WASHINGTON – Pennsylvania’s 7th district is gearing up for a rematch of the 2020 elections between incumbent Susan Wild, a Democrat, and Lisa Scheller, a Republican.
And although Wild had the edge the last time the two Jewish candidates faced each other, this time seems different as the Cook Political Report placed the race in the “lean Republican” column, and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball considered it as a toss-up.
On Wednesday, the Republican Jewish Coalition announced a massive $750,000 ad buy, targeting Wild as “Wildly Out of Touch.”
The new campaign will be broadcast on TV, claiming that “Wild is a liberal elitist who voted with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time,” and that “together they created policies that have caused inflation, causing prices of groceries and energy to skyrocket – devastating working families.”
“The Republican Jewish Coalition is proud to support Lisa Scheller for Congress to represent the people of Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, and Northampton counties – an area of Pennsylvania that has been severely underserved by elitist Democrat Susan “Wildly Out of Touch” Wild,” said RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks.
“While Susan Wild robotically spouts DC talking points that the Biden-Pelosi economy is ‘booming,’ the voters in Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district know that’s simply not true – historic, skyrocketing inflation is hurting Pennsylvania families from the grocery store to the gas station – and politicians like Susan Wild are part of the problem,” he said.
Republican Jewish Coalition supporting Jewish candidates in multiple states
The organization spent $500,000 on the race in 2020 and decided to increase its spending this cycle as it seeks to elect more Jewish Republicans for Congress. There are currently two Jewish Republicans serving in the House: Lee Zeldin from New York and David Kustoff from Tennessee. However, Zeldin will not seek reelection as he is the Republican candidate for New York Governor. RJC supports several additional Jewish candidates in competitive races, including Matt Jacobs, (California’s 26th district); Leora Levy (Connecticut, Senate); and Max Miller (Ohio’s 7th district.) Thus, the race between Scheller and Wild becomes one of RJC’s key races this upcoming midterm election.
“A lot of things that are different this time,” Scheller told The Jerusalem Post in an interview last month.
“Redistricting in Pennsylvania has moved the race to a more Republican district. But also, the environment in the country is moving things more towards Republicans as well.”
She said that “a failed leadership, inflation, gas prices and energy crisis that put a tremendous pressure on folks who can least afford it,” can change the outcome of the race this time.
Wild told the Post in an interview in 2020 that she would oppose reentering the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. “I don’t think that if we were as a country to reenter it, it would [not] be under the same circumstances or terms. And I think that, frankly, a Biden administration would probably have a hard time getting the consent of Congress to reenter the JCPOA that previously existed.”
“Israel is important, and it’s certainly important in a race where you have two Jewish women running against each other,” said Wild.