BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Democratic candidates running in the Lehigh Valley's hyper-competitive congressional race will appear on PBS39-TV next week in a series of one-on-one interviews.
The five-part series, "PA-7 Talks," will feature former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure and energy engineer Carol Obando-Derstine speaking at length about some of the biggest issues of the day.
The candidates will discuss issues including the economy, immigration policy and their governing philosophies."PA-7 Talks"
They'll discuss issues including the economy, immigration policy and their governing philosophies.
The fourth candidate for the 7th House seat, firefighter union boss Bob Brooks, initially agreed to appear on the program but later cancelled. His campaign did not respond to requests to reschedule.
To date, the four have staked out similar political stances on the campaign trail and instead relied on endorsements and their personalbackgrounds to differentiate themselves.
The "PA-7 Talk" format gave candidates a chance to flash their policy bona fides with more time than a debate format typically allows.
Some daylight emerges on issues
For example, some daylight began to emerge among Crosswell, McClure and Obando-Derstine when pressed on how they would address the economy.
Americans soured on the Biden administration in part because of the rising cost-of-living, and those complaints have continued into the President Donald Trump's second term.
McClure focused on reversing many of Trump's signature policies, including repealing across-the-board tariffs and ending the conflict in Iran.
Those unforced errors, McClure said, have sent prices for basic amenities skyrocketing when Americans can least afford it.
"Not only is Trump making our lives more expensive, his tariffs have caused our groceries to go up," he said. "They've caused our cost of housing to go up."
While Obando-Derstine also was critical of Trump's tariffs, she pointed to the minimum wage as the best way to improve conditions for working families.
Congress hasn't raised the minimum wage since 2009, and too many households are working multiple jobs to try to make ends meet as their income hasn't kept up with rising costs, she said.
"This is not a personal failure," Obando-Derstine said. "This is a policy failure. So that's an immediate way to provide relief."
Crosswell, meanwhile, homed in on tax policy. Along with restoring tax credits for renewable energy, he said Congress should tax unrealized gains.
The wealthiest Americans are able to accumulate enormous resources, then pass it off to their family following their deaths. Changing the system so the rich must pay their fair share would enable tax cuts for the middle class and working class, he said.
"You can survive any affordability crisis or any inflation in cost of goods if more people have money in their pockets," Crosswell said.
"And we have increasingly a regressive tax system that gives tax breaks to the very, very wealthiest of the wealthy."
'PA-7 Talks' schedule
To catch each episode on PBS39, follow this release schedule:
"PA-7 Talks: The Economy" — 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 21
"PA-7 Talks: The State of the Federal Government" — 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21
"PA-7 Talks: International Affairs" — 7 p.m. Friday, April 24
"PA-7 Talks: The Budget" — 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 24
"PA-7 Talks: Immigration" — 5 p.m. Saturday, April 25
Each episode also will be released on thePBS39 YouTube channel.
LehighValleyNews.com and PBS39 ran a similar forum in 2024 featuring the three Republican candidates competing for their party's nomination.
Ryan Mackenzie, a longtime state representative, went on to win the primary and the general election in one of the tightest races in America that year.
Mackenzie is running unopposed in the 2026 Republican primary and is expected to face the winning Democrat in the November election.
Among top competitive districts
Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District represents Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties plus a sliver of Monroe County.
The seat is considered one of the last toss-up U.S. House seats in America thanks to its near equal numbers of registered Democrats and Republicans and unusually large population of unaffiliated voters.
Majority control of the House has been decided by just a handful of seats in the past six years, making toss-up seats such as the Lehigh Valley's a top priority for both political candidates.
Its battleground status has led to visits from political VIPs from both sides of the aisle and led to massive campaign spending.
The 2024 PA-7 race saw the candidates, the parties and their allies spend a record $30 million. Political observers believe the 2026 race may exceed that amount.
Registered Democrats and Republicans will head to the polls May 19th to select their nominees for the general election.
Eligible voters in Pennsylvania have until May 4 to register with a political party.
