U.S. Rep Susan Wild D-7th District.. (Photo courtesy Wild campaign)
U.S. Rep. Susan Wild (D-7th District) conceded her bid for reelection Tuesday, as her GOP challenger, state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Lehigh) appeared poised to win the race with a lead of 50.7% to 49.3%. The Associated Press had not yet called the race as of 9 a.m. Wednesday.
“There is no sugarcoating it: This is a bitterly disappointing outcome,” Wild said in a statement Wednesday morning. “In a moment, I am going to talk about how our fight — for reproductive rights, for affordable health care, for equality, for a clean and safe planet — can and must endure.
But first, it is of utmost importance that I first state what should be obvious: I lost this election, and my opponent won. I congratulate my opponent on winning this seat, and I am going to do everything to ensure a smooth transition, because the people of this district deserve nothing less.”
Wild had vastly outraised Mackenzie throughout the campaign, with her strongest fundraising quarter to date over the last three months. In the third quarter, Wild raised four times more than Mackenzie, according to campaign finance results.
The Lehigh Valley-based congressional district is widely viewed as the best bellwether of the 17 seats in the state’s delegation.
In other Pennsylvania U.S. House races, Republican Brian Fitzpatrick (R-1st District) beat Democratic challenger Ashley Ehasz, who was making her second bid to oust the incumbent who was seeking his fifth term in the suburban Philadelphia district. Fitzpatrick was the only Republican member of the state’s Congressional delegation to represent a district that Democrat Joe Biden won in 2020 over Donald Trump.
The race between incumbent Republican Scott Perry and Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District was still too close to call on Wednesday morning.
So was the race in the 8th Congressional District between incumbent Democrat Matt Cartwright, who faced a challenge from businessman Rob Bresnahan. The GOP challenger held a slight lead Wednesday morning according to unofficial tallies, and had declared victory on Tuesday night, but the AP has yet to call the race as of publication.
Democratic incumbent Chris Deluzio (D-17th District) defeated state Rep. Rob Mercuri (R-Allegheny), according to unofficial results, holding on to the southwestern Pennsylvania seat. Also in the southwest, incumbent Summer Lee easily won reelection over GOP challenger James Hayes in District 12, after a bruising April primary that was one of the most closely watched in the country.
There were few other surprises in the rest of Pennsylvania’s U.S. House races, with incumbent Democrats Brendan Boyle (2nd District); Dwight Evans (3rd District); Madeleine Dean (4th District); Mary Gay Scanlon (5th District); Chrissy Houlahan (6th District) and incumbent Republicans Dan Meuser (9th District); Lloyd Smucker (11th District); John Joyce (13th District); Guy Reschenthaler (14th District); Glenn “GT” Thompson (15th District) and Mike Kelly (16th District) all projected to win reelection.
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