The Lehigh County Republican Committee has elected George Rivera of South Whitehall as its new chair.

Rivera, a managing partner for Darden Restaurant Inc., is the county party’s first Latino chairman. Also elected on July 28 were Jackie Rivera of Bethlehem, vice chair; Aleta Zimmerman of Whitehall, secretary; and Jeanette Wroebel of Alburtis, treasurer.

The election marks the first time two Latinos will serve as chairman and vice chair. Latinos make up 31% of Lehigh’s population.

Jackie Rivera, who is not related to George Rivera, is a member of the state Republican Committee who ran unsuccessfully for Lehigh County commissioner last year. She is a daughter of Bob Smith Jr., who is running in the 22nd House District on Nov. 3.

“We believe this reflects the continued growth and diversity of the Republican Party in Lehigh County and our commitment to expanding outreach while promoting Pennsylvania values,” George Rivera said in a press release.

“The difference between the two local parties is clear,” he said. “The Republican Party recognizes the hard work of Hispanics within its party. We don’t take our Hispanic community for granted. We put people to work, we listen, and we lead together. The Democrats would never have diverse leadership at the local level.”

George Rivera, who ran unsuccessfully for Parkland School Board in 2023 and 2025, replaces Joe Vicho. The party counts 89,518 voters in Lehigh. Democrats have 111,467 voters while independents number 45,603 and other party registrants 7,337, according to the latest state registration numbers.

George Rivera said the new officer team is unified and ready to organize and elect conservatives across the county.

“This team is on the same page. We’re going to continue building on the foundation laid by our former chairman, and we’re going on offense for Lehigh County,” he said.

State Sen. Lisa Boscola, who is seeking her eighth four-year term representing the 18th District, has raised vastly more money than Republican challenger Scott Janney, according to campaign finance reports filed with the state.

Heading into the Nov. 3 election, Friends of Lisa Boscola has $651,730 available for the fall campaign while the Vote for Scott Janney committee has $3,824.

Boscola, a Democrat and the Lehigh Valley’s senior senator, has more cash on hand than the area’s two other senators, who are also seeking reelection – Nick Miller (D-14), $646,693, and Jarrett Coleman (R-16), $502,993. They also hold significant fundraising advantages over their opponents.

The 18th District comprises the eastern half of Northampton County and all of Bethlehem, including the Lehigh County portion of the city.

Janney
Since announcing his campaign last year, Janney raised $15,114 and spent $11,290, through June 8, the end of the most recent reporting period.

Major contributors include PA Future Fund, a political action committee affiliated with Robert Asher, a Montgomery County Republican powerbroker and chairman of the family chocolate company, $5,000; Asher also contributed $5,000; Charles Baltic, owner of Buttercup Farm, Mount Bethel, $3,000.

On the expense side, campaign coordinator Andrew Young of Bethlehem received $5,520 and Lehigh Valley Print Center was paid $3,418 for campaign signs, flyers and cards.

Boscola
Boscola began 2025 with $504,349 in the bank. Since then, her campaign raised $249,038 and spent $101,657 through June 8.

Major contributors include Greater PA Carpenters, $3,000; Ironworkers Political Action League, $3,000; International Union of Operating Engineers Local 542, $5,000; Wind Creek Bethlehem LLC, Bethlehem, $13,000; PA Automotive Association PAC, $5,000; Operating Engineers Local 542; $5,000; Citizens for Hughes, the campaign committee for state Sen. Vincent Hughes, $6,000.

Individual donors included Raymond Lahoud, lawyer from Coopersburg, $10,000; J.B. Reilly, president of City Center Group, Allentown; $5,000; Joseph Topper, Bethlehem, an owner of City Center Group, $5,000; Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta, $1,000; Randy Galiotto, owner, Alloy 5, Bethlehem, $5,000; Louis Pektor, president, Ashley Development, Bethlehem, $5,000; and Carlos Tavares, Bethlehem, $5,000.

Expenses included Celeste Dee of Bethlehem, $16,534, for consulting and reimbursements; Aidan Levinson of Zionsville, $1,604, for website design and hosting; Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, $30,000; and Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone and Baron Vanderburg, $2,000 each for nominating petition work.

With a half-million dollars in the bank, state Sen. Jarrett Coleman holds a commanding cash advantage over Democratic challenger Mark Pinsley going into the fall election for the 16th District, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

Pinsley, the Lehigh County controller, has $10,021 remaining after winning the May 19 Democratic primary with 56% of the vote over Bradley Merkl-Gump, who was backed by the Democratic establishment with financial support and endorsements.

For the primary, Pinsley was at a financial disadvantage, as Merkl-Gump’s campaign outspent him 3-1 when combining campaign expenditures and the value of in-kind services received ($318,515 to $106,364).

The Nov. 3 election between Coleman and Pinsley is a repeat of their race from four years ago, which Coleman won with 54% of the vote. Coleman, a Republican, is seeking a second four-year term to represent the 16th District, which stretches along the western part of Lehigh County and into upper Bucks County.

Over the last 18 months, Patriots for Coleman had more than $1.3 million available and spent $846,873, leaving the campaign with $502,993 on June 8, the end of the latest reporting period.

More than half of the campaign’s money – $700,000 – came from skill games executives with Pace-O-Matic, a top supplier of skill game terminals in the U.S., including Pennsylvania, and a related political action committee, Operators for Skill.

Coleman has been a major proponent of skill games remaining untaxed and unregulated by the state.

“Skill games should operate under no tax and no regulations because they’re not gambling,” Coleman said most recently at a June 24 press conference in Harrisburg. The press conference, featuring lawmakers and skill-game proponents, came after the state Supreme Court on June 15 decided that the games can be regulated and taxed, as casino slot machines are.

Coleman and others say skill games – an estimated 70,000 in Pennsylvania – should not be taxed or regulated because they provide necessary income needed for social clubs, veterans organizations and small businesses such as gas stations. Gov. Josh Shapiro and some state lawmakers have proposed taxes on skill games to help balance the state’s budget, but the Legislature has yet to approve a plan.

The Supreme Court’s decision gave the Legislature 120 days to adopt skill-game regulations; if not, the games would be considered illegal and could be seized by authorities.

This year, Patriots for Coleman raised $496,392, with nearly all of that ($494,535) received in the first reporting period ending May 5 and the rest ($1,857) over the next five weeks.

Major contributors include Operators for Skill ($305,000); PPL PPG PAC ($5,000); PA Automotive PAC ($10,000); Raymond Lahoud, a lawyer from Coopersburg ($9,599); Chris LaBonge, owner of the Trolley Barn, Quakertown ($10,000); Andrew Wright of Allentown, president of Vinart auto dealers ($2,500); David Jaindl, owner, Jaindl Farms/Jaindl Land Co., Orefield ($7,500); Adam Jaindl, vice president of Jaindl Farms/Jaindl Land Co. ($2,399); Patricia Jaindl and John Jaindl, both retired ($1,000 each); and Friends of Scott Martin, the campaign committee for the state senator from Lancaster ($5,000).

Campaign expenses included $110,000 to Right Flank Consulting of Lancaster; $90,000 to Walsh for PA, the campaign committee for Republican state Rep, Jamie Walsh (117th District) and $100,000 to the campaign committee for Republican state Rep. Tom Jones (98th District); and $2,500 to Pennridge GOP.

Pinsley

Pinsley didn’t enter the 16th District primary until February after he dropped out of the 7th Congressional District Democratic primary contest.

In pre- and post-primary campaign finance reports, Friends of Mark Pinsley received $89,669 and spent $79,781, leaving $10,021 in cash on June 8.

Major donors included Pinsley for Congress, $20,000; Friends of Josh Siegel, the campaign committee for the Lehigh County executive, $5,000; IUPAT DC 21 Political Action Fund, Philadelphia, 2,500; Paul Egerman, Weston, Massachusetts, $3,500; Jim Kline, Easton, $5,000; IUEC Local 84 PAC Fund, $1,000; Ironworkers Political Action League, $500; Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 19, $2,500; and the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, $10,000, which came in on June 5 after the primary,

He received a $10,000 loan from Stephen Biddle, Quakertown, who also contributed $1,300. Pinsley loaned his campaign $1,500.

The largest campaign expenses went to Buying Time Media, Crownsville, Maryland, $4,000 for advertisements, and Local Strategies Firm LLC, Levittown, $9,650 for fundraising and campaign consulting.

He also received $26,582 in campaign services from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in the final two weeks before the May 19 primary; Pinsley sent $27,911 to the group on May 1.

Merkel-Gump
Friends of Bradley Merkl-Gump brought in $194,771 and spent $173,991, leaving a balance of $20,780 on June 8. The campaign also received $144,523 worth of services from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Campaign Committee.

He had the backing of Democratic state lawmakers in both counties, including state Sen. Nick Miller (14th) and Reps. Mike Schlossberg (132nd) and Peter Schweyer (133rd), as well as Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and former Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong.

Merkl-Gump, who is from Bucks County, received $70,000 from campaign committees of seven state senators, including $20,000 from Steve Santarsiero , who represents the 10th District in Bucks. Lehigh Valley Sens. Miller and Lisa Boscola (18th) each gave $5,000.

Here is a look at the latest campaign finance reports in the state’s 131st, 134th, 183rd and 187th House Districts.

Armchair Lehigh Valley previously reviewed reports in the 22nd, 132nd, 135th, 136th and 137th.

131st House District
Democrat Meriam Sabih has a cash advantage over incumbent Republican Milou Mackenzie as they head into their second faceoff in the state’s 131st House District on Nov. 3.

Friends of Meriam Sabih had a cash balance of $52,575 as of June 8 while Mackenzie, who is seeking her fourth two-year term, listed $12,791 in the bank, campaign finance reports filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State show.

Mackenzie defeated Sabih, a freelance writer and political analyst, with 57% of the vote in 2024. Sabih had outraised and outspent Mackenzie in that race as well. Both were unchallenged in the May 19 primary.

Friends of Meriam Sabih started the year with $3,140, raising $34,336 between Jan. 1 and May 4 and another $16,634 between May 5 and June 8, according to campaign finance reports.

Sabih spent $1,534 between Jan. 1 and June 8. Her biggest PAC contribution was $15,000 from Represent PAC, which supports pro-choice female candidates.

Her biggest individual donor was Llewellyn Toulmin, a travel writer from Silver Spring, Md., who gave $15,000 between Jan. 1 and May 4 and $5,200 between May 5 and June 8. Other donors include state Reps. Peter Schweyer ($1,000); Mike Schlossberg ($250) and Friends of Nick Miller, the committee for Democratic state Sen. Nick Miller of the 14th ($500). Sabih reported an unpaid loan of $5,000 that she made to her campaign in 2024.

Friends of Milou Mackenzie started the year with $15,018 and raised $2,765 between March 31 and June 8. Among Mackenzie’s contributions was $1,000 from Operators for Skill PAC. She spent $4,991. Her committee listed $25,100 in debt for loans made in 2020 from Mackenzie ($20,100) and her husband Kevin Brown ($5,000).

The 131st is comprised of Lower Milford, Upper Milford and Upper Saucon townships and Coopersburg with part of Salisbury Township in Lehigh County; Marlborough, Salford and Upper Hanover townships and East Greenville, Green Lane, Pennsburg and Red Hill in Montgomery County; and part of Lower Saucon Township in Northampton County.

134th House District
Democrat incumbent Peter Schweyer has nearly $77,000 in cash on hand as he faces a Nov. 3 challenge in 134th House District from Republican Miriam Maldonado, who had not filed a campaign expense report as of July 15.

Both candidates were unchallenged in the May 19 primary. The 134th includes the western half of South Allentown, all of Emmaus and the western part of Salisbury Township.

Friends of Peter Schweyer started the year with $56,474. The committee raised $63,119 and spent $42,686, leaving a cash balance of $76,907 as of June 8.

The bulk of Schweyer’s contributions – $59,654 – came from political committees. Among them, he received $25,000 from Keystone Seniors, which advocates for Medicaid funding for senior living facilities. Expenditures included contributing $5,250 to the unsuccessful primary election campaign of Democrat Ana Tiburcio. She had won a special election for the 22nd House seat in February but lost in the primary to Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach. Schweyer listed no debt.

A Department of State spokesperson said Maldonado has not filed any campaign reports for the year.

138th House District
Republican Ann Flood has built up $43,988 for her reelection bid in the 138th House District on Nov. 3 where she will be in a rematch with Democrat Jared Bitting, who listed $4,408 in his campaign account as of June 8.

Both candidates were unopposed in their May 19 primaries. The 138th includes Bangor, Chapman, East Bangor, Pen Argyl, Portland, Roseto, Stockertown and Wind Gap and Bushkill, and Forks, Lower Mount Bethel, Plainfield, Upper Mount Bethel and Washington townships, with parts of Moore Township.

Friends of Ann Flood carried over $36,139 from 2025 and raised $11,698 between March 31 and June 8, campaign finance reports show. The committee spent $3,849. Contributions included $1,000 each from the PA Leaders Action Fund, Operators for Skill and the Pennsylvania Apartment Association PACs.

Bitting 4 PA carried over $4,404 from 2025. The committee raised $481 and spent $477 between Jan. 1 and June 8.

Flood captured 65% of the vote in defeating BItting in 2024.

183rd House District
Incumbent Republican Zachary Mako has accrued $37,811 going into the Nov. 3 election in the 183rd House District where he will face Democrat Deirdre Kamber Todd, an attorney who had $2,398 in cash as of June 8, campaign finance records show.

Mako, who was first elected in 2016, and Todd were unopposed in their May 19 primary elections.

The 183rd District spans northern Lehigh and Northampton counties. It includes Lowhill and North Whitehall townships and Slatington Borough in Lehigh County. In Northampton County, it includes the townships of Allen, East Allen and Lehigh and part of Moore Township, and the boroughs of Bath, Walnutport, Northampton and North Catasauqua.

Zachary Mako for PA carried over $32,226 from 2025 and raised $7,700 between March 31 and May 4, campaign finance records show. Contributions included $1,500 from the Pennsylvania Apartment Association PAC and $1,000 from the Allentown Fire Fighters PAC. The committee spent $1,115.

DKamberTodd4PA raised $11,948 between Jan. 1 and June 8 with a $10,000 donation coming from the candidate and her husband Russell. The couple also is listed as having loaned the campaign $14,171. The committee spent $9,549.

187th House District
Incumbent Republican Gary Day has $39,691 going into his Nov. 3 election in the 187th House District race. His opponent, Democrat Rachel Cuevas, listed $2,672 in the bank as of June 8, campaign finance reports show.

Day was unopposed in the Republican primary in his bid for reelection. Cuevas defeated Geoffrey Whitcomb with 68% of the vote to win the Democratic nomination.

The 187th encompasses Alburtis, Macungie, Heidelberg Township, Lower Macungie Township, Lynn Township, parts of Upper Macungie Township, Washington Township and Weisenberg Township.

Friends of Gary Day carried over $3,944 from 2025 and raised $14,000 between Jan. 1 and May 4. The committee raised another $26,000 between May 5 and June 8, campaign finance reports show.

His largest contributor was Charles J. Koch, president of Boston Beer, who gave him $20,000. Boston Beer’s Samuel Adams brewery is located in Breinigsville. Christopher LaBonge, president of Fiber Optic Marketplace in Quakertown, gave him $13,000. A. Paul Grothouse Jr., president of Grothouse in Germansville, gave $3,000 while Operators for Skill PAC and Wind Creek Bethlehem each gave him $2,500.

He spent $4,302 on administrative and nomination petition preparation.

Friends of Rachel Cuevas raised $11,187 between Jan. 1 and May 4. She received a $602 in-kind contribution from Friends of Peter Schweyer for a petition event. She spent $8,514 and received, leaving her with $2,672. Cuevas loaned her campaign $306.

Whitcomb raised $3,255 and spent $3,124 between Jan. 1 and May 4, leaving him with $131 leftover.

The hard-fought battle for the 22nd District House seat, which opened when Democrat Josh Siegel became Lehigh County executive, tallied more than $200,000 in cash and in-kind spending as of June 8.

In February, Democrat Ana Tiburcio, then an Allentown School Board member, defeated Republican Robert Smith Jr., a former ASD board member, in a special election to serve the remainder of Siegel’s term.

On May 19, Allentown City Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach bested incumbent Tiburcio. Gerlach will face Smith, who was unopposed in the Republican primary, on Nov. 3 for a full two-year term. Tiburcio’s term expires Nov. 30.

The heavily Democratic 22nd district covers East Allentown, parts of Center City and three wards in Salisbury Township.

See campaign finances in Lehigh Valley state House races

The race between Gerlach and Tiburcio came down to a monetary tussle between the progressive group Working Families and the state Democrats.

Campaign expense reports filed with the state show Ce-Ce for PA spent $46,454 and received more than $38,005 worth of in-kind contributions between March 31 and June 8.

Most of the in-kind help – $34,568 – came from the Working Families National PAC for video production, supplies, canvassing and other services. The progressive group also gave Ce-Ce for PA a $2,500 cash donation.

Working Families’ support for Gerlach represents one of the largest expenditures for a Lehigh Valley candidate, according to the group.

Gerlach’s committee incurred $15,723 in debt to Community Labor Administrative Services for texting, staffing and other services. The group provides administrative services to candidates supported by Working Families.

Gerlach, who announced plans to run in the 22nd last fall, carried over $17,769 in cash that she raised in 2025. She added $41,591 between March 31 and June 8, according to campaign finance reports. She had $12,906 in cash left over.

Cash donations included $3,000 from the political committee for Siegel, who was an ally of Gerlach’s when he served on Allentown City Council. His committee also donated $1,700 worth of in-kind help for mailers.

Gerlach’s committee also received $2,500 each from Lehigh Valley Stand Up, IBEW 375 and Yamelisa Taveras of Allentown. Friends of Ce Ce Gerlach, another one of her committees, gave $1,090 while Gerlach herself contributed $1,000.

For both of her races, Tiburcio’s committee, Ana for PA, raised $64,536 and spent $54,865. She also received $76,214 worth of in-kind contributions.

Her in-kind contributors included the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee, which provided $39,385 worth of services such as digital buys and staffing. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party provided $40,341 worth of services such as mailers. Ana for PA paid the party $11,485 for services and gave the committee a $500 contribution.

Other in-kind contributors included the Progressive Turnout Victory Fund, which over the course of her campaigns gave about $3,000 worth of help.

Cash contributors included the political committees of Democratic state Reps. Mike Schlossberg (132nd), which gave over $8,850 over the two elections, and Peter Schweyer (134th), which gave $6,250 between Jan. 1 and June 8. The committee of state Sen. Nick Miller (14th) contributed $3,748.

Other cash donations included $10,000 from the Greater Pennsylvania Carpenters PAC; $4,000 from Elaine Lindy, a Philadelphia property manager; $2,500 from Wind Creek LLC; $1,500 from Operators for Skill PAC, and $1,000 from the political committee of Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk. Boston Beer founder Charles James Koch and his wife Cynthia A. Fisher gave $2,500. Boston Beer owns Samuel Adams Brewery in Breinigsville.

Smith, the Republican candidate, raised $6,872 and spent $5,597 between Jan. 1 and June 8. The Committee to Elect Bob Smith Jr. had an ending cash balance of $2,262. His campaign received $3,645 worth of in-kind contributions with the bulk – $2,411 – coming from the House Republican Campaign Committee.

Cash donors included $2,500 from John and Sandra Lovett of Allentown; $1,000 from Allentown attorney Ronald Clever and $500 from the Lehigh County Republican Committee.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie will host a telephone town hall at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Republican, who is seeking reelection in the 7th Congressional District, will take questions on key issues, according to a press release. Mackenzie will also give an update on his work in Congress.

Residents can join by calling 1-833-380-0690

This will be Mackenzie’s fourth telephone town hall. He has not held any in-person town halls himself but has appeared in televised town halls on CNN and WFMZ as well as an interview on the WFMZ’s “Business Matters with Tony Ianelli” in May.

The 7th Congressional District includes all of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties and a tiny portion of Monroe County.

Mackenzie, who defeated three-term incumbent Democrat Susan Wild in 2024, is facing Democrat Bob Brooks, a state firefighter union president, on Nov. 3.

Republican Congressman Ryan Mackenzie holds a nearly 3-1 cash advantage over his Democratic opponent Bob Brooks as the campaign for the 7th District shifts focus from the May primary to the November election, according to campaign finance reports filed Wednesday.

The Mackenzie for Congress Committee has $2.9 million available compared to $1 million held by Bob Brooks for Congress, according to the reports which covered a three-month period ending June 30.

However, Brooks closed the cash gap since the last reporting period that ended March 31, when Mackenzie had a nearly 5-1 advantage – $2,455,819 to $543,983. Brooks, who won a competitive four-way primary for the Democratic nomination, raised $1,221,033 in the second quarter compared to $631,056 by Mackenzie’s campaign.

Brooks, president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association and a former Bethlehem firefighter, won the May 19 primary with 41% of the vote defeating Ryan Crosswell (21.3%), Lamont McClure (19.9%) and Carol Obando-Derstine (17.7%).

Obando-Derstine was recruited by former Congresswoman Susan Wild, who lost to Mackenzie by one percentage point two years ago in one of the most closely watched House races nationwide.

Once again, the 7th District, which comprises all of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties and a small part of Monroe, is considered key to which party controls the House in 2027. The race is considered a tossup.

A recent poll by GBAO Research for the Democratic House Majority PAC shows Brooks ahead of Mackenzie 47% to 43%. The poll surveyed likely voters from June 29-July 2.

Brooks, a political newcomer who was encouraged to run by Gov. Josh Shapiro, western Pennsylvania Congressman Chris Deluzio and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, has attracted strong financial support.

In total, the four Democratic candidates raised $5,553,093 and spent $4,462,606. Mackenzie, who was unopposed in the primary, raised a total of $4,357,405 and spent $1,521,927. The five candidates combined raised nearly $10 million, setting the stage for an expensive race between Mackenzie and Brooks in the fall.

For the two previous elections, the 7th District has been the most expensive House race in Pennsylvania when considering outside spending in addition to what the candidates spend. In 2024, about $37 million was spent. This year’s race between Brooks and Mackenzie could be among the most costly races in the state.

In the primary, two dozen outside groups spent more than $3 million to independently support or oppose candidates.

Lead Left PAC, which is backed by conservative cash, was the top independent spender in the primary: $1.7 million to support McClure and oppose Brooks and Crosswell with TV ads and campaign mailers. The group attempted to boost McClure’s candidacy based on the theory that Mackenzie would have an easier path to victory against McClure than Brooks or Crosswell.

Brooks campaign was supported with independent spending by other groups, including the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC ($140,300), Medicare For All ($99,625); DLP PAC ($48,810); and Jobs and Democracy PAC ($249,750).

Six PACs spent a total of $12,267 in opposition to Mackenzie. Youth Save Democracy PAC spent the most ($6,044) for printing and postage for campaign material.

Among Democratic candidates, Crosswell, a former federal prosecutor, had been the leading fundraiser through the first quarter of 2026. With the latest report, however, he finished behind Brooks, bringing in a total of $1,872,528 for the campaign, spending $1,859,323, and ending with a cash balance of $13,204.

The other two Democrats were far behind. Obando-Derstine raised $593,293, spent $591,121, leaving $2,172. McClure, a former Northampton County executive, brought in $515,144, spent $512,981 and ended with $2,163.

Ryan Mackenzie
The Mackenzie for Congress Committee began the second quarter with $2,594,247, brought in $631,056 and spent $286,587.

Individual donors contributed $180,785, while political committees and PACs gave $122,193, and authorized fundraising committees chipped in $317,110.

Nearly 40% of the total raised in the second quarter came from three joint fundraising groups of House Republican leaders and a fourth affiliated with Mackenzie: Emmer Majority Builders (Majority Whip Tom Emmer), $32,495; Grow the Majority (House Speaker Mike Johnson), $88,282; Defend Our Majority (comprised of four dozen campaign committees including Mackenzie for Congress), $49,245; and Mackenzie for America, $76,226. In the first quarter, those four groups gave a total of $349,892 to Mackenzie’s campaign.

PAC contributors and political committees included Never Surrender, a PAC affiliated with President Trump ($10,000); American Israel Public Affairs Committee PAC ($3,500 and another $13,000 from individuals who funneled their contributions through the group); Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company PAC ($2,000); Honeywell International PAC ($1,500); Mark Harris for Congress, the campaign committee for the North Carolina congressman ($5,000); Americans for Growth and Prosperity ($3,500); Space Exploration Technologies Corp. PAC, affiliated with Elon Musk’s SpaceX ($8,000); PPL Corporation People for Good Government ($2,500); Comcast Corporation & NBCUniversal PAC ($5,000); Congressional Leadership Fund ($5,000).

Major individual donors include Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong of San Francisco ($7,000); Bank OZK Chairman and CEO George Gleason of Little Rock, Arkansas ($3,500); retired Chairman and CEO of FMC Corp. Robert Burt of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina ($3,500); founder and CEO of the multinational hedge fund Citadel LLC Kenneth Griffin of Miami ($7,000); Mary Elizabeth Jaindl of Allentown ($5,000); Bruce Haines, owner of Historic Hotel, Bethlehem ($1,500); William McSwain, former U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of Pennsylvania ($1,000); Louis N. Pantages, owner of Louie’s Prime Steak House, Lake Harmony, Carbon County ($3,500); Hollee A. Kreider, owner of Kreider Farms, Manheim, Lancaster County ($3,500); and Robert J. Bennett, Allentown, of the J.H. Bennett Inc. automobile group ($3,000).

Campaign expenses included Christy Consulting LLC of Philadelphia ($14,600); District City Consulting (fundraising), Washington, D.C. ($67,809); Elite Consulting, Washington, D.C. ($11,304); Frontline Strategies (digital fundraising), Elgin, Illinois ($43,527); and Fulfillment Solutions (direct mail), Sterling, Virginia ($10,624).

Bob Brooks
Since announcing his campaign in August, Brooks has raised $2,392,215 and spent $1,373,792.

He raised $1,221,033 between April 1 and June 30 and logged $454,974 in expenses.
The bulk of Brooks’ latest contributions – $978,948 – came from individuals, including about a dozen firefighters.

He also received $211,000 from political action committees, $5,000 from political party committees and $26,085 in transfers from authorized committees.

Among donors who gave $3,500 each were Johnathan Soros, CEO of JS Capital Management LLC and son of billionaire George Soros; Jennifer Allan Soros, who is Jonathan’s wife; Jonathan Tisch, executive chairman of Loews Hotels; Lizzie Tisch, a New York retail entrepreneur and Tisch’s wife; Richard Master of Easton, executive at MCS Industries Inc; Kevin Scott, chief technology officer at Microsoft; Jennifer Pritzker, a billionaire and philanthropist from Chicago and cousin of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker; and Susan Master of Bethlehem.

Donors giving $5,000 each included the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; Flip the Congress PAC, House Majority PAC, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Blue Dog PAC, Democratic Majority Fund Machinists Non-Partisan Political League; NEA Fund for Children and Public Education; Medicare for All, and the Progressive Turnout Project.

Giving $2,000 each were Jeffries for Congress, the committee for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8), and Pete Aguilar for Congress (CA-33), the committee chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

Local support included $1,000 each from state Reps. Peter Schweyer (134th) and Mike Schlossberg (132nd) as individuals. Attorney Danny Cohen of Bethlehem gave $2,500.

Campaign expenditures included $34,000 to True Blue Digital of Chicago for consulting; $90,000 to LC Media of Huntington Valley for television advertising; $11,855 to Grassroots Analytics of Washington, D.C., for fundraising; $13,500 to Arc Initiatives of Washington, D.C., for research, and $10,000 to Global Strategy Group of Washington, D.C, for consulting.

The campaign owes $15,000 to Precinct LLC of New York, N.Y., for general consulting.

A new political action committee that targeted Bradley Merkl-Gump in the Democratic primary election in the state’s 16th Senate race was funded by the Operators for Skill PAC.

Protecting Our Democracy PAC raised $52,100 between May 5 and June 8, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State.

It received $52,000 from Operators for Skill, with one donation coming on May 4 and the other on May 28. It also received $100 from Douglas T. Rickards, who is listed as the treasurer for both PACs. Rickards could not be reached for comment.

Operators for Skill – a PAC affiliated with Pace-O-Matic, the leading provider of skill games in Pennsylvania – represents the interests of the skill-gaming industry. Found in social clubs, bars and convenience stores, skill games are more similar to video games than slot machines but players can win cash prizes.

The bulk of the money from Operators for Skill was used by Protecting Our Democracy to pay Ream Printing Company of York for printing and postage, campaign records show.

Merkl-Gump, a teacher in the Perkiomen School District and member of the Pennridge School Board, lost to Lehigh County controller Mark Pinsley on May 19.

In the Republican primary, incumbent Jarrett Coleman faced no challenger in his bid for a second, four-year term. The 16th Senate District includes western Lehigh County and Upper Bucks County.

Starting in late April, Protecting Our Democracy sent four fliers urging voters not to cast ballots for Merkl-Gump.

One of the fliers targeted Merkl-Gump and state Sen. Steve Santarsiero, saying the Bucks senator who represents the 10th District is someone who “puts Israel before Pennsylvania taxpayers” and that he would be Merkl-Gump’s “party boss.” Santarsiero called the flier “antisemetic.”

Skill games, estimated to number around 70,000 in the state, had operated without oversight until June when the state Supreme Court ruled declared them as slot machines and gave lawmakers 120 days to enact regulations and taxes on them.

Anticipating a ruling, lawmakers on both sides of the table as well as the gaming industry have been jockeying over whether and how to tax them, with Gov. Josh Shapiro eyeing them as a source of a potential $2 billion in annual state revenue.

Proposals include Shapiro’s plan to levy a 52% tax on gross terminal revenue, Senate Republican plans that range from a 16%, 35% and 36% tax on gross revenue as well as a flat monthly $500 fee per machine.

Coleman opposes taxing skill games, saying it will hurt social clubs for veterans and small businesses that have skill game terminals.

Operators for Skill gave Coleman’s campaign committee $120,000 last year and $305,000 this year through June 8, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State.

Last year, Pace-O-Matic executives contributed a total of $275,000 to Patriots for Coleman: $250,000 from Michael Pace, the company’s founder and chairman; $5,000 from Frank Fina, chief operating officer; $10,000 each from Paul Goldean, president, and Michael Barley, vice president. Company executives have not contributed to Coleman’s campaign in 2026, according to campaign finance reports as of June 8, the end of the most recent reporting period.

This year, Operators for Skill PAC, which received its funding primarily from executives with skill-game companies, contributed more than $5 million to Republican and Democratic candidates, party committees and other PACs statewide, according to its 2026 campaign finance reports. It gave $50,000 to Shapiro’s reelection campaign, even though the governor proposed taxing skill games in his 2026 budget proposal.

Coleman wasn’t the only Lehigh Valley lawmaker whose campaign received money from Operators for Skill PAC, although the amounts were significantly less than what he received.

Also receiving money were Sen. Nick Miller, D-14, $12,500; Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18, $1,000; Rep. Milou Mackenzie, R-131, $1,000; Rep. Mike Schlossberg who is also the House Majority Whip, D-132, $9,600; Rep. Peter Schweyer, R-134, $1,000; Rep. Joe Emrick, R-137, $500; Rep. Ann Flood, R-138, $1,000; Rep. Zach Mako, R-183, $500; and Rep. Gary Day, R-187, $2,500.

Protecting Our Democracy registered with the state as a PAC April 15. It is chaired by Joseph Calla, owner of Capital Vending Co. in Harrisburg, which supplies coin-operated amusement devices used in skill games.

Calla is listed as having donated $156,000 to Operators for Skill PAC, according to Transparency USA, an organization that tracks political contributions. He also loaned $50,000 to Operators for Skill in November, according to the PAC’s campaign finance report.

In a Jan. 14 opinion piece in PennLive, Calla said he and others in the industry, including Pace-O-Matic, have sought clear, fair regulation and taxation with oversight going to the state Department of Revenue not the state Gaming Control Board.

Protecting Our Democracy’s campaign expense report lists its receipts and expenditures from May 5 to June 8, the campaign expense report filing period known as cycle 3.

The PAC sent the first of four fliers in April, according to a campaign mailer viewed by Armchair Lehigh Valley.

Armchair Lehigh Valley could not immediately determine whether the Protecting Our Democracy should have filed a report in cycle 2, which ran from Jan. 1 to May 4.

When the first flier was sent, Merkl-Gump told Armchair Lehigh Valley that he didn’t know why people connected to the skill games industry were targeting him. “I have never taken a position on skill games because I am a school board director,’’ he said.

Protecting Our Democracy wasn’t the only PAC to receive money from Operators for Skill.

Another Operators for Skill recipient, Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, received $950,000 between Jan. 1 and June 8, according to campaign finance reports.

The PAC seeks written commitment from lawmakers on issues that include support for strengthening election integrity, protecting the right to self-defense and expanding education freedom and opposition to net tax or fee increases and government lockdowns of businesses, churches and nonprofit organizations.

Christopher Borick, director of Muhlenberg College’s Institute of Public Opinion said PACs like Operators for Skill fund other PACs for multiple reasons.

“First, by doing so it allows them to navigate campaign finance laws in a manner that maximizes a PAC’s ability to influence races. The practice also allows PACs to keep some distance from situations and campaigns they might not want to be directly connected to. They ultimately want to skirt transparency while abiding by the very loose and limited laws that govern their actions,” he said in an email.

Democrat Nick Miller has amassed $646,693 for his reelection bid in the state’s 14th Senate District – giving him a mammoth-sized edge over Republican challenger Omy Maldonado, who listed less than $2,000 in his campaign account as of June 8, new campaign finance reports show.

The 14th District covers parts of Lehigh and Northampton counties. It had been a new Senate seat created during mandated redistricting and had no incumbent when Miller was elected in 2022.

Friends of Nick Miller started the year with $431,342. The group raised $285,209 between Jan. 1 and May 5 and then added another $68,398 between May 6 and June 8, campaign finance records show.

Of Miller’s contributions this year, $198,300 came from political committees. They included $30,000 from Keystone Seniors PAC, which represents long-term care operators advocating for Medicaid reimbursements; $25,000 from the Greater PA Carpenters PEC; $12,000 from the Steamfitters Local Union 420 Committee on Political Education, and $10,000 each from the Pennsylvania Automotive Association and the Sprinkler Fitters Local Union 692 PAC.

Miller also got $5,000 from the campaign committee of Julian Guridy, who dropped out as the Democratic candidate in the February special election for the 22nd House District over residency issues.

Individual contributors included $20,000 from Joseph Topper, retired founder of CrossAmerica Partners LP; $10,000 each from developer Abraham Atieyh of Bethlehem and Saumil Ambani, president of Hamilton Core Partners; and $5,000 each from Lee Butz, chairman of Alvin H. Butz Inc.; Mark Jaindl, CEO of American Bank, and Charles Marcon, chairman of Marcon Enterprises.

Miller’s committee spent $138,257 between Jan. 1 and June 8. Expenses included a $71,770 contribution to the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee; a $2,000 contribution to the Lehigh Valley Labor Council; and $1,000 to the campaign of Bob Brooks, the Democratic candidate in the 7th Congressional District race.

Miller also gave $5,000 to the political committee for Bradley Merkl-Gump, a Bucks County teacher and school board member who lost in the Democratic primary to Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley in the 16th state Senate race. As of May 4, the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee gave Friends of Bradley Merkl-Gump $100,000 in cash and $24,928 worth of in-kind donations for media buys.

Miller’s committee also gave $3,748 to Winning Connections for in-kind paid phones for Ana for PA, the committee for Ana Tiburcio, who won the February special election for the 22nd but lost the Democratic primary to Allentown City Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach.

Miller received $58,143 worth of in-kind donations from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and listed no debt or loans between Jan. 1 and June 8.

Maldonado is a consultant who ran unsuccessfully in the 2022 GOP primary for the seat. Friends of Omy Maldonado raised $400 between Jan. 1 and March 30 and $799 between March 31 and May 4, campaign finance reports show. He spent $79 and listed no debts or loans. He received $27,000 worth of in-kind donations from the Senate Republican Campaign Committee for polling and campaign staff.

He had a cash balance of $1,194 as of June 8. He was fined $80 for filing a report, which was due on May 8, on May 14, campaign records show.

Fundraising has not been a factor so far in the race for Pennsylvania’s 135th House District, where incumbent Democrat Steve Samuelson leads Republican challenger Joseph Poplawski in finances.

Samuelson’s campaign committee, Friends of Steve Samuelson, reported $5,102 available with $4,902 cash on hand after spending $200, according to the latest campaign finance reports for the period ending June 8. Meanwhile, Friends of Joseph Poplawski reported $839 available with $99 on hand after spending $740.

The 135th District includes the Northampton County side of Bethlehem and part of Hanover Township. Samuelson has represented the district since 1999 and is seeking his 15th consecutive term.

Poplawski, a Bethlehem resident who owns a home inspection company, is seeking state office after running an unsuccessful bid for Bethlehem City Council last year. The election is Nov. 3.

Samuelson’s campaign has reported no monetary or in-kind contributions this year, and minimal expenditures — just tickets for dinners with the Bethlehem NAACP and Lehigh Valley Labor Council totaling $400.

The Samuelson campaign was more active in 2025, when it reported $19,100 in contributions, mostly from political action committees, and spent $16,111. The biggest contributions last year were $2,000 each from Certified Public Accountants PAC and Law PAC, both in Harrisburg; and $1,000 from Operators for Skill PAC in Harrisburg. All other PAC contributions were $500 or less. The biggest individual contributions in 2025 were $2,500 from Wind Creek Bethlehem LLC and $1,000 from John D. Berkheimer of Bangor, the CEO of Berkheimer Associates.

The Samuelson campaign’s most significant expense last year was a $15,000 contribution to the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee, the party’s campaign arm in Harrisburg. The committee ended 2025 with $5,302.

Poplawski’s campaign reported $949 in contributions this year — most of that as a $740 in-kind contribution from Poplawski himself for sign printing, which was also listed as the biggest expenditure so far. The other $209 contributions came from Friends of Heather L. Christein, the campaign committee for an unsuccessful 2025 Bethlehem Area School Board candidate.

Neither candidate for Pennsylvania’s 136th House District reported any significant fundraising so far in 2026, but longtime incumbent Democrat Robert Freeman still holds a significant cash advantage over Republican challenger Pilar Cavallo-Campisi.

The Committee to Elect Robert Freeman reported $49,961 cash on hand in its latest campaign finance report for the period ending June 8. The campaign reported $250 in contributions and $539 in expenditures since March 31.

Meanwhile, Cavallo-Campisi’s campaign committee, Pilar for PA, reported $225 on hand, with no contributions or expenditures yet this year.

The 136th House District in southeastern Northampton County covers all of Easton, Freemansburg, Glendon, Hellertown, West Easton, Williams Township and Wilson Borough, and parts of Palmer and Lower Saucon townships. The election will be Nov. 3.

Freeman has represented the 136th for 40 years. First elected in 1982, he served six terms before losing a run for state Senate in 1994. He reclaimed the House seat in 1998 and won every election since. He is seeking his 15th consecutive two-year term.

Cavallo-Campisi, a Williams Township native, owns Norwegian Spa in the township and developed Tree Froggy organic skin care products.

Freeman’s funding is carried over from 2025. At the end of the year, his campaign committee reported $12,575 in contributions, almost all from political action committees.

The biggest donations in that report were $2,000 from IBEW Local Union #375 in Allentown; and $1,000 each from 1776 PAC in Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County; International Union of Operating Engineers Local 542 PAC, in Fort Washington, Montgomery County; AFSCME Council 13 Political & Legislative PAC in Harrisburg; LAWPAC in Camp Hill; and PA Bar PAC in Harrisburg. He also got an individual $1,000 donation from Eric Clancy, of Camp Hill, executive vice president of Delta Development Group.

The Freeman campaign’s $3,484 in expenditures at the end of 2025 included a $3,000 contribution to the PA House Democratic Campaign Committee. Other spending covered various sponsorships, event tickets, and fees.

The campaign for Mike Schlossberg, the Democratic Majority Whip seeking an eighth term in Pennsylvania’s 132nd House District, has raised $106,958 in contributions so far this year — and spent most of it to assist other Democratic campaigns. Republican challenger Caren Lowrey has reported $6,179 in combined monetary and in-kind fundraising in 2026.

Schlossberg’s campaign committee, Friends of Mike Schlossberg, reported $81,708 available with $29,003 on hand in the latest finance reporting cycle, which ended June 8. Meanwhile, Friends of Caren Lowrey reported $5,084 available with $3,577 on hand.

The 132nd District in Lehigh County covers parts of Allentown and Upper Macungie Township and all of South Whitehall Township. Schlossberg has represented the district since 2013. As the whip for Democrats’ one-seat majority in the state House, he organizes votes and works to maintain the party line.

Lowrey, a South Whitehall resident, is a drug educator and prevention specialist. She will face Schlossberg in the Nov. 3 election.

Political action committees provided Schlossberg with $70,550 in 2026.

The biggest contributions include $5,000 each from IBEW Local Union #375 PAC in Allentown and Keystone Seniors PAC in Dover, Delaware; $3,600 from Operators for Skill PA in Harrisburg; $3,500 total from HAPAC in Harrisburg, representing the state’s hospitals and health systems; and $2,500 each from PPL’s People for Good Government (PPG) PAC in Harrisburg, Transportation Construction Industries PAC in Harrisburg, Certified Public Accountants PAC in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Bankers Public Affairs Committee in Harrisburg, Highmark PAC in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania Apartment Association PAC in Harrisburg, and UnitedHealth Group Inc. PAC of PA in Washington, D.C.

Schlossberg’s most significant individual contributors this year include $5,000 from John B. Reilly of Bethlehem, president of City Center Group, the major downtown Allentown developer; $2,500 from Richard Master of Easton, chair of MCS Industries; and $1,500 from Charles Marcon of Allentown, a trustee of the Harry C. Trexler Trust. Schlossberg also put up $5,000 himself.

Among Schlossberg’s expenses this year were contributions totaling $67,750 to the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee. Schlossberg’s campaign has also directly contributed $14,100 to individual Democratic races. Most of those donations were small, $500 or less. Schlossberg’s biggest show of financial support was $8,850 total to Rep. Ana Tiburcio, who lost the May 19 Democratic primary for Lehigh County’s 22nd District. He also provided $1,000 each this year to Bob Brooks, who won the Democratic primary for the Lehigh Valley area’s 7th Congressional District, and to Democratic state Rep. Jen Mazzocco, who ran unopposed in her primary for the state’s 42nd House District south of Pittsburgh.

Other expenses reported by Schlossberg’s campaign include $5,000 to KC Strategies in Harrisburg for event consulting and finance report compliance; a $2,097 reimbursement to Schlossberg himself; $1,467 for renting event space from A True LOVE Story in Allentown; $1,364 for a fundraiser at McGrath’s Pub in Harrisburg; and $1,200 to the Lehigh County Democratic Committee for office rent.

In 2025, Schlossberg raised $322,667 and spent $304,082 — including $250,000 to the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee. His biggest contributors last year were $30,000 from Reilly; $25,000 from Michael J. Perrucci of Bethlehem, co-founder of Easton law firm Florio Perrucci Steinhardt Cappelli & Tipton; $25,000 from Joseph V. Topper Jr. of Bethlehem, chair of CrossAmerica Partners; $11,000 from RCPA PAC in Harrisburg, representing the Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association; $7,500 from Operators for Skill PAC; and $6,500 from Wind Creek Bethlehem.

For Lowrey’s campaign, the biggest donations this year have been $1,000 each from Michael Bloom of Allentown and Ronald M. Roth of Palo Alto, California, both of whom are listed as retired. All other individual contributions were $500 or less, and no money has come from PACs. Lowery herself provided a $259 in-kind contribution for printing materials.

Most of Lowrey’s $1,949 in expenses have been minimal, for fees and a fundraiser. The largest expense was $1,500 to McShane LLC in Las Vegas for campaign consulting.

Lowrey also reported spending $500 of her own money as a contribution to Keystone Forge PAC in Center Valley, a new committee that registered with the state in September 2025.

The Keystone Forge website describes it as a digital outreach operation for local Republican candidates, noting as clients Joseph Poplawski, who is running in the 135th House District against incumbent Steve Samuelson, and Scott Janney, who is taking on incumbent Lisa Boscola in the 18th Senate District.

Keystone Forge was founded by Robert Dandi and Daniel Rossi — Dandi leads his own real estate group and won election in May to the state Republican committee for Lehigh County; the Keystone Forge website lists Rossi as a member of the Northampton County Republican Committee.

The Keystone Forge website also solicits donations for equipment, infrastructure and “motivation.” Finance reports show Lowrey’s contribution accounts for almost half of the Keystone Forge PAC’s current $1,099 balance.

Lehigh County Commissioner Jon Irons, a leading progressive in the Lehigh Valley, will resign from his post on July 8, he announced today.

He plans to join his wife, Allison Mickel, in Georgia, where last year she accepted a job as an archaeology professor at Georgia Tech. She had been a professor at Lehigh University before that.

“My hope was to stay through the end of my term [through 2027]. It was important to live up to that commitment,” he said in an interview with Armchair Lehigh Valley.

However, being separated from his wife turned out to be difficult. He does not have a job lined up, saying he likely will work in a social policy role.

The board of commissioners will appoint - at a date to be determined – a replacement to finish the remainder of Irons’ term.

Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel commended Irons’ tenure on the board of commissioners.

“Jon has been a powerful voice of conscience on the board, with a keen sense of justice and boundless compassion,” Siegel said in a statement.

“He understands government’s obligation to serve as a bulwark against life’s hardships, especially for the struggling and underprivileged. I sincerely hope that in appointing Jon’s successor, the board will choose someone who shares his generous worldview and will be as conscientious as he has been in helping the people of Lehigh County.”

Irons, 39, worked as a manager of data and evaluation at Communities in Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania. He was elected in 2023 in what was a sweep by Democrats for four seats on the nine-member board.

He came to the Lehigh Valley from California with his wife when she was hired by Lehigh in 2017 and soon became involved in advocating for social justice reforms. After being elected county commissioner, he pushed for such reforms.

With the board of commissioners, he succeeded in obtaining funds for county social workers to check on people with mental health problems after encounters with police and added data reviews of healthcare for prisoners at the county jail to better prepare them for life outside of jail.

He also proposed a symbolic measure to denounce the rise of fascism and authoritarianism in the United States, which was narrowly approved by a 5-4 vote. He also advocated for reforms to the criminal justice system and to increase affordable housing.

In a statement, Irons expressed appreciation for the other eight commissioners on the board. He also reflected on the importance of being a commissioner.

“Earning the privilege to serve my community in this role,” he said, “was a life-changing opportunity to learn and work alongside some of the most committed organizers, public servants, and working people the Lehigh Valley has to offer.”

Incumbent Republican Joe Emrick leads Democratic challenger Jeff Warren in campaign fundraising for Pennsylvania’s 137th House District, a race that national Democrats have targeted for a flip.

After reporting little fundraising early in the year, the latest round of campaign finance reports through June 8 show that Emrick’s campaign doubled its cash on hand through May and now sits on $140,340 to Warren’s $105,286. A month ago, reports showed Warren leading with $84,535 in cash to Emrick’s $70,813.

Both campaigns received significant amounts from political action committees. Recognizable individual contributors include NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who donated to Emrick, and Boston Beer Co. Chairman Charles “Jim” Koch, who supported Warren.

The 137th District in central Northampton County covers Nazareth, Tatamay, all of the townships of Bethlehem and Upper Nazareth, and part of Hanover and Palmer townships.

Emrick, formerly a history teacher and Upper Nazareth Township supervisor, has represented the district since 2011 and is seeking his ninth term in Harrisburg.

By backing Warren, a Northampton County commissioner and former aide to Sen. Lisa Boscola who served on municipal government boards in Easton and Hanover Township, the national Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee sees a chance for an upset that would help preserve or increase the party’s one-seat majority in the state House.

Donors have targeted the district before. In 2024, Democratic challenger Anna Thomas amassed more than $1 million in cash donations and a half-million dollars of in-kind contributions to Emrick’s combined $500,000. (Thomas lost by 1,300 votes.) By mid-May 2024, the Thomas campaign had almost $400,000 available to Emrick’s $144,000. Finance reports show that the Warren campaign hasn’t seen that sort of fundraising clout so far.

But Warren, in his first state campaign, has far surpassed Thomas’ pace in her first run for the 137th in 2022; she raised only about $5,000 by this point that year, but still later amassed about $540,000 in cash and in-kind contributions, almost even with Emrick. (She lost by 703 votes.)

Jeff Warren

Jeff Warren’s campaign committee ended the reporting period with $108,356 available and $105,286 cash in hand, a sizable gain from the roughly $25,000 available at the end of 2025. Since late October, Warren’s campaign received at least $68,571 from PACs and campaign committees.

The most significant contributor so far is Change PA, which is dedicated to protecting Democrats’ narrow majority in the state House. The PAC provided Warren with at least $30,000 over two contributions this year.

The second biggest single donation — $20,017 — came from Warren’s county commissioner campaign committee at the end of 2025.

Other significant support comes from other Democratic campaigns and unions: $5,000 from Friends of Arvin Venkat, the incumbent in Allegheny County’s 30th District; $3,000 each from IBEW Local Union #375 in Allentown and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 542 in Fort Washington, Montgomery County; and $2,500 from Friends of Matt Bradford, the Democratic Majority leader representing Montgomery County’s 70th District.

Leading Warren’s individual donations so far this year is $4,863 from Todd Vogel of Seattle, who was listed as the managing director of Loom, a nonprofit focused on environmental and social issues.

Other notable contributions include $2,500 from Koch, of Palm Beach, Florida, whose Boston Beer Co. operates a Samuel Adams brewery in Breinigsville; $2,500 from Weston Milliken, of West Hollywood, California, a shareholder in the textile, flooring, chemical and healthcare product manufacturer Milliken & Co.; $2,000 from Easton resident Randy Galiotto, principal architect at Alloy5; and $1,500 each from Thomas Rothman, the chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, and Roy Miller, a retiree from Bethlehem.

Warren’s campaign reported $10,194 in expenditures this year. The most significant expenses were $2,400 total to Commonwealth Compliance Solutions in Mechanicsburg for compliance services; $1,366 to Capital Promotions in Glenside, Montgomery County, for yard signs; and $1,005 to Nazareth Brew Co. for event food and beverages. All other expenses were under $1,000 and mostly consisted of various fees, technology, mailers or minor event costs.

Joe Emrick

Before this latest reporting cycle, Joe Emrick’s campaign had little to report in either contributions or expenditures. Before May, the largest single donation was $2,500 late last year from Wind Creek Bethlehem. Individual donations were $1,000 or less.

Then, in the latest round of reporting from May 5 to June 8, the incumbent raised $72,480, including $48,200 from PACs.

The biggest single contributions to date were $5,000 each from Friends of Tim O’Neal, the campaign committee for the state House Republican whip; and from Guy Saxton, Easton, who works at Northampton Memorial Shrine.

Several PACs and campaign committees contributed $2,500: IBEW Local Union 375 PAC in Allentown; PA Realtors PAC; Friends of Jesse Topper, the campaign committee for the state House Republican leader; PA Future Fund; Pennsylvania Apartment Association PAC; Keystone Seniors PAC; The DT PAC; and Friends of Carl Walker Metzgar, the committee for the state representative from Somerset County.

Individual contributions include $2,500 from Isaacman, the Easton-area billionaire whom President Donald Trump appointed this year to lead NASA. A prominent Easton-area family also added to the campaign coffers: $1,000 from Majestic Athletic founder Faust E. Capobianco III, now retired, and $2,500 each from former company President Faust E. Capobianco IV and Nicole Capobianco, both listed as self-employed.

The Emrick campaign has spent $6,782 this year, mostly on fundraising events. The biggest single expense was $3,186 to RGB Politics in Camp Hill for petition party invites. The same firm was also paid $1,843 for palm cards and $1,393 for a separate round of invitations. Other expenses to date include $1,885 for a fundraiser at Green Pond Country Club in Bethlehem and $1,068 for a fundraiser at Wanderlust Beer Gardens in Easton. Other expenses under $1,000 include event food and a Little League sponsorship.

President Donald Trump urged enthusiastic followers to preserve the Republican majority in Congress in the November midterm elections, though he rarely referred to candidates by name while speaking Tuesday at the Mack Trucks assembly plant in Lower Macungie Township.

”We’ve got to get a certain very talented congressman reelected. You know that? Where are you, Mr. Congressman? We’ve got to get you back in,” the president said early in his remarks, referring to Ryan Mackenzie, the Lehigh Valley’s freshman Republican representative whose swing district Trump was visiting. He didn’t say Mackenzie’s name until almost an hour into his 90-minute appearance, when he invited Mackenzie on stage to speak.

Mackenzie, for his part, praised Trump as he stood next to the president. “You are the president that is fighting for all Americans,” Mackenzie said.

Similarly, the president often referred to Sen. David McCormick, who is not up for reelection, by first name only. He gave shoutouts to Pennsylvania Republican Congressmen Lloyd Smucker, John Joyce and Dan Meuser before bringing Mackenzie up. He did not mention Republican gubernatorial candidate Stacy Garrity, though she, with Mackenzie, was one of the speakers priming the audience before Trump’s arrival. He did take a swipe at Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, whom Trump called “not much better” than “communists.”

To see more photos from the rally, click here.

The event at Mack Trucks was meant to be an official presidential event about labor and industry, with a banner behind the podium proclaiming “American workers first.”

However, it had the feeling of a political rally with many examples of Trump’s tendencies toward hyperbole (favorable policy results were often “the biggest in history”) and digressions (at least 10 minutes were devoted to Sunday’s UFC Freedom 250 fights on the White House lawn, another few minutes to farmers who died by suicide when they couldn’t pass down their land).

Trump’s remarks veered sometimes abruptly from elections to the war with Iran, tariffs, union negotiations, the trade deficit, the stock market, 401(k) plans, economics, border enforcement, transgender athletes, immigration, the midterms, the Second Amendment, prescription drug costs, and military recruitment.

The president briefly touched on industry news in the Lehigh Valley, mentioning Eli Lilly’s planned $3.5 billion Upper Macungie production plant, Nokia’s recent announcement to invest $30 million in semiconductor operations, and B. Braun’s $20 million expansion, as well as general praise for his host, Mack.

“For more than 100 years, this legendary company has been making trucks right here in eastern Pennsylvania … the heavy-duty machinery that keeps our economy rolling, our factories moving and our industries roaring all across the nation,” Trump said.

In April 2025, Mack Trucks announced it would lay off up to 350 works due to uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs. Mack President Stephen Roy told the crowd before Trump’s arrival that the company is recalling 150 to the Macungie plant.

Mackenzie was at the plant on Friday to announce $47 million in funding for the company’s defense division. The funding will allow Mack to continue building a specialized heavy dump truck for military use.

Trump was last in the region in December, when he addressed about 2,000 people in Mt. Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County. Tuesday’s remarks at the Lower Macungie plant come five years after President Joe Biden spoke about his administration’s Made in America initiatives on the same factory floor.

Trump arrived on Tuesday amid sagging popularity in Pennsylvania and a looming midterm election battle in the Lehigh Valley that could determine control of the U.S. House. Mackenzie will face Democrat Bob Brooks in the November general election for the Lehigh Valley’s 7th Congressional District seat. The race is considered a tossup and has been targeted by Democrats for its potential to flip.

Trump has a 29% overall approval rating in the state, down 10 points since March, according to the latest Franklin & Marshall College Poll. The poll found his approval slipping on issues including the economy, with 47% of surveyed voters saying they are worse off financially than they were a year ago.

The Franklin & Marshall poll also found a 12-point preference for Democrats over Republicans on a generic ballot.

Political analysts told Armchair Lehigh Valley ahead of Trump’s appearance that his visit can be tricky for swing-district candidates like Mackenzie.

“They … need to be strategic in how they tie themselves to the current administration,” said Berwood Yost, director of Franklin & Marshall’s Center for Opinion Research.

A personal visit from the president can boost the profile of an iconic business, highlight local policy gains and generate enthusiasm among Republican voters, but it could also tie a candidate to Trump’s own popularity, for better or worse, said Christopher Borick, director of Muhlenberg College’s Institute of Public Opinion.

“The visit may be a tacit recognition that Mackenzie will not be able to distance himself from Trump this fall,” Borick said.

Despite the president’s overall decline in popularity, the crowd of about 1,000 was generally enthusiastic, though energy ebbed and flowed through the event. They were lined up in the morning rain outside the plant before 9:30 a.m., more than four hours before the president was scheduled to appear. Red hats and star-spangled clothing and paraphernalia abounded under the umbrellas and plastic ponchos. At least one person dressed as George Washington could be seen striding through the lot.

Inside the sprawling, cavernous plant, visitors followed a fenced-in path to a large, cleared area. The president’s podium sat atop a stage flanked by two red, white and blue trucks, with seats arranged for about 600 people.

Bleachers behind the president were filled with workers wearing high-visibility vests. There were grandstands to the sides, and three sections of seats in front. Standing room behind the media pen stayed mostly empty. An open bay door provided access to portable toilets and a Take-A-Taco food truck outside.

The event began shortly after 12:30 p.m. with a benediction, the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem. Speakers warming up the crowd included Mack Trucks President Stephen Roy; Garrity; Meuser, who represents the 9th District; Mackenzie; NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who lives in the Lehigh Valley; and Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling.

The lead-in speeches mostly focused on labor and industry, though some ventured into campaigning and elections. Garrity said Pennsylvania needs a governor “who will be a partner with President Trump.” Meuser encouraged Republicans to support their candidates and vote against “socialist Democrats.”

Trump started about 45 minutes late and yielded the microphone on a few occasions. Guest speakers while the president was on stage included Sam Elias, a Bethlehem police officer and unsuccessful 2025 candidate for Northampton County Council; a Mack Trucks employee Patrick McHugh Jr,; Mackenzie; and UFC Freedom 250 fighter Bo Nickal.

Opponents didn’t wait for Trump to speak before issuing preemptive rebuttals.

“Donald Trump has no shame coming back to our Commonwealth as he works alongside Stacy Garrity, Ryan Mackenzie, and Dan Meuser to find new and uniquely corrupt ways to make life harder for Pennsylvanians — from their costly war of choice that caused gas prices to skyrocket to their cruel healthcare cuts that have already forced more than 160,000 Pennsylvanians to drop their insurance,” Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Eugene DePasquale said in an emailed statement.

In a joint statement with Mike Shupp, the president of United Auto Workers Local 677 that represents Mack employees, Bob Brooks, Mackenzie’s Democratic opponent, called the Republican incumbent “a liar who campaigned on a promise to lower costs but has instead voted in lockstep with his boss Donald Trump to jack up prices, rip away health care, and spend billions of dollars on a needless war overseas.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued dueling statements with the former crediting Trump and Mackenzie for “a major comeback” for workers, and the latter saying the two are “working hand-in-hand to unleash a cost-of living crisis on Pennsylvanians.”

Lead Left PAC, which spent $1.7 million in a failed attempt to meddle in last month’s 7th Congressional District Democratic primary, revealed in a campaign finance report what observers suspected: Its effort was backed by money from conservative interests to undermine the leading Democratic candidates.

Lead Left received $3.19 million from the Conservative Americans PAC, according to its May monthly report filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission.

But where did Conservative Americans PAC, which showed a cash balance of $30,695,000 on March 31, get its money?

All of it came from American Prosperity Alliance in seven contributions from May 19, 2025, to March 2. The single largest contribution ($27.8 million) came Dec. 24, 2025, according to the FEC.

As a nonprofit, American Prosperity Alliance is not required to register with the FEC nor disclose its donors. American Prosperity Alliance’s website says it is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization that advocates for free-market enterprise policies that “advance economic prosperity in America.”

It’s common for super PACs like Conservative Americans to receive contributions from dark-money organizations such as American Prosperity Alliance as a way to conceal who gave the money, said Shanna Ports, Campaign Legal Center’s senior legal counsel for campaign finance.

“When a dark money organization gives money to a super PAC, like Americans for Prosperity Alliance contributing to Conservative Americans PAC, it’s often called ‘grey money’ because voters have some information about the super PAC’s funding (the name of the contributing organization), but still lack any knowledge about the individuals who were the original source of the money,” Ports said in an emailed response to questions from Armchair Lehigh Valley.

“Both dark money and grey money are extremely damaging to election transparency because they prevent voters from understanding who is seeking to influence their vote and who is spending money to influence candidates,” she said.

Lead Left, with its financial support from Conservative Americans, spent more than $3 million over 20 days in May leading up to the primary in the 7th District and in two other Democratic congressional primaries that month – one each in Nebraska and Texas.

In the 7th District, Lead Left paid for TV ads and campaign materials to attack candidates Ryan Crosswell and eventual nominee Bob Brooks while supporting Lamont McClure. McClure, who finished third behind Brooks and Crosswell, was unaware of the PAC or its intentions before the ads began. Federal election law prohibits a PAC from coordinating its expenditures with a candidate’s campaign.

Brooks and Crosswell were considered more formidable opponents than McClure against first-term incumbent Republican Congressman Ryan Mackenzie in the Nov. 3 election, which is considered a tossup and key to which party controls the House in 2027.

Lead Left filed expense reports before and after the primaries but was not required to file a report that reflected its income until Saturday.

Lead Left, which registered with the FEC on April 24, received its $3.19 million in three installments from Conservative Americans PAC on May 5, 6 and 18.

On its website, Lead Left PAC disguises its true intent, saying it “will stop at nothing to keep Donald Trump from stealing our country from us.”

Conservative Americans PAC features an opposite message on its website, saying it is a super PAC “dedicated to electing true conservatives who will fight the radical left, socialists and woke mob to ensure that America continues to be a strong, free and prosperous nation.”

Both websites contain a single page and provide no other information, such as links to make donations.

Conservative Americans registered with the FEC in November 2023 and never received the huge amount of money it did over the last year. It raised $1.4 million by the end of 2024, and after expenses had $61,234 in cash.

It received $30,695,000 in seven installments from American Prosperity Alliance between May 19, 2025, and March 2, 2026. The single largest – $27.8 million – was made on Dec. 23, 2025.

Conservative Americans PAC gave a total of $8,946,000 to four other PACs, according to its first quarter campaign finance report for the period ending March 31: Conservatives for American Excellence Inc. ($2,436,000); Conservative Texans PAC ($5,530,000); Fight to Win America PAC ($500,000); and Keep America Great PAC ($500,000). It had $19.2 million in cash at the end of the reporting period. The PAC is not required to file a report for the second quarter of 2026 until mid-July.

President Donald Trump will visit the Mack Trucks manufacturing plant in Lower Macungie Township 2 p.m. Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who represents the 7th District, said in a statement Friday evening that he looks forward to joining Trump at “one of our nation’s most iconic manufacturers.”

Earlier Friday, Mackenzie held a press conference at a Mack Trucks’ subsidiary, Mack Defense in Allentown, where company representatives and United Auto Workers Local 677 members acknowledged the $47 million he secured so the company could continue making its M917A3 heavy dump trucks for the military, according to a press release from Mackenzie’s office.

Mackenzie, a first-term Republican congressman, is seeking reelection Nov. 3 to a second term against Democrat Bob Brooks. The race is considered a tossup and critical to determining which party will control the House next year.

Trump’s visit to Mack Trucks will be his second to the region in seven months. In December he addressed about 2,000 people at Mt. Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County. Mackenzie also spoke at that rally.

The stop at Mack Trucks comes when, according to a Franklin & Marshall poll released Thursday, 71% of Pennsylvania voters believe the president is doing a fair or poor job.

Trump held two campaign rallies in the Lehigh Valley before the 2024 election, one in Schnecksville and one at the PPL Center in Allentown. President Joe Biden visited the Mack plant in 2021.

To attend the event, click here for tickets, which are limited.

Pennsylvania voters “are deeply concerned about their personal finances and are increasingly dissatisfied with President Trump’s performance,” according to a Franklin & Marshall College Poll released Thursday.

Of those surveyed, 71% believe President Trump is doing a fair or poor job, compared to 29% who said he is doing an excellent or good job. The poll noted a “sizable decline” of 10 points since its March survey, when Trump’s positive approval rating was 39%.

Trump’s approval ratings for immigration, foreign affairs and inflation all dropped since the college’s October poll. Trump’s approval of how he is handling of inflation fell from 31% positive in October to 17% positive in the poll released Thursday.

Nearly half of the voters (47%) say their financial condition is worse than a year ago. That’s an increase from the college’s last poll in March, when 36% of voters said they were worse off financially compared to the year before.

More than a third of Pennsylvania voters (35%) said the economy – which includes unemployment, housing and real estate costs, and higher gas and utility prices – is the state’s most important problem. Among those voters who said the economy is the No. 1 problem, 42% said Democrats can handle the economy better while 24% said Republicans can.

The poll also asked voters how they would vote on a generic ballot – Republican or Democrat – in the U.S. House race.

“Democrats have a pretty big lead – 12 points,” Berwood Yost, director of the college’s Center for Opinion Research, said during an online forum to discuss the poll Thursday night.

“The other thing about the midterm congressional races is that Democrats seem much more interested in the election … than Republicans [by] about a 13-point advantage [64% to 51%],” he said.

The two first-term Republican congressmen – Ryan Mackenzie vs. Democrat Bob Brooks in the Lehigh Valley’s 7th District and Rob Bresnahan vs. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti in the 8th – are vulnerable, Yost said.

“You’ve got two freshman Republicans. Freshmen always have a tough time, right? I would say, given the nature of those districts, they’re very narrow Republican advantages in terms of performance,” he said.

”I think those two guys are in real trouble just because of the context” of low approval ratings for Trump and attitudes about the economy.

Democrats are targeting Republican incumbents in the 7th and 8th districts as well as the 1st (incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick vs. Democratic Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie) and the 10th (incumbent Scott Perry vs. Democrat Janelle Stelson) in their attempt to take control of the U.S. House in 2027. Yost noted that voter attitudes could change by the Nov. 3 election.

Pennsylvania issues

Respondents to the poll also weighed in on Pennsylvania issues.

Nearly half (47%) believe the state is “on the wrong track” while 36% believe it is “headed in the right direction.” The last time a majority of registered voters believed the state was headed in the right direction was January 2020.

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s job approval ratings “are holding up pretty well considering how much pessimism voters express,” the poll said.

Voters are evenly divided on Shapiro, with 48% saying he is doing an excellent or good job and 48% saying he is doing a fair or poor job. However, in looking at the November election for governor, the poll found that Shapiro, a Democrat, leads Republican Stacy Garrity, the state’s treasurer, 50% to 28%.

Voters who positively view Shapiro’s job performance cross partisan lines, with three out of four Democrats, nearly half of independents, and about a quarter of Republicans saying he is doing an “excellent” or “good” job.

The poll’s results on state issues show:

• 89% support limiting students’ access to cell phones in schools.

• 72% favor a state law that would make it illegal to discriminate in employment or housing based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. “Voters have consistently favored such a law since the question was first asked in 2014,” the poll said.

• 71% favor regulating and taxing skill games, which are similar to computer video games. That is an increase from Franklin & Marshall’s 2024 poll when 60% were in favor of regulating and taxing them. (On Monday, the state Supreme Court ruled that skill games, which are found in social clubs, bars and convenience stores, are a form of gambling and should be regulated by the state. The decision clears the way for the state to tax the estimated 70,000 machines in Pennsylvania.)

• 70% support having an independent redistricting commission draw legislative districts, and 59% oppose the mid-decade redistricting occurring in some states.

The poll of 546 registered voters was conducted June 8–14 by the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College. Of the 546 respondents, there were 233 Democrats, 226 Republicans and 87 independents. All respondents were contacted by mail. Interviews were then conducted by phone or online. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 5.1 percentage points.

Lead Left PAC, which spent more than $1.7 million to influence the outcome of the 7th Congressional District Democratic May 19 primary, appears to have violated federal campaign finance regulations by spending money on ads created by two “shell companies,” according to a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The complaint – filed May 14 by Campaign Legal Center, a Washington, D.C., democracy watchdog group – also references the PAC’s similar efforts in congressional primaries in Texas and Nebraska.

In total, Lead Left, which reportedly has Republican connections, spent more than $3 million over 20 days in May leading up to the primaries.

In the 7th District, the super PAC paid for TV ads and campaign materials to attack candidates Ryan Crosswell and eventual winner Bob Brooks while supporting Lamont McClure. McClure, who finished third behind Brooks and Crosswell, was unaware of the PAC or its intentions before the ads began. Federal election law prohibits a PAC from coordinating its expenditures with a candidate’s campaign. The PAC never mentioned the fourth candidate, Carol Obando-Derstine.

Suspected GOP-connected TV ad attacks Brooks, Crosswell, supports McClure

Lead Left’s website, which consists of one page, proclaims that “Lead Left PAC stands against MAGA extremists who will infect our country with Donald Trump’s agenda. … We will stop at nothing to keep Donald Trump from stealing our country from us.”

Despite the anti-Trump message, the PAC has Republican connections, according to news reports.

Punchbowl News reported on May 8 that Lead Left’s website contained metadata connecting it to WinRed, a Republican online campaign contribution portal.

Lead Left attempted to influence the 7th District primary as well as those in Nebraska’s 2nd District (May 12) and Texas’ 35th (May 26 run-off) by boosting underdog candidates to ostensibility make it easier for Republicans to win in November.

“What they seem to have in common are candidates that for one reason or another the folks behind Lead Left have identified as worthy of their support probably because they would present an easier choice to defeat … in the general election,” said Saurav Ghosh, the Campaign Legal Center’s director for federal campaign finance reform who filed the FEC complaint.

In seeking comment for this story, Armchair sent emails to Lead Left’s email addresses listed on its FEC statement of organization form. One email was returned as undeliverable, and the PAC did not respond to an email to the second one.

Lead Left’s ads and flyers alleged Brooks and Crosswell never stood up to Trump while McClure as Northampton County executive did. During the primary campaign, Brooks and Crosswell repeatedly criticized Trump and the 7th District’s Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie.

Brooks is a longtime union member and president of Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association. Crosswell was a federal prosecutor until 2025 when he resigned to protest the Justice Department’s decision to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

The 7th District, which comprises Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties and a small portion of Monroe, is among a handful of districts nationwide that can determine which party controls the House in 2027. The election is considered a tossup.

A ‘bipartisan problem’

Ghosh said Lead Left follows a game plan typical of super PACs that “meddle” in elections by not disclosing contributors before an election.

That strategy is used by Republican and Democratic groups, he said in an interview with Armchair Lehigh Valley.

“This is an incredibly common tactic … It’s the kind of dirty trick to cover up who’s influencing elections,” he said. “The nature of dark money, the nature of using these kinds of tactics to conceal spending from voters, it’s a bipartisan problem. Certainly both sides have been engaging in this kind of activity.”

He explained how PACs use the system by taking advantage of campaign finance deadlines:

PACs register with the FEC close to an election and begin spending money to attack and/or support candidates. They file the required expenditure reports (known as 24- and 48-hour reports) in the days before an election. However, the next filing deadline for a report that includes income isn’t due until after the election. The next monthly deadline to report May’s income and expenditures is June 20.

Ghosh said voters don’t receive key information – who is funding the campaigns.

“All of that is information that voters have a right to know when they’re deciding how to vote, and this type of pop-up super PAC and the concealing of spending really undermines that fundamental right,” he said.

How Lead Left operates

Lead Left registered with the FEC as an independent-expenditure-only super PAC on April 24, about two weeks before the Nebraska primary and three weeks before Pennsylvania’s primary.

The address on its FEC organization statement is 2241 North Monroe St., #1447, Tallahassee, Florida, which is a Staples store; Staples offers a virtual mailbox – in this case #1447 – through iPostal1, which on its website says people can “register your business, create a professional image, and protect your privacy with a real street address in a location you choose.”

Tammie Cannon is identified as the treasurer, whose address is the same Tallahassee address as Lead Left. Cannon does not provide a phone or email address. The PAC provides two email addresses – leadleftpac@gmail.com and hello@leadleftpac.com.

On May 7, the PAC filed the first of 17 expense reports over three weeks that reflect a total of $3.1 million spent on three congressional campaigns.

The money for TV ads, campaign literature and text messaging went only to two firms – Piruzi LLC and OTG Media LLC, according to its FEC reports.

The Campaign Legal Center’s complaint said Piruzi was incorporated in Wyoming on April 10, two weeks before Lead Left registered with the FEC. Cannon, Lead Left’s treasurer, is also listed as Piruzi’s organizer and incorporator. The company has two addresses, one of which is the same Tallahassee address as Lead Left.

“Piruzi appears to have no online presence, is not a registered business in Florida and does not appear to have provided services to any other federal committee,” the complaint said.

OTG Media, the complaint said, was incorporated in Virginia on April 29 – five days after Lead Left registered with the FEC. A generic registered agent filed the paperwork; such agents are used when someone doesn’t want to reveal a personal or business address.

The complaint described Lead Left’s spending to newly formed companies as “a rapid-fire series of events that is simply not credible.”

Lead Left’s monthly FEC report for April is filled with zeroes for expenditures and income. The deadline for the monthly May report is June 20.

Ghosh said Lead Left’s failure to disclose income sources, while troublesome, is not illegal.

What may be illegal, he said, is how the money was spent.

“The complaint we filed actually focuses on the other side of the coin – the spending side – because that’s where we believe Lead Left actually violated the law,” Ghosh said.

He alleged Piruzi and OTG Media are “shell companies” that funneled the money to other companies who produce the ads and campaign materials. It’s highly unusual for new companies to provide the kind of campaign services the two companies did. By not revealing subcontractors, Lead Left conceals who does the work, he said.

“The biggest red flag is the fact that they are newly established LLCs that are reported providing this wide variety of services,” he said. “Most of the established users that do media placement [and] political consulting tend to work with one party or the other. So having the actual vendors reported on the FEC reports would provide a pretty big hint about who’s actually behind it,” Ghosh said.

The primary elections

No single factor affects an election. That said, only one of Lead Left’s candidates won.

In Nebraska’s 2nd District, political activist Denise Powell, favored by Lead Left, won the Democratic nomination over state Sen. John Cavanaugh by two percentage points in a three-way May 12 primary.

In Texas’ 35th Congressional District, Johnny Garcia won a May 26 run-off with nearly 64% of the vote to win the Democratic nomination over Maureen Galindo, whose candidacy was promoted by Lead Left.

And Brooks, who was attacked by Lead Left, won the 7th Congressional District Democratic nomination with 41% of the vote.

FEC at a standstill

The Campaign Legal Center asked the FEC, if it determines that Cannon as Lead Left’s treasurer violated the Federal Election Campaign Act, to levy civil penalties.

However, the FEC does not have a quorum – only two of the six commissioner positions are filled – so it cannot act on any complaint, Ghosh said.

President Trump earlier this year nominated two Republicans to serve as commissioners. The nominations sit with the Committee on Rules and Administration, which has yet to schedule confirmation hearings. If the two nominees would be approved by the Senate, the FEC commissioners would have a quorum.

Democrat Bob Brooks kicked off his 7th District congressional campaign Wednesday night before a standing-room-only crowd at the Teamsters Local 773 union hall in Whitehall Township, where his primary opponents and other speakers emphasized the need to work together to defeat Republican Congressman Ryan Mackenzie on Nov. 3.

“I will fight for you every single day that I’m in this,” Brooks said. “I will not let up. We will be 100% all gas, no brakes. We are taking this seat.”

Brooks, president of the state Professional Fire Fighters Association who worked as a Bethlehem firefighter for 20 years, won the May 19 primary with 41% of the vote. He was followed by Ryan Crosswell (21.3%), Lamont McClure (20%) and Carol Obando-Derstine (17.7%). The 7th District comprises all of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties and a small section of Monroe. In 2024, Mackenzie defeated three-term incumbent Democratic Susan Wild by one percentage point.

Brooks attracted broad support, including endorsements by progressives (U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Working Families Party) and moderates (Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Rep Chris Deluzio and the Blue Dog PAC).

Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, said the gathering of key Democrats demonstrates the importance of the 7th District election “and the party’s desire to display unity in its effort to flip the seat. … I expect Democrats will have all hands on deck for this race, along with enormous amounts of resources directed to the Brooks campaign and this event is a clear signal of what is to come.”

Brooks said Mackenzie, when serving in the state House, initially opposed legislation that would expand workers compensation benefits to include firefighters and other first responders who suffer post-traumatic stress injuries. The bill, for which Brooks lobbied over several years as state firefighters union president, was signed into law by Shapiro in 2024.

Mackenzie for Congress campaign manager Andres Weller pointed out in a statement that Brooks’ primary opponents previously criticized him for being sued over nonpayment of a $130,000 loan from his former mother-in-law, for an incomplete financial disclosure statement and for questionable social media posts.

“In recent months, Democrats across the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos have rightfully pointed out Brooks’ history of fraud, dishonesty, shady deals, sketchy social media posts, and embarrassing gaffes. Congressman Mackenzie stands with local Democrats in their criticisms of conman and fraudster Bob Brooks, including by joining Ryan Crosswell’s recent call for Brooks to update his ‘falsified’ ethics disclosure to include the ‘court-ordered debt of $130,000 to his in-laws,’ “ Weller said.

Brooks has denied any financial wrongdoing and explained his social media posts as wrong.

To view more photos from the event, click here.

Wild, who recruited Obando-Derstine to run for Congress, helped organize Wednesday’s event. The former congresswoman reminded the crowd, which included people who supported candidates other than Brooks, that flipping the 7th District blue is critical to the Democrats’ goal of taking control of the House.

“Pennsylvania is the center of the universe in election years. And PA-7 is the center of the Pennsylvania universe. We are the ultimate swing district in the ultimate swing state. All eyes are on Pennsylvania 7,” she said, before introducing Brooks to the crowd. “We have a shared mission that we have to get behind. We have to unseat Ryan McKenzie.”

Joining Wild as speakers leading to Brooks’ remarks were Crosswell, Obando-Derstine, state Democratic Party Chair Eugene DePasquale and former western Pennsylvania Congressman Conor Lamb. McClure, who has pledged his support for Brooks, was unable to attend because he was traveling out of the area.

Obando-Derstine emphasized the need to get the vote out in November, pointing out that voter turnout in the primary was only about 20%.

“So I’m making a pledge today to Bob. I want to help you get to every single corner of the district with your message. We have a shared mission. It’s to unseat a rubber stamp for Trump, and put someone in the seat who fights for all of us,” she said. “We have to get Bob across the finish line.”

Crosswell asked the crowd if they had seen Mackenzie’s social media posts.

“Ryan’s reading to school kids when he’s not cutting money for education.
Ryan’s busy in a food pantry when he’s not cutting SNAP benefits,” he said.

Mackenzie voted in favor of the One Big Beautiful Bill, a tax and spending plan that cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by $295 billion over 10 years. Gov. Shapiro estimated that 144,000 people in Pennsylvania could see their benefits reduced or ended, including 6,096 in the 7th District.

Crosswell compared Mackenzie and other Republicans to a “cheering section” for President Trump.

“I think the worst part about him and these Republicans is they just sit idly by and watch this damage that’s being done to our democracy,” he said.

“Why even be in Congress if you’re just going to allow [Trump] to take away their power? These Republican congressmen are like paperweights for this president’s executive orders. … We are paying Ryan Mackenzie $174,000 a year for something we could have got in Office Depot for $5.99.”

Lamb said the only way to check Trump’s power is to elect Democrats in November and “send people like Bob Brooks to Congress. … We’re lucky here, because you have someone who understands what it means to have responsibility and to make choices about other people, to put himself on the line to actually protect people.”

DePasquale said voters have two choices in November.

One is Brooks, a “working class person, who knows what it’s like to keep communities safe, who knows the impact of what’s happened in Washington, D.C., what that does to family budgets, what cutting Medicaid does, what it does to our hospitals, what it does to working families.”

The other choice? Trump. DePasquale explained, “Now, you may say to yourself, ‘Oh, Eugene, I’m confused here. I thought Bob was running against Ryan Mackenzie.’ Mackenzie is Donald. … They are one in the same.”

Mackenzie supports the Iran War, DePasquale said. (On Wednesday, the House voted 215-208 to end U.S. involvement in the Iran War. Mackenzie voted no.) Mackenzie helped pass cuts to social programs, and rising prices have hurt people in the Lehigh Valley, DePasquale said.

“What they’re doing to average, everyday Pennsylvanians and average, everyday Americans is a result of Ryan Mackenzie and Donald Trump,” he said. “When we send Bob Brooks to Congress … Donald Trump will become a lame duck.”