BETHLEHEM, Pa. — U.S. Rep. Susan Wild appears to have dominated the political spending in the Lehigh Valley's congressional race over the past three months, shelling out more than $5.4 million in her pursuit of a fourth term.
By comparison, Republican challenger Ryan Mackenzie spent $631,816 on his campaign since July, according to campaign finance reports released by the Federal Elections Commission.
The latest reports highlight Wild's financial muscle in the race for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District. Her campaign has spent about $6.9 million toward her re-election this cycle, documents show. Meanwhile, Mackenzie has mustered $956,177 toward winning one of the country's most competitive House districts.
Wild should have a financial edge heading into the final weeks of the race, too. As of Oct. 1, her campaign said it had $929,441 on hand for the campaign's closing month. Mackenzie's campaign reported having $307,039 remaining in its account, filings show.
Wild's spending was fueled by $2.58 million of new funding her campaign raised in the third quarter. Those funds came from thousands of sources detailed in her 3,076-page report, ranging from donations of as little as 95 cents from an Allentown resident to $5,000 contributions from political action committees protecting the interests of beet farmers and unions representing letter carriers and pipefitters, among others.
In a news release last week, the Wild campaign said that 93% of donations were less than $100 and that the average donation was $40. The $2.58 million figure was a record for her campaign, according to the release.
The vast majority of Wild's spending went toward television ads, according to the release. The Wild campaign paid Snyder Pickerall Media, a Chicago-based firm, $4.6 million to produce and place commercials.
Mackenzie, meanwhile, raised $375,726 over the past three months, according to his 273-page FEC filing. While Mackenzie had fewer supporters, on average he appeared to have deeper pockets. His backers included local developers Lou Pektor and Nat Hyman, former Northampton County judicial nominee Nancy Aaroe, and James Dieter, president of the local Dieter Brothers HVAC company. Each donated $1,000 to Mackenzie's campaign this quarter.
Other donors included PACs associated with conservative U.S. lawmakers from safe districts. Those include U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga. ($2,000); U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va. ($2,000); and U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky ($5,000).
A little more than half the money Mackenzie spent — $364,507 — went to American Media & Advocacy Group, an Alexandria, Va.- based media company, records show. The company has placed ads for former President Donald Trump and is affiliated with the larger National Media Research, Planning and Placement, a media company supporting conservative causes.
Both candidates have benefited from high-spending advocates. Mackenzie's messaging has been boosted by Americans For Prosperity Action, a political action committee backed by conservative super donor Charles Koch. While AFP Action hasn't disclosed its September spending yet, it spent more than $110,000 promoting Mackenzie in July and August, according to its monthly campaign finance reports.
Similarly, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a PAC organized by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has spent more than $61,000 this quarter on political messaging attacking Wild and supporting Mackenzie, records show. Johnson visited the Lehigh Valley last week in support of the Mackenzie campaign.
Both major parties and their political allies have busted the bank in recent years in their efforts to win PA-7. The district, which includes Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties plus a sliver of Monroe County, is one of about two dozen toss-up districts in the country. The winner could determine which party gains control of the House speaker's gavel in 2025.
The campaign finance transparency group OpenSecrets determined all candidates, parties and advocates spent a total of $34.3 million on the 2022 race between Wild and Republican challenger Lisa Scheller.
Mackenzie is far behind Scheller's 2022 fundraising pace of $6.2 million. Scheller, then the CEO of her family's international pigment company, sunk $2.4 million of her own money into that race. Mackenzie, a 12-year veteran state lawmaker, doesn't have the same deep pockets. Wild, meanwhile, has essentially matched her 2022 total of $6.9 million with a month still to go.
Despite Wild's apparent financial advantage, pollsters believe the race is still a close one.
An independent poll released last week found Wild had a 6-point lead over Mackenzie, but her lead matched the poll's margin of error. Wild said the results lined up with her internal polling; Mackenzie said his campaign believes the race is closer than 6% points.
