BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The 2025 municipal elections still are months away, yet candidates for next year's Lehigh Valley congressional race have ratcheted up fundraising efforts in what likely will be among the nation's most expensive House races.
Campaign finance reports show Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie reinforced his campaign coffers by a total of $801,145 over the past three months.
Campaign finance reports show his main campaign account has $1.19 million on hand, six months into his tenure.
The candidates will rely on the funding to compete in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, one of the most contested U.S. House seats in the nation.U.S. House campaign fundraising reports
Meanwhile, the three Democrats trying to oust him — former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure and Carol Obando-Derstine, a one-time staffer for former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey — have stockpiled a combined $616,675.
One of them will emerge from what could become a heated primary to take on Mackenzie in the 2026 general election.
The candidates will rely on that funding to compete in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, one of the most contested U.S. House seats in the nation.
State voter registration data shows registered Democrats and Republicans are nearly evenly split in the district while a whopping 20% of voters are not affiliated with either party.
Those conditions have granted PA-7 a reputation as one of the biggest tossups in the country. The past three races in the district have been decided by 3 percentage points or less.
Mackenzie defeated Democratic incumbent Susan Wild last year by just 1 percentage point.
Given the open nature of the district, both parties have thrown enormous resources into wooing voters to their preferred candidate in recent years.
Last year's PA-7 race saw the candidates and their allies spend more than $38 million on the campaign trail.
Mackenzie
Republican leaders from around the country have funneled cash to Mackenzie in the past few months.
The GOP holds a narrow majority in the House, and defending their vulnerable seats will be a high priority in the midterm elections.
Mackenzie fits the bill as one of two incumbent Republicans in Pennsylvania representing a district that has more registered Democrats than Republicans. (The other is U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District in northeast Pennsylvania.)
Reports show Mackenzie raised $801,145 over the past three months, $339,921 of which came from joint fundraising committees.
The groups split their proceeds among designated candidates and groups, such as the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Speaker Mike Johnson's political action committee and the Republican National Committee.
Also, $168,000 of his new funds came from other PACs.
Some of his backers included committees associated with other conservative lawmakers including U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, ($2,000) and Lloyd Smucker, R-Pennsylvania, ($2,000).
Others donations came from trade groups or corporations, including the American Bankers Association PAC ($3,500) and the American College of Radiology Association ($5,000).
DoorDash contributed $2,500 toward his re-election a few weeks before being featured prominently at a roundtable Mackenzie held in the district last month.
More than $292,210 in donations from individuals poured in from across the country; the battleground district has a record of drawing donations from well outside its borders.
Notable donors include former Bethlehem Steel Chief Executive Officer Hank Barnette ($1,000), Allentown plastics magnate and philanthropist Robert Fischmann ($2,000), finance executive Charlies Schwab ($7,000) and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twin brothers and investors best known for accusing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for a social network (a combined $14,000).
Crosswell
Crosswell, the latest candidate to enter the race, raised more than $320,929 in just three weeks, records show.
That amount, which came entirely from individual donors, led the field of Democrats. After expenditures, he had $254,003 on hand as of the end of June, according to the reports.
Crosswell resigned from the U.S. Justice Department in protest after the Trump administration opted to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams for political reasons.
His campaign, which has focused on upholding the rule of law, appears to have attracted significant support from the legal community. Dozens of attorneys from across the country have donated to his campaign, records show.
However, it appears almost none of the money he's raised came from within the district.
LehighValleyNews.com identified only a single donation from within the Lehigh Valley or Carbon County on the 200-page report — a $500 contribution from an Allentown woman.
The dearth of local donations could feed more political attacks that cast him as a carpetbagger. Crosswell, a former Marine, moved to the district earlier this year and switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democratic in December.
The Pottsville native had no prior ties to the district other than athletic competitions in high school. His three opponents have accused him of district shopping — a claim Crosswell denies.
McClure
Of the three Democratic candidates, McClure raised the least over the past three months, with $87,121 in donations.
He's already spent most of that, leaving him with $92,768 at the end of the quarter.
Despite getting a head start on the race by launching his campaign in February, he had the least amount of cash on hand.
McClure raised nearly a quarter of his funding from political action committees, records show.
He is the only Democrat in the race who has previously run for office, and he's enjoyed support from labor unions in the past.
That continued this quarter, with backing from the International Union of Operating Engineers ($5,000), Laborers' International Union of North America ($5,000) and Plumbers Union Local 690 ($5,000), among others.
Some of McClure's individual donors include Martin Guitar executive Christian Martin ($3,500); state Rep. Josh Siegel, D-Lehigh, ($1,000); and Northampton County Public Defender Nuria DiLuzio ($1,000).
Obando-Derstine
Two months into her campaign, Obando-Derstine raised $208,573 toward her bid. Nearly $122,970 of that still was on hand at the close of June, records show.
Obando-Derstine entered the race with the endorsement of Wild, the district's former three-term U.S. representative, and Greg Edwards, a pastor who sought the seat in 2018.
Both former politicians have provided Obando-Derstine with financial support, as well. Edwards contributed $1,000, while Wild's former campaigns and PACs donated $10,684.
Martin, the Martin Guitar executive, also donated $5,000 to her campaign.
Other notable individual donors include former Lehigh County Executive Jane Ervin ($250) and former Bethlehem City Councilwoman Olga Negron ($250).
In addition, Obando-Derstine, a former supervisor at PPL, raised more than $4,300 from a dozen people currently working at the Fortune 500 company.
She's also sunk $12,500 of her own money into her campaign.
