The three Republican candidates vying next month to challenge U.S. Rep. Susan Wild to represent Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District discussed a number of issues including border control, age limits for elected officials and support for local businesses during a televised debate Monday night in Lehighton.

Pennsylvania Rep. Ryan Mackenzie of Lower Macungie Township, who represents the 187th Legislative District in the state’s House of Representatives; Kevin W. Dellicker of Heidelberg Township, who lost in the 2022 GOP primary to Lisa Scheller; and Maria Montero of Easton, a practicing attorney in the Lehigh Valley and native of Summit Hill, are all seeking the Republican nomination on April 23, when Pennsylvania holds its state and federal election.

Since the redistricting of congressional seats earlier this decade, all of Carbon County is represented by Wild, the three-term incumbent who primarily had represented the Lehigh Valley counties until Carbon County and three townships in Monroe County were added to her district following the 2020 Census.

The debate was sponsored by The Lehighton 9/12 Project Inc., Blue Ridge TV-13 and the American Legion Post 314.

Kim Bell, general manager for Blue Ridge Communications, was the moderator. Panelists were: Marta Gouger, editor of the Times News; Marlyn Kissner, vice president of membership and community relations for the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, and Rachel Lacroix, producer, news reporter and anchor for BRC13.

Top priority

Asked what his top priority would be as a freshman member of Congress, Mackenzie said “building the wall and securing the country’s border” with Mexico.

“Right now our country is being invaded by hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who are coming across illegally every single month,” he said. “Drugs are coming across the border and crime and human trafficking is increasing. We are seeing a 276% increase in child labor violations and at the same time, people are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on foreign wars. We should be focused on our own communities.”

Dellicker said he would support measures that would “make the military a deterrent once again.”

“We can initiate true peace through strength to protect our nation against threats domestic and abroad,” he said.

Montero criticized Wild for voting against the U.S. Border Security Act.

“Because of Susan Wild, over 7,000 pounds of fentanyl has come over the border,” Montero said. “That can kill one million Americans. The most important thing we can do is secure our borders and protect Americans.”

Supporting local businesses

Reducing taxes, Mackenzie said, is a key step in making sure local businesses stay strong for years to come.

“I authored legislation that was passed in Harrisburg to eliminate the inheritance tax for small family businesses to ensure they could be passed from one generation to the next without that burden,” he said. “We also need to streamline and reduce regulations. Businesses shouldn’t have to pay someone to help them deal with a mounting pile of regulations.”

Dellicker said he would be a strong advocate for small businesses in Washington.

“If you don’t run your own business, I don’t think you can possibly understand what small business owners from all different levels are facing when it comes to rules and regulations,” he said.

Montero spoke of the 8.2% rate of inflation in Pennsylvania and added that the state “needs to increase its production of natural gas.”

“If Pennsylvania were a country, it would be the number four producer of natural gas,” she said. “If I’m elected, I’ll make sure we have access to affordable fuel.”

Age limits in public office

Though he does not favor placing an artificial age limit on elected officials, Mackenzie said it’s often clear to see when they are failing due to age.

“We see that now unfortunately with Joe Biden,” he said. “He is not the senator or president he once was. It’s a shame. We need to replace people at the ballot box. That is why I’ve endorsed Donald Trump in this election.”

Dellicker joked that at “53 years of age, he is the most experienced and oldest person in the Republican race and would resist any attempts by his opponents to be removed from the ballot.”

Montero said the best way for everyday voters to control the age issue is “to prevent people from being in office their entire lives.”

“We’re supposed to be responsive to the people,” she said. “Being in office for 10, 15, 20, 30 years, only serves the politician, not the people.”

Filling job vacancies in the district

Dellicker is a former intelligence officer in the Air National Guard. He and his wife, Susan, founded Dellicker Strategies, a company that helps organizations upgrade their telecommunications infrastructure while improving their cybersecurity posture and managing complex technology projects.

“For the past five years, my company has been taking high school student interns and teaching them about cybersecurity, entrepreneurship and professionalism so they can be better prepared for whatever career path they take after high school,” he said. “It requires an adult to cultivate these leadership skills, not an act of Congress.”

Montero said overregulation and union strongholds have driven many jobs to other countries.

“If we really care about keeping our talent local, it’s really important that we support Pennsylvania manufacturing,” she said.

Mackenzie said the key to keeping young people in the area after graduation is access to jobs.

“We need to do everything we can to foster a strong economy to get people to stay here,” he said.

Growing the local economy

Mackenzie said he’s proud of legislation he has authored in Harrisburg to directly lead to the creation of new jobs.

“One thing we did was expand the opportunity for advanced recycling,” he said. “We now have these types of facilities operating here in Pennsylvania.”

Dellicker said getting inflation under control starts with getting budgets under control.

“If we don’t get our budget under control, we’ll never get our interest rates down so our small businesses can have the capital they need to grow. That’s the formula for growing small businesses, not creating new government programs.”

Montero criticized Joe Biden’s decision to shut down the Keystone Pipeline, which she said was a major blow to America’s energy independence.

“If we don’t have energy independence, we’ll be under the thumbs of Russian oligarchs,” she said.

Tourism industry support

All three candidates called investment in the local tourism industry vitally important with Montero noting the hospitality sector is one of the top employers in the state.

“I was chairwoman of the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation and we raised millions of dollars to make sure our parks and forests are clean,” she said. “When it comes to hospitality, there is nobody who will understand the industry better and how important it is to make sure we can bring great folks here from all over our country.”

Mackenzie said he’s been proud to help promote Pennsylvania tourism having served on the Pa. House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee.

“Tourism is a great economic driver and we need to put advertising dollars there so that people across the country can see the valuable assets we have,” he said.

Dellicker said he would also work “to make sure people understand what a wonderful place the 7th district is to live, visit and work.”