While control of the U.S. House of Representatives is still up in the airPennsylvania’s three most competitive house races A day after Election Day, they are leaning in favor of the Republicans.
The three districts — the 7th, 8th and 10th — made up three of the four most expensive races in the state, according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks money in politics.
If current forecasts holdRepublicans would gain two seats previously held by Democrats, and a longtime Republican incumbent under investigation following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot would keep his seat.
Here is an overview of the races.
7th Congressional District – Pennsylvania
Democrat Susan Wild has conceded in the race to represent Pennsylvania’s 7th District in the House of Representatives, which includes all of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties, and part of Monroe County.
Wild was seeking a fourth term in Washington. She faced state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who represented part of Lehigh County and has the backing of President-elect Donald Trump and Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson.
Preliminary results from the Pennsylvania Department of State showed Wild receiving nearly 8,000 more votes than Mackenzie in Lehigh County, and the candidates in Northampton County nearly breaking even.
But the incumbent fell behind in Carbon County, where Mackenzie had a margin of more than 11,000 votes as of Wednesday morning, and he collected a few thousand more votes than Wild in the part of Monroe County included in the district.
Wild survived redistricting in 2022, which added Republican-friendly Carbon County to the neighborhood.
Matt Rourke/AP
She conceded the 2024 race in a statement Wednesday, touting accomplishments such as opening the first federal office in Carbon County and securing a grant for Allentown that will increase the city’s employment rate.
“When I first ran for Congress in 2018, I made it my personal mission to put our district on the map. When people think of Pennsylvania, they all too often think of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Now I am encouraged by the attention and investment we have been able to bring home,” Wild said.
“At the end of the day, that’s what this job is about: serving the people of the Greater Lehigh Valley,” she added. “And it has been the greatest privilege of my life to be able to do that.”
Mackenzie declared victory Tuesday night and thanked voters in a statement Wednesday.
“The fight now shifts to delivering results for the people of the Greater Lehigh Valley,” Mackenzie said. “I look forward to leading on the issues our communities care about, including addressing the high cost of living, securing the border and working for peace abroad.”
8th Congressional District – Pennsylvania
Political newcomer Rob Bresnahan Jr., CEO of his family’s electric company, is leading in the 8th Congressional District over incumbent Matt Cartwright, the CBS News show shows.
CBS News’ election tracker shows the district, which is anchored around the cities of Wilkes-Barre and President Biden’s hometown of Scranton, in the red. Bresnahan had a lead of more than 7,000 votes, 2 percentage points, in the district Wednesday morning.
Cartwright, a five-term Democrat, had not yet conceded. Bresnahan declared victory in a social media post Tuesday evening.
OpenSecrets data showed that Cartwright’s campaign raised more than $8 million and spent more than $7 million of that as of October 16. That amount was more than double Bresnahan’s expenditure of about $3 million on the race.
OpenSecrets rated this race as the most expensive House contest in the state.
10th Congressional District – Pennsylvania
Incumbent Republican Scott Perry is favored for a seventh term in his central Pennsylvania district, which includes the cities of Harrisburg and York. He had to deal with broadcast host Janelle Stelson, who received the support of the group “Republicans for Harris”.
The attacks on Perry focused on his resistance to a House committee subpoena on Jan. 6 and his phone that was briefly seized by the FBI in 2022 as part of an investigation into the Capitol riot.
Perry is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of the most conservative members of the Republican Party formed to oust then-Chairman John Boehner.
