defeat Velazquez by a comfortable margin and pledged to return Allentown to its title of “Queen City” of Pennsylvania, after he takes a post-election vacation. Results Legacy Heydt was the first mayor since the 1920s to win re-election to a second term at the end of their first term. As of 2023, this would be the last mayoral election in Allentown that the Republican party would win. Mayor Heydt would again refuse re-election in 2001, but this time remained faithful to his promise. Following a Republican defeat in 2001 that saw Velazquez go on to be named the new Democratic mayor Roy Afflerbach's deputy mayor, Heydt would run for a third, albeit non-consecutive term in 2005 but was handily defeated by Ed Pawlowski. It is also statistically impossible for any other Allentown election to come as close as the singular vote difference between Tropiano and Velazquez. See also 1997 United States elections Mayors of Allentown, Pennsylvania References Allentown 1997 Allentown