Pennsylvania U.S. House, District 7

Townships of Eldred, Hamilton, Smithfield (District 01, 02 and 03), Ross, Stroud and the boroughs of Delaware Water Gap, East Stroudsburg and Stroudsburg

Term: 2 years

Salary: $174,000

Susan Wild

Democrat incumbent

Address: Allentown

Education: American University, B.A.; George Washington University, J.D.

Qualifications: U.S. Representative, 7th District

Online: http://wildforcongress.com, http://www.facebook.com/wildforcongress, http://twitter.com/wildforcongress

Q: What would be your top priorities as a U.S. Representative over the next two years?

A: Serving during the COVID-19 crisis has reiterated the critical needs of access to quality, affordable health care for all; and ensuring we support working families and small businesses. In my first term in Congress, I led the charge on health care fights, from ensuring the USMCA trade deal wouldn’t raise the price of prescriptions, to securing mental health care for seniors in the Older Americans Act, to introducing legislation during the COVID-19 crisis to open an emergency ACA enrollment period. On the Education and Labor Committee, I advocated for minimum wage increases and other supports for working families. In the wake of COVID-19, main street will need unprecedented support as it bounces back - this is a top priority of mine.

Q: The landmark Shelby v. Holder decision overturned protections in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing voting laws or practices. Since then, the U.S. has experienced a surge of legislation that makes it more difficult for many people to vote. What voting reforms do you see as essential to making U.S. elections accessible and secure?

A: This term, I was proud to support HR 1, the For the People Act, which addressed many of our top voting rights priorities, including my bill to establish 15 days of early voting nationwide. It would also expand voting rights by establishing a national voter-registration program, making Election Day a federal holiday, ending gerrymandering, and stopping voting roll purges. COVID-19 has perfectly illustrated the need for easy and robust vote-by-mail and absentee voting programs nationwide. I am a proud supporter of the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which provides key protections against voting discrimination to compensate for the loss of the formula under which states are covered by the preclearance requirement.

Q: How would you go about finding consensus and reducing gridlock in Washington, D.C.?

A: I have spent my entire career building consensus and getting to yes. I don’t believe in playing politics and my record shows it. Coming from a district where folks vote for a person over a party, I know how important it is to stay grounded in your community’s values. In Pennsylvania, we have 18 congressional representatives –– nine are Democrats, nine are Republicans, and we all work together. That’s the way government should be across our country. I have never let perfect get in the way of good, and to me, compromise isn’t a bad word, it’s an essential one. I’ve found that if you come to the table in good faith, you won’t necessarily agree about everything, but you can agree on something.

Lisa Scheller

Republican

Address: Allentown

Online: http://schellerforcongress.com, http://www.facebook.com/schellerforcongress/, http://twitter.com/SchellerforPA

Q: What would be your top priorities as a U.S. Representative over the next two years?

A: The effects of the pandemic on small businesses certainly do need additional help and I support continued economic stimulus in the forms of loans and grants for small businesses. The PPP program I believe was very successful in the beginning of the pandemic and helped many businesses. We need to turn the lights back on in small businesses and get Americans back to work. As a small-business owner, I know what it takes to get the economy back up and moving. While in Congress I will fight to make sure Americans’ health care is one of my highest priorities, we need to first and foremost protect those with pre-existing conditions. We need to reduce regulations and give people and businesses more choice. We should have more health savings accounts, and we should let people buy plans that are best for them. Finally, we should sell insurance across state lines. There’s no reason not to, and more competition will mean lower prices. Foster interstate competition by allowing providers to sell insurance across state lines.

Q: The landmark Shelby v. Holder decision overturned protections in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing voting laws or practices. Since then, the U.S. has experienced a surge of legislation that makes it more difficult for many people to vote. What voting reforms do you see as essential to making U.S. elections accessible and secure?

A: We need to make sure that we have voter ID laws. This means one vote to one person only. You should not be able to have same-day voter registration as well. Just like anything else you need to use your license for, voting should always be something you need to show documentation to prevent voter fraud.

Q: How would you go about finding consensus and reducing gridlock in Washington, D.C.?

A: Washington, D.C., is broken, the dysfunction that exists there is one of the main reasons I am running for Congress, to fix the dysfunction in Washington. Before running for Congress I was a Lehigh County commissioner, and as the chair of the county commission, every single piece of meaningful legislation that went through was passed in a bipartisan basis. I moved the county commissioners meetings from a backroom to an open to the public meeting room. I strongly believe in transparency and bipartisanship that works to benefit those who we represent. I will take those same values to Washington to fix the dysfunction.