Susan Wild raises three times as much as challenger Mackenzie in Q2

U.S. Rep Susan Wild D-7th District.. (Photo courtesy Wild campaign)

U.S. Rep. Susan Wild (D-7th District) had her strongest quarter this cycle in the period ending June 30, raising triple the amount of her Republican challenger state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Lehigh).

Wild’s campaign raised $1.53 million between April 4 and June 30 and spent just under $345,000, according to new campaign finance documents. Mackenzie, who won the Republican Party nomination for the 7th District in April’s primary election by earning 42% of the vote in a three-candidate field, raised just under $405,000 from in the same period and spent just over $155,000.

Wild’s Q2 haul is the second highest in the state’s U.S. House delegation, only trailing U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-8th District), who raised $1.68 million.

Both candidates had their strongest fundraising quarter of the 2024 campaign between April 4 and June 30. Wild’s previous high was Q1, when she raised $1.37 million in the first three months of the year. Mackenzie’s previous high was $135,000 in Q3 of 2023. 

His latest filing shows a significant jump over the previous quarter, when his campaign raised just under $70,000 from January to April 3. 

Wild has raised $5.07 million in the current election cycle, while Mackenzie has raised just over $675,000 since announcing his candidacy for the seat in July 2023. 

The Lehigh County Democrat entered the month with a significant cash-on-hand advantage of $3.85 million, while Mackenzie had $365,000 on hand as of July 1. 

Wild, who was first elected to Congress in 2018, won by 2 points over Republican challenger Lisa Scheller in her most recent race. Her 2022 contest was the closest congressional race of the 2022 cycle in Pennsylvania. Both parties made a significant push for the seat and are doing the same this year. 

The National Republican Congressional Campaign (NRCC) put Wild on its initial list of seats to flip in 2024 and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) placed Wild on its “Frontline” program, intended to protect “vulnerable” incumbents. 

The Lehigh Valley is widely viewed as a bellwether for state and national elections. 

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee, held a rally in the district in April. President Joe Biden visited small businesses in the district earlier this year. 

Wild joined first lady Jill Biden in the Lehigh Valley on July 2 during a roundtable discussion at Lehigh Carbon Community College.

Wild has expressed concern about President Biden’s “electability at the top of the ticket,” following his poor debate performance against Trump in June. And Wild is reportedly among a group of Democratic lawmakers planning to sign a letter opposing a “virtual roll call” nominating Biden as the presidential candidate ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August.

While most Pennsylvania Democrats have stood by Biden during calls from within the party for him to not seek reelection, Wild appears to be the most prominent Democrat in the state to express concern about Biden’s chances in November.

Recent polling has shown Trump with a narrow lead over Biden in the battleground state, which has 19 electoral votes up for grabs.

The Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a pair of national ratings outlets, rate the race for the 7th Congressional District as a “toss-up.”

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