ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Democratic Rep. Susan Wild has conceded to GOP challenger Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District — one of the country’s most-watched House races this year.
Wild congratulated Mackenzie without mentioning him by name, calling the result a “bitterly disappointing outcome” in a Wednesday morning tweet.
With 99% of votes counted, Mackenzie led Wild 50.7% to 49.3% as of 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, per unofficial AP results.
A 12-year Pennsylvania state legislator, Mackenzie, 42, campaigned on his record of fiscal conservatism in the Pennsylvania House and painted Wild, 67, as a phony moderate who talks like a centrist, but votes the party line with progressive Democrats.
Mackenzie declared victory at his election watch party around 1 a.m. Wednesday, calling his “a great night for the Lehigh Valley.”
“The premise of this campaign was that we were being failed by Susan Wild, and we needed to bring real change,” Mackenzie said. “That is what we did tonight, and thank you to the voters of the congressional district of PA-07!”
In turn, Wild campaigned on abortion rights and erroneously charged her opponent with supporting a federal abortion ban.
Mackenzie also benefited from Wild’s extensive history of causing controversy this campaign cycle. She’s doxxed senators on Facebook, insulted her own constituents, and even hired an actor to play a police officer in her campaign ad, passing him off as a real-deal cop.
In addition to her quirky controversies, Wild has also sent mixed messages about where she stands on the Israel-Hamas war and had her car booted near the Capitol in DC after racking up hundreds of dollars in fines from parking violations — including parking in a handicapped spot.
Centered in the Lehigh Valley region, Cook Political Report rated the 7th District race a toss-up. The district covers parts of four eastern Pennsylvania counties: Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Monroe.
