BETHLEHEM, Pa. — U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie has barely been in office for 100 days, yet fundraising efforts for the Lehigh Valley's next congressional race are well underway.
Campaign finance reports filed last week with the Federal Election Commission show Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, raised more than $673,000 toward his re-election campaign between January and March.
After expenditures, he has $615,883 on hand, according to his report.
Mackenzie's 497-page campaign finance report shows that significant portions of hi financial backings come from House Republicans gearing up to protect one of the most competitive U.S. House seats in the nation.
The freshman congressional lawmaker's largest donor was Grow the Majority, a political action committee affiliated with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana. The PAC transferred $139,803 to Mackenzie's main campaign committee in the last quarter.
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie's campaign finance demonstrates that House Republicans are gearing up to protect one of the most competitive U.S. House seats in the nation.
Another large transfer came from Defend the Majority, a PAC acting as a consortium of GOP-associated PACs tied to several U.S House races, including ones without official Republican candidates yet. Defend Our Majority donated $92,544 to Mackenzie's main committee.
In a sense, Mackenzie proved to be one of his biggest backers. The Mackenzie For Congress Committee, his main campaign entity, received more than $12,000 from Mackenzie For America. That PAC is a a joint fundraising committee he formed with the National Republican Congressional Committee and Maintaining American Competitiveness, a third Mackenzie-affiliated political action committee.
The NRCC and Maintaining American Competitiveness donated directly to Mackenzie as well, building his coffers another $5,000 and $4,500, respectively.
Individual donors
Most of Mackenzie's individual donors came from outside the district, including $7,000 from billionaire Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal.
Local donors included Air Products through its PAC ($5,000), Yocco's Hot Dogs owner Gary Iacocca ($1,000) and former Upper Macungie Township Supervisor Kathy Rader ($250).
Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District is coveted political real estate. Thanks to its toss-up status, leaders of both political parties have funneled millions of dollars into the race since 2020.
The three races since then have been decided by 3 points or less, including Mackenzie's 1-point victory over Democratic incumbent Susan Wild in November. That race saw the candidates and their allies spend more than $38 million on the campaign.
Early signs suggest next year's campaign will be another hotly contested one.
McClure fundraising
Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, a Democrat, officially launched his campaign for the district in February.
Carol Obando-Derstine, a former PPL official who previously worked for former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, is expected to announce her entry into the Democratic primary in the weeks ahead.
In a little over a month, McClure raised $142,264 toward his campaign. After expenses, he finished the quarter with $86,120, according to his 58-page report.
The biggest cash infusion into McClure's campaign was a $24,000 loan he made to his campaign. His political action committee for his local campaigns, Lamont G. McClure 4 Exec, donated another $1,000.
McClure, who's enjoyed union support during his campaigns for county office, also secured $10,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and $5,000 from the International Union of Operating Engineers.
It appears that out-of-state donors have largely held off on donations with a primary battle looming. Most of McClure's donors to date have been Pennsylvania residents.
His early backers include developers Abe Atiyeh and Michael Perucci ($3,500 each); state Rep. Tim Brennan, D-Bucks, ($1,000); and former Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez's political action committee ($1,000).
Obando-Derstine has not officially launched her campaign, so she is not required to file a campaign finance report.
PA-7 represents Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties as well as a portion of Monroe County.
