ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A week after local Democratic leaders rejected his candidacy in a special election for state representative, Lewis Shupe hopes to find more support as he campaigns for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District.
Shupe, a perennial candidate from Allentown, officially entered the race Friday as a Democrat by filing his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.
"I am running for Congress because our democracy has been steadily weakened by moneyed interests, constitutional erosion and a political class that no longer answers to voters."7th Congressional District candidate Lewis Shupe
Shupe attempted campaigns in 2018 and 2024 as an independent but failed to appear on the ballot. Candidates must collect 1,000 signatures from registered voters in the district who haven't signed petitions for rival candidates.
Shupe previously threw his hat into the ring for Pennsylvania's 22nd state House race in the upcoming February election.
However, local party leaders recommended that Julian Guridy, a staffer for state Sen. Nick Miller, D-Lehigh/Northampton, appear on the ballot as the Democratic candidate.
In a news release, Shupe highlighted the need for publicly funded elections to reign in campaign spending by special interest groups.
He also pushed single-payer universal healthcare and restoration of the fairness doctrine to promote accountability in broadcast media.
"I am running for Congress because our democracy has been steadily weakened by moneyed interests, constitutional erosion and a political class that no longer answers to voters," Shupe said in a prepared statement.
A crowded race
Shupe is the seventh Democrat to launch a campaign for PA-7.
The others are firefighter union boss Bob Brooks, former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, political newcomer Aiden Gonzalez, former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, energy engineer Carol Obando-Derstine and Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley.
The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to take on Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie.
Voter registration data shows Democrats and Republicans are evenly divided with a substantial number of independent voters in the region. Those figures make the region among the few swing districts in the country.7th Congressional District data
Mackenzie, a freshman representative who spent more than a decade representing parts of Lehigh County in Harrisburg, currently has no primary challengers.
Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District represents Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties plus a sliver of Monroe County.
Voter registration data shows Democrats and Republicans are evenly divided with a substantial number of independent voters in the region.
Those figures make the region among the few swing districts in the country.
With the U.S. House narrowly split between the major parties and divided by partisanship, control of PA-7 can have national consequences.
Both parties and their allies have invested tens of millions of dollars in the campaign in recent years, making it one of the most expensive — and observed — House contests in America.
