(NewsNation) — With 50.7% of the vote, NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ has called the race for Pennsylvania District 7 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of Ryan Mackenzie. See results of U.S. House and U.S. Senate races from around the country here.
The 7th Congressional District race was among the most competitive and highly watched, not only among Pennsylvania’s House races but nationally.
Lehigh Valley’s shifting demographics on both rural and suburban voters had been viewed as a bellwether for state and national elections.
Three-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild was up against Republican state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the 7th District.
Pennsylvania is home to one of the “Biden 16” — the 16 House districts nationally that President Joe Biden won in 2020 but are represented by Republicans.
The state is also home to one of the eight districts that former President Donald Trump won but are represented by Democrats.
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Wild, who was first elected to Congress in 2018, won by 2 points over her Republican challenger in her most recent race. Her 2022 contest was the closest congressional race of the 2022 cycle in Pennsylvania.
The National Republican Congressional Campaign had targeted Wild in a list of seats to flip in 2024 and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee placed Wild on its “Frontline” program, intended to protect “vulnerable” incumbents, reported the Penn Capital Star.
Wild was the first House incumbent endorsement by former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who broke party lines and campaigned alongside Vice President Kamala Harris.
Wild’s campaign message largely aligned with the Democratic platform on reproductive rights and voting rights and she told voters she’s needed in Washington, D.C. to stand up “against any and all forms of fear and hate.”
Republicans have attacked Wild as weak on border security which has contributed to the number of unaccompanied migrant children in Lehigh Valley.
Her opponent, Mackenzie, has been a state legislator since 2012 and before that was the director of policy at the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
While he stayed in line with conservatives on education to health care he did break from the party being the only Republican candidate during the primary to express support for protecting fertility treatments.
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The race in the 7th District became one of the most expensive congressional contests in the state.
Wild outraised Mackenzie almost 7-to-1 through June 30 and outside groups spent more than $10 million on it, according to the disclosures.
Heading into Tuesday’s election, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. Republicans control the chamber with a narrow majority of 220 seats while the Democrats occupy 212 and three vacancies.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
