Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) claimed victory over Republican challenger Lisa Scheller tonight in remarks made on Facebook Live.
“Our campaign will be victorious and the margin of victory will only continue to grow,” Wild said.
Wild, a Democrat who represents Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, thanked her team of 1,600 volunteers as well as her two children for their support. The district includes all of Northampton and Lehigh counties as well as parts of Monroe County.
Wild is running for her second term after winning election in the 2018 midterms following former Republican Rep. Charlie Dent’s retirement.
The results are not yet official and ballots still remain uncounted. Overall, Wild holds a 2,415-vote lead across the district. With almost all ballots counted in Northampton County, Scheller leads by about 800 votes. But Wild holds slim margins in Monroe and Lehigh counties as mail-in ballots continue to get counted, and The New York Times estimates 75 percent of mail-in ballots are swinging in Wild’s favor.
Scheller’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment. It’s unclear if the two candidates have spoken directly.
Wild espoused a message of unity in her remarks, promising to move beyond partisan politics to unify the district and work across the aisle.
“I intend to serve this second term being as independent-minded as ever,” Wild said. “I am ready to work with anyone — Democrat or Republican or unaffiliated — to build a more inclusive, more prosperous community here in the greater Lehigh Valley and Monroe County.”
Wild pledged to “focus squarely” on recovering from the economic and public health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need to protect and expand health care coverage, not rip it away from our fellow Americans, especially during a pandemic,” Wild said.
Wild said she would continue to fight for unions and wants to fight to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour through creating sustainable jobs.
Wild emphasized the need for racial justice in the United States, citing issues such as mass incarceration, inequities in health care, wage gaps, voter suppression, and environmental health policies that disproportionately affect the Black community and other communities of color.
Wild also spoke on the need to protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security, a right she said that “generations of Americans have earned.”
She ended by denouncing the racist, homophobic, anti-semitic and xenophobic behavior exibited by the Trump administration in the past four years, stating every American should be accepted for who they are.
“No matter who you are, or what you look like, your faith, your sexual orientation or gender identity, this country belongs every bit as much to you too,” Wild said. “Together, we can do all of this and more. When we stand together, we win together.”
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