BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Incumbent Democrat Susan Wild and Republican challenger Lisa Scheller again drew sharp differences Friday in the final debate in their race for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District seat, including slight digs at each other.
But the hour-long event, hosted at the Univest Public Media Center by LehighValleyNews.com, avoided some of the more bitter rancor of earlier meetings between the two, as News Director Jen Rehill and political reporter Tom Shortell asked questions focused on top political issues.
- Candidates Susan Wild (D) and Lisa Scheller (R) faced off in the final debate before election day at the Univest Public Media Center, hosted by LehighValleyNews.com and Lehigh Valley Public Media
- The race is extremely tight and may influence which party holds the House of Representatives in Congress
- Candidates addressed questions about inflation, democracy, the Hispanic community and more
- Election day is Nov. 8
The race is a key for either party to win for control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
A recent poll from Muhlenberg College and The Morning Call newspaper of Allentown of 404 likely voters in the district found the two candidates were nearly dead even—47% for Wild and 46% for Scheller. Four percent of those polled said they still have not decided.
The poll also found a significant gender divide among voters, with men tending to prefer Scheller and women preferring Wild. Inflation remained the top issue for voters.
Wild is the former solicitor of Allentown.
Scheller is a Republican businesswoman and owner of aluminum pigmenting company Silberline Manufacturing and is a former Lehigh County commissioner.
The meetup is a rematch from the 2020 general election, where Wild bested Scheller by just over 14,000 votes for the seat, and is currently serving her second term. Redistricting since the prior election has shaken up the potential outcome.
Opening statements
Wild, in her opening statement, focused on her record, calling herself a “proud moderate” who grew up in a politically divided military family. She highlighted the divided nature of the district she represents and her record on mental health, manufacturing and addiction.
Despite her campaign ads, she emphasized what candidates say about what they have done as more important.
Scheller highlighted her having led her business since 1997 which faces challenges of inflation and foreign competition itself and mentioned her own prior struggle with addiction, pushing that she had a closeness to many of the current hot political issues.
“I know the problems that are being faced by the people in the district,” Scheller said.
Partisanism takes the stage
Right out of the gate, issues of political alignment came into focus. Scheller pointed to Wild’s alignment with the Democratic line when it came to her votes in congress. Wild’s votes were 100% in line with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi during the current term in congress, and 98% during the prior term.
Wild, in response, claimed she was among the top 13% when it comes to bipartisan representatives, which is a score given by the Lugar Center. She said that comes largely from work in legislation and amendments introduced and sponsored, rather than votes.
“Just as a member’s votes do not in any way reflect the actual work that is being done in congress to get bills to the floor,” she said.
Scheller, in contrast to Wild’s self-assigned identity as a moderate, claims to be a political outsider despite her prior position as county commissioner. She said that status comes from her votes while in the job, which she said were in contrast to the interests of the government and more in line with the concerns of the population, as well as being a job creator in the county.
When confronted on a former statement calling President Joe Biden a flawed man, Wild restated saying that everyone has flaws, and that the president has been put in a hard situation. She repeated her outspoken position on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which she called “botched.’” She says she speaks up when she doesn't think he's doing something right
"We are all flawed ... and I don't think everything he's done is perfect," said Wild.
A tense moment came when Scheller was confronted about her opinion of former President Donald Trump, who was issued a subpoena on the same day as the debate by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump did not renew the endorsement of Scheller he made in 2020.
Attempting to tie Wild, Pelosi and Biden to current inflation, which economists have largely tied to the effects of the pandemic, Scheller said policies pursued by Democrats including Wild are “crushing” the American dream.
“If you ask anybody, ‘Were we better off as Americans two years ago?’ I think anyone would agree, yes, we are better off than we were two years ago. I have one focus and one focus only, and that is that Susan Wild is given her retirement on Nov. 8, and that we get Pelosi out of the speaker's seat.”
Scheller pivoted away from making any direct comment about former President Trump.
Later in the debate, when asked directly about the Jan. 6 riot, she said anyone who committed a crime during that day should be prosecuted. She was then pushed further, asked if that included the former president.
“There’s due process for all of that, but what I said is nobody is above the law.”
Scheller, however, did not comment on whether she thought the former president committed a crime.
Inflation a top electoral issue
Later questions allowed candidates to answer rebuttals to one another, and the leading issue was inflation. When confronted about how prices are rising at the fastest rate in 40 years, candidates were asked what long-term policies they would implement to reverse the economic trend and avoid recession.
Neither candidate offered concrete policies, with Wild highlighting her record on attempting to lower costs on the job with support for legislation including Medicare’s new ability to negotiate some prescription drug prices.
Scheller claimed inflation was caused by Democratic party policies, such as tax credits for electric vehicles and spending by the federal government.
Wild, in her retort, highlighted the necessity of spending that took place during the pandemic, much of that having taken place or was formed during the Trump presidency. Wild also put a spotlight on Scheller’s company utilizing that spending in the form of paycheck protection loans during the pandemic that were granted under the Trump administration to support businesses’ ability to keep employees on payroll throughout the major shutdowns imposed in the wake of COVID-19.
“You can’t have it both ways,” Wild said.
And she highlighted that Scheller took $5 million in Paycheck Protection loans initiated under the Trump administration to ensure that jobs and businesses were retained.
“Even people who aren’t believers in big government agree that it couldn’t be done in any other way than by government,” Wild said.
Scheller claimed that current implementation of the “Green New Deal,” a wide-reaching set of policy proposals introduced in 2019 that has not received wide support or passage in Congress, is contributing to inflation.
The Biden administration has, however, passed the most significant federal action on climate in history with the Inflation Reduction Act, for which Wild voted.
Scheller, when discussing inflation, repeated her personal experience with issues facing people, such as addiction and business challenges related to inflation.
Effectiveness & conflicts of interest
When asked if she is an effective representative for the district, with moderators highlighting that only a single bill she sponsored was passed, Wild countered that she has had impact on and added amendments to bills that have been signed onto, such as one that stopped arbitrarily raising health costs, which have had bipartisan support.
Scheller was confronted about conflicts of interest as an owner of a business with an international workforce and reach.
Scheller was asked by moderators about potential conflicts of interest as not just an owner of a business here in the Lehigh Valley, but a business with two factories in China with a third in the works.
Her company employs about 150 people in Pennsylvania and hundreds more overseas. The globalization of her company away from the commonwealth has come under fire in ads by Wild’s campaign, which claims she shipped jobs to China.
In response, Scheller said she knows what it takes to sign a paycheck and claimed “the facts you have are wrong,” but said she knows China, and will be able to stand up to China.
She also claimed without specifics that Wild helped give billions of dollars in aid and technology to China and that she will donate her entire congressional salary to veterans causes. She accused Wild of being “soft on China.”
Abortion continues to be a hot issue
When asked if there should be a federal standard for abortion legislation, Scheller said she supports banning abortion, with exemptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. She said resources need to be made available to create an environment that “celebrates life” where women will choose to have children.
Additionally, she said she is opposed to a constitutional ban on abortion.
Scheller accused Wild of voting to legalize abortion “for any reason,” including “up to the minute” before a full-term birth.
Wild replied that these “partial-birth abortions” are a figment of “GOP imagination.” She said women should have full control over their own bodies, keeping outside control over one’s health away from the government, and highlighted the rhetoric of Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano as an example of this potential overreach.
Scheller in response said she’s “not sure which women’s women’s rights my opponent is trying to protect,” and brought up a case involving multiple cases of abuse in which Wild had an adjacent role as a defense attorney. The issue originally was brought up by Wild’s opponent in the 2018 election.
Wild said the alleged involvement was a complete falsehood, saying Scheller knows nothing about the lawsuits she was involved in, and claims were never proven, and that Scheller’s strategy is to rehash old hits from past elections, referring to her opponent as “Lyin’ Lisa.”
Wild was not involved in any case directly involving an alleged rape, but represented the corporation in which the assault took place in an insurance dispute adjacent to the case involving the healthcare professional liability policy of the company regarding the sexual abuse case.
The prior debate between the candidates hosted by WFMZ-TV at Muhlenberg College featured not only heated comments between the candidates, but also unruly disruptions from the crowd of more than 100 attendees. Tensions peaked over abortion, with both candidates claiming the other spouted extremism in the issue.
For this debate, each team was allowed to bring six audience members from her own team for the roughly 20-person crowd inside the studio. Meanwhile, outside on the grounds of the SteelStacks campus, a few dozen supporters gathered to rally for their candidate of choice.
DACA, immigration & Hispanic issues
When asked about immigration and the perilous status of the DACA program, the candidates agreed there should be empathy toward those brought to the United States as children.
Wild said at a time of increased workforce need there should be an easier pathway to legal citizenship for those in the United States connected to the program, and that oftentimes treatment by young people trying to immigrate has been shameful.
Scheller said immigration reform is needed, but we “absolutely” need to secure our border before any of that is done. She said legal immigration is a slow process because we are “overwhelmed” by the immigration at the southern border.
Wild, in a retort, highlighted her support under both Trump and Biden for strengthening border control funding and security efforts.
Scheller said, without citing examples, that Wild voted not to even discuss various crackdowns on drug smugglers and manufacturers. Despite saying “the tweet will be coming out in about five minutes,” no post addressing the issue appeared on Scheller’s account. The campaign instead pointed to a tweetpublished in response to their prior debate, which highlights votes by Wild in support of restricting direct presidential action on immigration restrictions, allowing expanded paths to permanent resident status for certain children and the build back better act, as well as her party line vote for considering certain bills.
Lehigh County has the largest population of Latino residents in the commonwealth, and many in the community have complained they only hear from candidates around elections.
Scheller said one of her district offices will be in downtown Allentown to make herself accessible to the community. She said the “beautiful” Hispanic population of Allentown “want family values, and family values are Republican values.”
Wild said she would grade herself a “B to a B+” in her work for the Latino population. She said her office, which is in downtown Allentown, has two caseworkers who speak fluent Spanish to better communicate with, assist and listen to those in the local Hispanic community. Still, Wild admitted she has room for improvement.
Gun violence and control a continuing national debate
Candidates were asked two questions about gun issues. The first was focused on whether the candidates supported expanding gun control of any kind.
“I don’t think the vast majority of gun owners are our problem,” Wild said. “Our problem is when guns, often illegal, get into the hands of bad actors. That’s what we have to prevent.”
Wild said there needs to be an expansion of background checks for violence and red flag laws so people with a propensity for violence are not able to buy firearms
Scheller admitted gun violence is a serious issue, and highlighted a recent shooting of a teen in Allentown and gun violence in Philadelphia despite restrictions on guns within the city. She emphasized supporting law enforcement as a means to curb gun crime, and highlighted endorsements her campaign received from law enforcement groups.
Scheller did not answer whether she would have voted for the gun safety legislation signed into law earlier this year, but said that “due process” needs to be taken before someone gets a firearm.
Both candidates said law-abiding citizens should not have guns taken away, though they differed when asked further about AR-15-style guns and banning them for those under the age of 21.
Scheller said it would be penalizing those in the military, who can serve before the age of 21 and use those weapons.
Wild said no person under the age of 21 should use a “weapon of war” that is often used in mass shootings.
Civility in Politics
Both campaigns have been the subject of and source of attack ads at each other. The candidates were asked whether they believed their campaigns contributed to the divisiveness that has been “tearing at our country.”
Scheller said Wild came out negative “right out of the box” and “all I can do is fight back and stand up for what is right.” She pointed to issues she believes Wild is not addressing in her campaign, such as crime, inflation, immigration and opioids.
Wild said she hates divisive political advertising but that “what my campaign has done is try to inform better about facts about my opponent. I think it is critical that people understand those facts. People need to understand that my opponent has closed factories in the U.S., in Pennsylvania.”
She said Scheller is in partnership with the Chinese government and has changed positions on the issue of abortion over the past year.
“Congresswoman Wild has never created a job,” Scheller retorted. She said she and her family have been creating jobs in Pennsylvania since 1963.
“My opponent has created great jobs in China,” Wild said, echoing her political ads.
Pennsylvania Voters focusing on Preserving Democracy
Near the end of the debate, candidates were asked about the Jan. 6 riot and concerns about democracy that have been present in political discourse since the drama surrounding the outcome of the 2020 election.
Bringing into focus the subpoena issued to Trump earlier in the day, Scheller was asked how she would describe events of Jan. 6.
Scheller said it was a terrible day where everyone suffered, and that everyone who committed a crime that day should be prosecuted—as should those who committed crimes during the protests against racial justice and over policing in summer 2020 and resulted in property damage or violence. She said people are looking forward to law enforcement and current issues instead.
“There’s due process for all of that, but what I said is nobody is above the law,” Scheller said, when pushed on whether that could encompass Trump if the former president was found guilty of a crime.
Continuing on issues of crime, Scheller brought up that Wild was the solicitor for a mayor—former Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski—who now is serving a 15-year prison sentence.
Wild in turn called Jan. 6 a tragic day for the country and its democracy. She highlighted Scheller’s adjacency to those who were present at the riot, such as gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano and Scheller’s former campaign director Steve Lynch.
Wild said she helped with the investigation and prosecution of the former mayor.
Scheller said she found it hard to believe that Wild did not know what was going on with the mayor's office and said people who worked on her campaign in contrast “are not in jail.” Scheller went on to tie Wild to U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman’s prison reform stances, which she said would be ill-advised when there is “such a bad crime issue.”
Asked about the state of democracy broadly, Wild said democracy is the “best thing about living in this country, but I do worry about it, yes,” and that it is something that is “a choice we have to make every day.”
Scheller agreed that democracy is at risk, saying we need “one person, one vote” and that she supports policies such as Voter I.D., criticizing Wild’s support of legislation like H.R.1.
Wild said she has no objection to Voter I.D. as long as people who don’t have a driver's license are able easily to get an alternative identification.
“We need to make sure that we have credible elections,” Scheller said, highlighting issues over undated mail-in ballots in Lehigh County during the prior election. Scheller said she wants to make it “easy to vote, impossible to cheat.”
Wild said the district does a really good job on elections and said the H.R.1 legislation is valuable due to its potential impact on so-called “dark money” in politics, from where many attack ads are sourced.
Final Questions: War in Ukraine, Housing Affordability
Candidates were questioned on whether continued support for the war in Ukraine was sustainable and whether they supported the action taken and the billions of dollars spent in support.
They agreed there should be oversight and accountability to the spending, that Putin’s action should not be left unchecked and the United States is right in its support in Ukraine.
Scheller said Putin is a “thug” emboldened by the chaotic pullout of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, and that the U.S. should stand strong to prevent other nations such as China from seeing similar opportunities. She highlighted low strategic oil reserves in the United States as something that needs to be addressed.
Bringing it more local, the candidates were asked a final question about housing affordability, a complex problem brought on in part by the population growth in the Lehigh Valley.
Wild said she has been able to bring back ideas being enacted in public housing and from nonprofit and other groups in the Valley to Washington, and that partnership is needed between all levels of government, from local to federal.
Scheller said the American dream is owning a home or having a safe apartment with opportunity for good education, and things such as inflation and immigrants benefiting from taxpayer-funded programs make it harder to make that a reality.
Wild responded that the American dream is being lost because of outsourcing to China and worries of people losing their healthcare to a right-leaning Congress and policies allowing heightened costs of drugs such as insulin.
Closing Statements
Wild said Pennsylvania's District 7 is the best place she’s ever lived. She said life has not always been great for everyone all the time here—COVID-19 is just an example of that—but government action during her term has been able to help make sure people got what they needed during that time.
Scheller, in contrast, highlighted how communities are struggling.
“These are big problems, we can solve these problems,” she said, highlighting her work in the nonprofit sector helping people recover from addiction and working as a female CEO in a male and foreign dominated field. She called to fight inflation, get rid of crime and improve the economy.
You can watch the debate in its entirety here.
Read further election coverage by LehighValleyNews.com here.
