ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Two Republicans hoping to represent the Lehigh Valley in the nation’s capital stopped in Allentown again Friday, the latest in a series of cameos by politicians.
Dave McCormick urged voters at two grocery markets to opt for “change versus the status quo” and support his bid to oust three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
“If people want change in this country, if they want to rein in inflation, close the borders, I am that candidate for change."State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie
And state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie called himself the “candidate for change” as he looks to flip the U.S. House seat held by Democratic Rep. Susan Wild since 2019.
“If people want change in this country, if they want to rein in inflation, close the borders, I am that candidate for change,” Mackenzie told LehighValleyNews.com.
“Susan Wild has had an opportunity for six years, and she has failed on all these policy fronts.”
Mackenzie on Friday said inflation and illegal immigration are the most important issues in his race.
He argued the Biden-Harris administration’s economic policies are the “single largest contributing factor” that has “driven prices up in this country.”
Mackenzie said he has a track record of “not only never voting for a tax increase but actually reducing and eliminating taxes [and] putting more money back into people’s pockets.”
“Everybody is struggling with high prices; we heard it back at this store,” he said, referring to his conversation with El Mercadito’s owner.
“We need to change,” he said. “We also know that Susan Wild has voted for 100 percent of Bidenomics.”
Mackenzie said he's confident that message is resonating with Lehigh Valley voters, with the race under a national spotlight.
“There are only a small number of swing districts in the entire country — this is one of them,” he said. “We're glad that people are tuning in, and, again, I think we're going to get great results in November.”
The Republican candidates’ quick stops at El Mercadito and the 8th Street Food Market had about as many potential voters as campaign staff and media members.
'The American dream's at risk'
McCormick is again looking to claim a seat in U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania after falling short with his bid in the 2022 primary.
He said he’s “spent a lot of time everywhere” in Pennsylvania since announcing his campaign last fall.
“But I've spent a lot of time here because it's … a huge pool of voters and this is a part of the commonwealth where you have lots of different, varied communities," McCormick told LehighValleyNews.com outside of El Mercadito.
"Lots of minority communities who are desperately seeking the American dream. The American dream is at risk.”
McCormick said he’s running “to try to make a difference for Pennsylvania.”
McCormick called himself an “outsider,” “business leader” and someone who “put his life on the line for his country” as a West Point graduate and paratrooper in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division.
“If you want the status quo, you should vote for Bob Casey,” he said. “Everything ever seen should lead you to conclude that you will get more of the same.”
Zoraida Buxó, Puerto Rico’s shadow senator in the U.S Senate, tagged along on McCormick and Mackenzie’s quick campaign stop in Allentown.
“I came here to tell my fellow Puerto Ricans and my fellow Hispanic brothers and sisters that we have to change the path that this country has taken, and the only way to change that is to change the people that are right now in the White House."Zoraida Buxó, Puerto Rico's shadow senator
She’s backing both Republicans and former President Donald Trump in his race against Vice President Kamala Harris and flew to Allentown to stump for them Friday.
“I came here to tell my fellow Puerto Ricans and my fellow Hispanic brothers and sisters that we have to change the path that this country has taken," Buxó said.
"And the only way to change that is to change the people that are right now in the White House.”
Buxó said she hopes her endorsement has special importance in Allentown, where more than half of all residents are Hispanic, many with Puerto Rican heritage.
Shadow senators
As Puerto Rico’s shadow senators, Buxó and Melinda Romero Donnelly have no voting power in the U.S. Senate.
Only Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., have shadow senators and representatives in Congress.
Those congressional members are tasked with petitioning their voting colleagues for statehood.
The Southwest Territory — now Tennessee — Michigan, California, Minnesota, Oregon and Alaska all had shadow senators until they attained statehood.
Shadow senators and representatives are different from shadow delegates from the Cherokee Nation and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, who seek to become non-voting members of the U.S. House.
The District of Columbia also has a non-voting representative who sits on U.S. House committees and can introduce legislation.
