HELLERTOWN, Pa. — The U.S. House's leading lawmakers each visited the Lehigh Valley Thursday in a bid to sway voters in the region's congressional race, a seat that could carry national implications.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., stumped for state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie an hour before Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., campaigned for U.S. Rep. Susan Wild.
Wild and Mackenzie are locked in a tight race for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District. Political observers list it as one of about two dozen toss-up House seats in the country. With control of the House up for grabs, the winner could determine which party gets to set the legislative agenda in 2025.
The razor-thin margins have led both parties to invest in political messaging and sending VIPs to get face time with the candidates here in the region. Johnson fundraised for Mackenzie in the district earlier this year, and U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar, the chair of the Democratic House Caucus, campaigned for Wild in Allentown Wednesday.
Both parties have poured millions of dollars into advertising this year; while official campaign finance reports are not yet due, it's been one of the country's most expensive House races in recent years.
A vision for a stronger GOP House
Johnson energized the Steel Club's sunlit ballroom full of about 150 supporters shortly after 1 p.m. He described himself as "a messenger hope" as he shared his vision of a more secure Republican majority in the House — a vision that included swearing Mackenzie in as the Lehigh Valley's new congressman.
“Pennsylvania is one of the most important states in America. What happens here, what happens in this district, is not just for the people here,” Johnson said. “I am not overstating it. Pennsylvania is going to help us determine the outcome of this election.”
At the heart of that victory is a more diverse Republican Party, Johnson said. He expressed confidence that the GOP will be able to peel Jewish, Black and Hispanic voters away from Democrats to deliver the House and White House to conservatives. Vice President Kamala Harris is losing ground with those demographics — along with members of organized labor — compared to President Joe Biden, he said.
“What I’m so excited about is we're getting reinforcements. The cavalry is coming over the hill. I’m not going to have a one-seat majority anymore,” Johnson said.
Mackenzie, he said, is the right candidate to carry the Lehigh Valley to be part of that sea change. Johnson pointed to Mackenzie’s family ties to the Lehigh Valley, his record in the state legislature, and his “workhorse” style.
"He has demonstrated that he knows how to get things done and to represent the interest of his people," Johnson said of Mackenzie
The two focused their comments on the cost of living, border security and the growing intensity of global conflicts.
They placed the blame for all three squarely at the feet of Wild, Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats. Mackenzie, they said, represented a break from those failed policies.
“Our slogan for today's rally is ‘a time for change’..."State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie
“Our slogan for today's rally is ‘a time for change’ because we know we have the greatest country in the world, but we have elected officials in Washington D.C. who are making bad decisions for our country and our communities. And the only way to get that change is by going out and voting in November,” Mackenzie said.
During his speech, Johnson repeated a once-fringe conspiracy theory that Democrats are intentionally encouraging immigration to gain an electoral edge.
“[Democrats] have opened the border wide, and y'all, they did it intentionally,” he said. “They wanted to turn these people into voters, and they're going to try to do that this time around in some places where we're going to fight the fraud.”
There is no evidence that non-citizens in the U.S. vote or attempt to vote in meaningful numbers.
Election rights
Meanwhile, Jeffries joined Wild and about 30 elected officials and Democratic supporters at Greater Shiloh Church in Easton for a roundtable conversation on election rights.
He praised Wild for her dedication toward her constituents and the community, calling her a good friend to himself and the caucus.
"Each and every day that she's in Washington, she just fights hard for the people that she serves," Jeffries said.
A roundtable of Jeffries, Wild and members of the Shiloh congregation spoke for about an hour about the privilege of voting and the need to protect it. Jeffries said that passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would become a top priority for Democrats if they can retake the House. The bill would restore portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required states with a history of voter discrimination to receive federal approval on their district maps.
"As horrible as September 11 was, I literally felt the same way on January 6 as I felt then."Sharon Levy, chair of the Northampton County Elections Commission
Many of the speakers at Shiloh said their parents and grandparents had marched and fought to secure their own voting rights, and they recognized the fragility of democracy. Sharon Levy, the chair of the Northampton County Elections Commission, recounted the terror she felt watching insurrectionists storm the Capital Building in a bid to overturn the 2020 election.
"As horrible as September 11 was, I literally felt the same way on January 6 as I felt then. Except the terrorists were not from without, the terrorists were from within," she said.
Wild shared her own experience in the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021, and the panic she felt as Capitol Police barricaded the House chamber so representatives could safely evacuate. Due to COVID-19 social distancing, she and other members were seated in the House's more exposed gallery. As a result, she was one of the last lawmakers evacuated before insurrectionists breached the room, Wild said.
"People were making those kinds of phone calls that you imagine making on planes that are going down," she said.
Jeffries praised Wild for her commitment to upholding democratic norms and her willingness to follow through and certify the election results despite the assault. They both recalled their incredulity as many of their Republican colleagues went from sheltering from the mob in the bowels of the Capitol to trying to decertify the 2020 election results.
This came even though many of those same lawmakers won re-election on the same ballots they were protesting, they said.
Wild and Jeffries put Mackenzie in the same category as those lawmakers. Mackenzie and other state House Republicans followed Trump's party line by working to overturn the will of Pennsylvania voters, they said. Mackenzie voted for a resolution calling on then Gov. Tom Wolf to vacate the election results and joined an amicus brief challenging the election due to disputes over mail-in ballots.
"It's very harmful to the fabric of our society. You have an election denier, as a matter of fact, running as a Republican candidate in the 7th Congressional District," Jeffries said.
Stephanie Kasulka contributed to this report.
