Sal Panto Jr.
Salvatore "Sal" Panto Jr. (born ?) is an American politician, businessman and current Mayor of Easton, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Panto is a native of Easton, Pennsylvania. He received a bachelor's degree from Kutztown University in 1973. Panto obtained a master's degree in administration in 1980 from Lehigh University.
In 1983, incumbent Republican Mayor Phil Mitman decided not to seek re-election. Panto was elected to succeed Mitman in November 1983. He would serve as Mayor to two consecutive from 1984 to 1992. He was defeated for re-election in the 1991 mayoral election by Republican Thomas F. Goldsmith.
Incumbent Mayor Phil Mitman once again decided against running for another term in 2007, just as he had in 1983. Once again, Panto entered the race to succeed Mitman. Panto won the Democratic nomination over Michael P. Fleck. He $40,000 for his campaign between June and October 2007. His Republican opponent in the race was Gary Bertsch, a relative newcomer to city politics who had moved to Easton in 2002. Panto defeated Bertsch handily by a wide margin of nearly 2-to-1. He was sworn into office on January 2, 2008.
He was re-elected to second consecutive, four-year term in November 2011, defeating Republican Mike Krill in a landslide with 2,513 votes to Krill's 607 votes.
In April 2012, it was reported that Panto was considering a candidacy for Northampton County executive in 2013. Incumbent County Executive John Stoffa had announced that he would not seek re-election. If Panto entered the race, he would face a crowded field, which could possibly include Bethlehem Mayor John B. Callahan and Former Pennsylvania state Rep. Rich Grucela.