Last week, I told you that Allentown Attorney Maria Montero has filed the paperwork to run for U.S. Congress (Pa.-7) as the GOP candidate. Over the weekend, I learned that State Rep. Ryan MacKenzie will be huddling with advisors this week as he ponders dipping his toes in the Potomac River. I also learned that Kevin Dellicker, who was defeated by Lisa Scheller in the last GOP Congressional race, has been booked as a guest by radio host Bobby Gunther Walsh on Wednesday to discuss his plans. He is reportedly backed by developer David Jaindl.
If all three run, which seems increasingly likely, this should make it easier to elect Montero. She can be tagged as a carpetbagger, though she is from this area. She is the sole female.
It should also make it easier for Susan Wild, who can keep her powder dry while Republicans are forced to spend.
UPDATED 12:15 pm: Dellicker announces candidacy! - According to Lehigh Valley Archair, Kevin Dellicker has released a statement announcing his candidacy.
Dellicker's announcement:
"Today, I am announcing my candidacy for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th District.
"It's no secret that Washington is broken. While this level of dysfunction may boost TV ratings and fundraising, it hurts our families and communities. What Washington needs is less talking heads and more leaders who will roll up their sleeves and work to bring commonsense solutions that benefit our families and communities. My career as a small business owner, veteran, and military officer has given me the right experience, skillset, and leadership to represent our community and work toward real change and solutions.
"I’m not a professional politician. I’m not looking for a new career in Washington. I’m running to protect and expand the Republican majority, get the job done, and then return home to Germansville. I’m running because this is my home too. I was raised here and my wife Susan and I raised our boys here. We need a voice in Washington who is one of us and will represent all of us.
"I’m excited to connect with the remarkable individuals, families, and small businesses that make our region the great place that it is. I look forward to having real conversations on the issues that matter to us all: strong families, good jobs, and safe communities.”
31 comments:
"It should also make it easier for Susan Wild, who can keep her powder dry ..."
Lol. Powder. Between Susie's Beverly Hills money supply and her silence on Hunter Biden's crimes, your reference to her powder is perfect. Bern, did you ever leave your coke hangin' around and accidentally found?
It's time to send Wild packing.
Lol. Ryan, who has never had a job in the private sector, has “advisors?” Who? His Mommy? I’ve always found it weird/creepy that Ryan got his mommy to run to be his colleague.
Ryan Mackenzie has the best chance I believe.
Wild lost me when she endorsed Fetterman. Educated women don't endorse lazy thugs. Nonetheless, it will be a another easy win for Wild. Democrats in the Lehigh Valley are much more organized and unified (for better or for worse) than the Republicans.
Democrats are organized and unified? What planet are you on? But the NorCo GOP is a mess, thanks to divisive people like Lynch, Carroll and Snover. They could screw up a church picnic.
6:40- The 1980's called, they want your mentality back.
Aren't we done with the draconian war on drugs, anyway?
What's funny, in a non humorous way, is that I was hanging out with my Republican family this weekend and, of course, they were making fun of Hunter's cocaine until I joked back that it was probably leftover from Don Jr and Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Without missing a beat, they then insisted, "IT WAS HUNTER'S COCAINE AND PROBABLY LACED WITH FENTANYL, WHICH COULD HAVE KILLED THE SECRET SERVICE JUST BY HANDLING THE PACKAGE".
They went from making fun of the situation to insisting that Hunter could have killed the Secret Service. Yeah, um, ok.
Trumpsters... you're in a cult. Please stop with the conspiracy theories.
Ryan has the best shot out of everyone to beat Wild
Mackenzie is definitely the strongest candidate of the three.
The crimes of Hunter Biden? What'd he do, organize an armed insurrection against Congress or something?
Not sure about Mackenzie. Wild will destroy him. It will be fun to watch him go down if he makes it through the primary.
Honestly, with the 3 running Ryan Mackenzie benefits. Montero and Kevin will split the outsider wanna-be votes (Even tho they both ran for office before). Ryan is a safe candidate with proven results and understands how government works. He is the kind of candidate Sussie would be nervous about. He can get both sides and independents to vote for him.
Those are 3 pretty good candidates and it should be an interesting primary on that side. Dellicker has David Jaindl as a donor, pretty impressive. McKenzie is a young but experienced local politician with a lot of name recognition and Montero seems like a smart person/fresh face who could be a good representative for the Lehigh Valley. I'm not 100% behind Wild and I could cross over if McKenzie or Montero win the primary.
"Mackenzie is definitely the strongest candidate of the three."
If that's so, you have a problem. I find him singularly unimpressive. Other than being an elected official, he's done nothing with his life. he has no career outside of running for office. He is tied to the GOP establishment and is a safe vote for them. He won't rock the boat.
Here's question. Will he run for Congress and his state house seat simultaneously, insulting the voters the way Jenn Mann and others have done? Does he have the courage to run for just one office?
Here's a review of his record. https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/campaign-finance/136465/ryan-mackenzie
With the infallible Trump heading the ticket, how could a local Republican possibly lose? I'm shocked that it's even necessary to take a vote.
Northampton County GOP is a disaster.
Montero will take votes away from Mackenzie. Dellicker will prevail with a 2 or 3 percent win. That said Wild will kick Dellicker out of the race by winning 6 or 7 points ahead. All of this because Northampton GOP is leaderless with too many factions making too much noise. Carroll, Lynch, and Snover will cost Dellicker the race from fundraising screw-ups , destorted MAGA messaging and disingenuous doxing of his (Dellicker’s) campaign. I will vote for him and urge others to do the same but the poison from our own party will kill any success.
If anyone remembers when Ryan ran for Congress before he also ran for his state house seat. What makes him so unimpressive is his ties to his mom. He drives with her to Harrisburg, he sits next to her on the floor of the capital, he comes into her district to ride with her in parades, it’s been said that he tells her how to vote. In addition he never takes any public position on issues. Every move he makes is calculated toward his future. I think Wild will wipe the floor with him.
11:03, A few points.
1) Any candidate who expects to win should never count on his own local party to help. Whether Dem or RepublicaN, They are toothless tigers. It is far better to build your own team of committed volunteers and consider whatever help you get from your local party as a bonus. All too often, I hear unsuccessful candidates like Lynch blame their local party for their loss instead of looking in a mirror and reviewing their own mistakes.
2) Last time around, Dellicker had a nice grass roots movement to get himself on the ballot and then ... stopped. He was at a monetary disadvantage but really could have taken advantage of and expanded on his grass roots support. He blew it. Has he learned anything? Maybe? Maybe not. His views are pretty far right. I believe, for example, that he opposes abortion even in the case of rape or incest. That's pretty extreme. And that's just one issue. I doubt someone with his views could attract Democrats or mioderates.
3) I doubt MacKenzie will attract many Ds or independents. I am a Democrat who will vote for Republican candidates. I am really bothered that Mackenzie has had everything handed to him. He does not have a clue what it's like to struggle. I see him take no courageous stands on anything. In the state house, he has been a back bencher. Why would I want someone like that representing me in D.C.?
4) Montero is taking a giant step in her first political race. She should be announcing before any of them and doing everything she can to build her own team and gather resources. I doubt she can match MacKenzie's money or even Dellicker's, but her views might actually be more of a match with normal Republicans than those of a "safe" MacKenzie or extreme Dellicker. And she would appeal to someone like me. She grew up with little money. She's lived in Allentown and in the coal regions, making her a cracker. She is highly educated, is very personable and her views on most matters strike me as reasonable, even if we disagree. She is of the Reagan school and appears to believe we are a land of opportunity where any one person can and should be able to excel. While I believe government needs to be there, too, there's much to like about Montero. But she needs to run a flawless campaign to win the primary.
The first Republican candidate who starts singing praises about tRump or Mastriano can kiss his or her chances of winning good-bye. No more MAGAt extremists.
Ryan Mackenzie is the last gasp from the Dent/Browne establishment that used to control R politics around here. Unfortunately for Ryan, he simply doesn’t have the stamina to fill in that void. Ryan is a run of the mill country club Republican from the early 2000s. Never had a private sector job. His daddy used to be chair of the local party and his mommy is his colleague in the state house. I personally, for one, have had enough of the patriarchal bullshit in politics.
Who could forget this classic from Bernie. When the Republicans were holding up the budget under Tom Wolf into December, Ryan escaped and went to Manhattan for PA Society.
The guy is a total weasel.
https://lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com/2015/12/mackenzie-hey-i-just-got-my-teeth.html?m=1
In what world are you living in? No Republican elected official with a record is safe. Ryan put up some pretty extreme votes on abortion over his career and Susan Wild is going to just destroy him with those votes.
The R’s only shot is an outsider with no voting record. The Lehigh Valley is pretty split down the middle. Ryan is way too far right for the district.
Ryan shouldn’t run. He is a corrupt daddy’s boy. The stories about him…
After reading these comments, may I make one suggestion. EDUCATE YOURSELF for the good of the 7th district and choose the candidate that you think can beat Susan Wild by having values that you can identify with.
As a volunteer, I can assure you that many voters only vote D or R and know nothing about the candidates. Take advantage of the opportunity to go to an event and listen to the candidates speak. Ask questions! Give yourself credit for being able to recognize who is genuine and who is a phony.
I will proudly be supporting Kevin Dellicker. He has no desire to be a career politician. He is simply an extremely intelligent, genuinely good human being. He speaks the truth, has common sense, and cares about our country. He won't be afraid to roll up his sleeves to help fix whatever may be broken Washington. Kevin will be a fair and honest representative for ALL of us in the 7th District.
I appreciate that he is a veteran and small business owner. I appreciate that he's no politician. I am concerned about his stances and is he really is willing to work with others, i.e. Democrats.
"3) I doubt MacKenzie will attract many Ds or independents. I am a Democrat who will vote for Republican candidates. I am really bothered that Mackenzie has had everything handed to him. He does not have a clue what it's like to struggle. I see him take no courageous stands on anything. In the state house, he has been a back bencher. Why would I want someone like that representing me in D.C.?"
Has Ryan ever campaigned? Ever?
Kevin is a born leader. I believe he is willing to work with anyone he feels can bring forth positive change for our families and communities. I can only suggest you meet him and make an intelligent decision after doing your homework.
Mackenzie is a total loser. He stinks of corruption. A career politician who never has had a job outside of state rep.
Well if working with the other party is a requirement, I guess Biden must be Republican, since Wild voted with him 100% of the time.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-congress-votes/house/
And it’s Dellicker for the win. No one knows Montero (a problem), people know Ryan (a problem). People now know Kevin Dellicker - who he his, what he stands for and what his beliefs are and that is why he will win!
As a republican committee member I will NEVER support Liddle Napoleon Complex Kevin Dellicker! We need NEW candidates!
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