Lehigh Valley Republicans will choose which of two fervent Donald Trump supporters will take on incumbent Democrat Susan Wild in the race for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th District.

Lisa Scheller and Dean Browning, both of South Whitehall Township and both former chairs of the Lehigh County commissioners, have been touting who is the more supportive of the president.

Unlike local party officials who generally remain neutral in primaries, Trump has thrown his support to Scheller by way of a tweet last week.

Although Browning called Trump’s move “ill-advised” and probably a decision recommended by an “underling,” he said he still backs Trump and his policies. “On a scale of 1 to 10, I’m a 12,” said Browning underscoring his strong support for the president.

In TV ads and mailers, each of the candidates is trying to label the other as “too liberal.” Scheller accuses Browning of costing taxpayers millions when he sided with Democrats on a tax-increase vote while he was a commissioner.

Browning accuses Scheller of backing a Trump opponent - former Ohio Gov. John Kachine - in the 2016 Republican primary and of speaking out in opposition to some Trump administration proposed tariffs against China.

Scheller is president and chair of Silberline Inc. of Tamaqua, a company she said that has about 500 employees worldwide, including about 150 in the United States and the others about equally located in Asia and Europe.

Browning is a retired chief financial officer in the aeronautics industry, who has unsuccessfully sought public office several times after his term on the board of commissioners. He was defeated in a re-election bid for commissioner, Lehigh County Executive and lost the GOP nomination for Congress two years ago.

Scheller served one four-year term as commissioner and was selected as board chair the last two years of her term. She chose not to run for re-election.

The Republican National Committee has targeted the 7th District as one it hopes to recapture. The seat had been held by Republican Charlie Dent when it was the former 15th District. The geography of the district was reconfigured to include all of Lehigh and Northampton counties and parts of southern Monroe County after the state was reapportioned in 2018. Dent originally said he would not seek re-election but then suddenly resigned in May 2018, leaving the seat vacant for nearly six months.

Wild, a former attorney with the Gross McGinley firm in Allentown who is unopposed in Tuesday’s primary, decisively defeated GOP nominee Marty Nothstein in 2018, one of four Democratic women to capture Congressional seats in Eastern Pennsylvania. The 18-member state Congressional delegation is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats.

State House

While 25 of the state Senate seats are up for grabs (none in our area), all 203 state House of Representatives seats are at stake this year, including the 11 in Northampton and Lehigh counties. Most interest centers on two races where the incumbents are retiring.

In the 131st District (parts of Northampton, Lehigh and Montgomery counties), four Republicans are vying for the nomination to succeed Republican Justin Simmons. They are Milou Mackenzie of Northampton County, Nathan Brown and Joe Ellenberger of Lehigh County and Vicki Lightcap of Montgomery County. The winner will face unopposed Democrat Kevin Branco of Northampton County in the Nov. 3 General Election.

In the 138th District (parts of Northampton County), the winner of the Republican primary between Ann Flood and Tony Tarsi will meet unopposed Democrat Tara Zrinski in November to determine who will succeed Republican Marcia Hahn.

In the 22nd District (parts of Allentown), incumbent Democrat Peter Schweyer is being challenged by Enid Santiago. The winner will have no Republican opposition in the heavily Democratic district in November. Schweyer is seeking his fourth term in the House, while newcomer Santiago describes herself as an unconventional candidate who is a “survivor of the foster care system, of poverty, of teenage motherhood. Like many of us in Allentown, I learned early how to navigate a system that wasn’t built for us.”

There are no other primary contests.

Democrats

From the slate of 12 candidates seeking seven slots for the Democratic National Convention from the 7th District, party balloters will select four men and three women from among: Celeste Dee, Roxanne Eklund, Anthony Downing, Elaheh Farmhand, Aidan Levinson, Michele Downing, Leo Atkinson, Jeanne M. McNeill, Richard Wilkins, Raya Abdelaal, Omar Ray and Chris Randazzo.

Democrats will select between Leslie Altieri and Dianne Justesen for one alternate delegate slot.

From nine candidates, Republican voters in the 7th District will select three to send to the National Convention. The candidates are: Makala A. Ashmar, Andrew Azan III, Bill Bachenberg, Patrick J. Cubbage, Gloria Lee Snover, Tom Carroll, Linda Gerenser Stubits, Robert E. Smith Jr. and Ben Long.

From six candidates, GOP voters will choose two alternates. They are: Bob Daday, Dennis Nemes, Patrick J. Cubbage, Sean Gill, Andrew Azan III and Robert E. Smith Jr.

Unopposed

In the 183rd District (parts of Northampton and Lehigh counties), incumbent three-term Republican Zach Mako will square off against Democrat Jason Ruff of Slatington in November. The two met in 2018, with Mako taking 57% of the vote.