As the watch parties for U.S. Rep. Susan Wild and her challenger Lisa Scheller came to a close Tuesday night, the winner of the 7th Congressional District was unknown. At 2 a.m., Wild declared victory.

“Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District is a truly special place and the only place I have ever called home,” Wild said in a press release. “It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as your representative, and even more of an honor to earn your trust to continue that service. I know the grit, determination, and strength of this community. I have carried it with me into the halls of Congress. I will work with anyone, in either party, to improve the lives of working and middle-class people in our community.

“This seat belongs to the people of our community, and so does this victory. Together, let’s keep working to build a future worthy of the extraordinary promise of our commonwealth, and our country. Thank you all so much.”

Wild held the lead most of the night, but the two were almost even at midnight with Wild at 142,942 votes and Scheller at 142,505, with 216 of the 377 precincts counted.

By 2:45 a.m., Wild’s lead widened to nearly 5,000 votes with only 20 precincts remaining.

The newly aligned 7th District includes Carbon, Northampton and Lehigh counties and several townships southwest part of Monroe County.

Scheller received almost 10,000 more votes than Wild in Carbon County, 15,377 to 5,856, and had a 2-1 advantage in Eldred, Polk and Ross townships of Monroe County, 3,526 to 1,736.

Wild’s showing in Northampton and Lehigh counties sends her back to Washington for a third term.

The congresswoman defeated Scheller 72,795 to 61,987 in Lehigh County and 65,929 to 62,550 in Northampton County.

Timothy Benyo, the chief clerk of registration and elections for Lehigh County, said in an interview last week that he didn’t know how long it would take to know the winner, in part because of mail-in and absentee ballots.

As of Oct. 31, Lehigh County had received 41,272 mail-in and absentee ballots of the nearly 50,000 that had been requested.

Benyo said they would be counting ballots from 7 a.m. on Election Day through the evening and well into the night.

Becky Bartlett, a spokesperson for the Northampton County Elections Office, said the election staff would count ballots for as long it took to complete the task.

As of Tuesday afternoon, they had received 36,253 mail-in and absentee ballots or 87.6% of the ballots that had been requested. The elections office accepted mail-in and absentee ballots up to 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Both candidates remained hopeful Tuesday as the night wore on. Their watch parties were upbeat with occasional applause when a candidate from their party pulled ahead in the polls.

Scheller, president of Silberline Manufacturing Company, Hometown, stayed out of the ballroom at the Historic Hotel Bethlehem, where her watch party was held. She made an appearance later in the evening to thank her supporters. She told them that they knew it would be an incredibly tight race, but she still felt confident they would prevail.

Wild mingled most of the evening with her supporters at her watch party at Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem. She posed for pictures and even danced a little to a live band.

Wild didn’t make any formal statement about the election at the party, but did ask everyone to give the band a round of applause after their final set.

Under the current district boundaries, Carbon is represented by U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser. The Republican won re-election Tuesday in his new, 12-county district that includes Schuylkill County.

Tuesday’s race was a rematch of 2020 between Wild and Scheller in which Wild won 195,475 to 181,407.

Before joining Congress, Wild was the solicitor of the City of Allentown from 2015-17.

To get a rematch with Wild, Scheller won the primary election over Kevin Dellicker, 34,384 to 32,627.

Scheller served as a member of the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners from 2012-16.