ALLENTOWN, Pa. — With the support of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Pennsylvania House candidate Ryan McKenzie on Thursday night debuted his campaign’s “battle station” office in a battleground district where the Democratic incumbent can’t stop insulting voters.
“I’m a pragmatic conservative who strives to find solutions to the problems facing our community,” McKenzie, who served as a state representative from Lehigh County for 12 years, told an enthusiastic audience of staff and volunteers at his newly opened office in Allentown.
“And that’s so important because so often we see politicians accomplishing nothing for the American people.”
Released in January NRCC Battle Station Concept The aim is to make early contact with 3 million swing voters in competitive congressional districts.
NRCC data identifies these voters and provides a framework for the effort’s multimillion-dollar investment.
McKenzie, 41, is targeting Susan Wild, the Democratic incumbent who has represented Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District since 2018.
The district encompasses all of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties, as well as four southern counties in Monroe County.
Two county Republican Party chairmen, Joe Bichot of Lehigh County and Glenn Geisinger of Northampton, spoke in support of McKenzie on Thursday, where criticism of Wilde was a hot topic.
“The reason you’re here is [Mackenzie] “We’ve done a lot to help you on our behalf,” Vichot said.
“Susan Wilde obviously doesn’t do that. She makes fun of people who don’t agree with her.”
Wilde has been caught making disparaging remarks about her constituents at least three times in recent years, specifically about voters in heavily Republican Carbon County, where she said they “needed to drink the Trump Kool-Aid and be ‘educated’ after the area was added to her district in the last election.”
Geisinger struck a more optimistic tone, betting on McKenzie’s victory in famously Republican Northampton County.
“One thing I want to tell you right now, and I can see it from this room, is that Ryan McKenzie is going to win Northampton County in November,” Geisinger said to applause.
Norco, which includes the cities of Easton and much of Bethlehem, has backed the winner in the past four presidential elections and often determines the outcome of statewide elections. In 2022, Wilde won the county by fewer than 4,000 votes and the district overall by fewer than 6,000 votes.
The district has been getting national attention, and the NRCC says opening a battle station in the Mackenzie district might be enough to beat the Wilde district.
“Ryan McKenzie has strong ties to the community and has proven effective at delivering results for the Lehigh Valley region,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella told The Post.
“This new battle station will be crucial in mobilizing voters to elect Ryan McKenzie and oust far-right Democrat Susan Wilde.”
