In 7th, Crosswell wants to stand up for democracy, restore integrity
Editor’s note: This is one of four profiles on the candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the 7th Congressional District on May 19. The others are Bob Brooks, a state firefighter union president; Carol Obando-Derstine, a former PPL supervisor and aide to former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., and Lamont McClure, who most recently was the Northampton County executive. The winner will face incumbent Republican Ryan Mackenzie, who is unopposed in the primary.
Correction: Ryan Crosswell said ICE agents should not be allowed to wear masks. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated his position.
A year ago on Valentine’s Day, Ryan Crosswell, a trial attorney in the federal Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section, was asked to sit in on a video call with Emil Bove, then the acting U.S. deputy attorney general.
Bove wanted to drop the corruption charges filed against then-New York Mayor Eric Adams in September 2024 when President Joe Biden was in office. He wanted one of the prosecutors on the call to sign the paperwork within an hour.
Crosswell was stunned. To him, it seemed the case was being dropped for political reasons.
Then a senior colleague who was about to retire agreed to put his name on the document to spare Crosswell and the others from making a decision.
The experience led Crosswell, a former Republican, to resign from his job of five years and run for Congress in the 7th Congressional District.
“I left that job, a job I loved, because I thought the Trump administration asked me to do something inconsistent with my oath. I think we’re a nation in peril right now. Just as in my 20s when I joined the Marine Corps, I don’t want to be on the sidelines now,” Crosswell said in an interview with Armchair Lehigh Valley.
Crosswell, 45, of Allentown, is among four candidates seeking the Democratic nomination on May 19 in the 7th, which covers Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties and a sliver of Monroe County.
The winner will face incumbent Republican Ryan Mackenzie, who in 2024 defeated three-term incumbent Democrat Susan Wild by 1 percentage point, one of the smallest win margins in House races that year.
Political analysts consider the 2026 race to be a toss-up and key to which party controls the House.
Crosswell is positioning himself as the candidate who will stand up for democracy and the law in the face of what he calls illegal and corrupt actions by Trump and his administration.
He cited the war with Iran as an example. “No one doubts the Iranian regime is dangerous and it’s repressive, but strength isn’t impulsive,” he said. “It’s disciplined, it’s lawful and strategic. And starting a war without a clear objective, without a defined end state, and without congressional authorization, puts our troops at risk, and it weakens the very rule of law they swear to protect and defend.”
He said defeating Mackenzie in November will allow him to help put an end to Trump’s policies.
“Ryan Mackenzie rubber-stamps whatever Trump puts in front of him, and Trump has badly let down the people who voted for him. Prices are up, not down. He’s starting trade wars, bombing foreign countries without consulting Congress — or the people — and refusing to fully release the Epstein files. And Mackenzie is terrified to say anything about it.”
“I think people in the Valley want someone in Congress who will fight for them,” he said.
To view more pictures of Ryan Crosswell on the campaign trail, click here.
The following is a look at Crosswell based on interviews, his campaign website, social media and political forums.
Background
Crosswell grew up in Pottsville in Schuylkill County, then went to Vanderbilt University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and secondary education in 2003. The next year, he headed to Duke University, receiving a master’s degree in history and a law degree.
Crosswell joined the Marines in 2006 and still serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.
In 2008, he was a special assistant to the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of California, prosecuting civilians charged with violations of law aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. He served as lead defense counsel on six contested jury trials on charges ranging from aggravated sexual assault to drug abuse.
Starting in 2011, he spent nearly three years with the private practice firm Littler Mendelson, a firm that unions have accused of being anti-labor. Crosswell’s campaign said he worked there early in his career and never worked on a case that involved union-busting.
In 2014, he became assistant U.S. attorney in the Middle District of Louisiana, then moved to the Southern District of California. He joined the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section in May 2020.
After resigning from the Justice Department, Crosswell went to work part-time for Singleton Schreiber, which recently won a lawsuit where Tesla was ordered to pay $243 million for a 2019 crash involving its Autopilot system.
“It’s a law firm that is not bending the knee when many law firms have, and is taking on the abuses of the Trump administration, but along with doing other work too, it’s a plaintiff’s firm,” Crosswell said.
Crosswell, who is unmarried, relocated to Allentown last year. His decision to run in the 7th has led Mackenzie to peg him as a carpetbagger.
In response, Crosswell said he spent time in the Lehigh Valley when he competed in District 11 wrestling matches during high school.
“The grit and the humility that got me through Marine Corps training – that has gotten me through life – was learned on the wrestling mats of Northampton and Lehigh,” he said.
He said the narrative that he is an outsider is “a bit unfair.” He said he has “tremendous amounts of grassroots support,” doing meet-and-greets in homes that attract as many as 30 people.
Political background
Shortly before he resigned from the Justice Department, Crosswell switched his party registration from Republican to Democrat, leading to worries that he can’t be trusted.
Crosswell said he was never a Trump supporter, voting for Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton in 2016, winner Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris, Biden’s vice president, in 2024.
“I’ve always been a pro-choice Republican, and I was in support of people being able to serve in the military openly if they were gay,” he said. “There’s obviously no place for socially liberal Republicans anymore. And the Republican Party has just completely changed.”
Crosswell said he doesn’t shy away from telling people he is a former Republican and thinks his years as a Republican work in his favor when talking to independents and Republicans.
On his Facebook page, he writes about successfully convincing Republicans to switch parties.
“I say, ‘Look, this party is no longer the fiscally responsible party … this party is no longer best for our national security,’” he said.
He cited the approximately $18.7 billion in additional annual funds that Trump and Republicans in Congress allocated to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Instead of arresting criminals as Trump promised during his campaign, he said the money is now being used to build detention centers, including two that were proposed in Berks and Schuylkill counties, and on hiring masked agents to round up immigrants who legally sought asylum as well as U.S. citizens.
“As someone who was a 10-year prosecutor, I can say [the Republican] party is no longer good for our safety either at the border or in our cities and our streets,” he said.
He also said his service as a Marine is winning over voters. He noted that New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, both of whom are Democrats who were elected in November, served in the military.
“When veterans run as Democrats, they win,” he said.
Support
As of April 29, Crosswell raised $1,757,145, putting him first among the four candidates in contributions to their campaign committees, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Many of his donations have come from lawyers across the country. In addition, Integrity PAC spent $27,203 on mailers for him.
While Bob Brooks is the second biggest fundraiser with $1,171,181, he also has benefited from outside support by groups with more than $1.2 million being spent or committed for advertising and mailers in four weeks through April 27, according to FEC.
Such independent expenditures by PACs are prohibited by election regulations from coordinating its effort with a candidate’s campaign.
Crosswell and Brooks were the target of more than $500,000 in outside spending for TV ads opposing them and supporting McClure by the newly formed Lead Left PAC, which Punchbowl News reported as likely being a Republican-backed group.
Crosswell has been endorsed by VoteVets, New Politics and Democratic Majority Action and retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who was fired from the National Security Council after testifying against Trump in his first impeachment hearing. Local supporters include Lehigh County Commissioner Sarah Fevig, Upper Macungie Supervisor Julien Godbarge and Whitehall Township Commissioner Taylor Stakes.
Issues
His top priorities include cutting costs to improve affordability; holding Trump accountable; enacting a fair tax system that doesn’t benefit the richest Americans; banning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from wearing masks and follow the law, and restoring abortion rights enacted under Roe v. Wade.
Healthcare: Wants to reverse cuts to Medicaid, which will see $863 billion in cuts over the next decade, and restore the enhanced subsidies to the Affordable Care Act. Citing statistics from the Pennsylvania Health and Law Project, Crosswell said cuts and new reporting requirements would cause 310,000 people in Pennsylvania to lose Medicaid coverage.
About 22% of people living in the 7th were enrolled in Medicaid as of September 2025, according to the health policy research group KFF. More than 11,700 people in Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon and Monroe counties dropped ACA coverage after enhanced subsidies ended.
Wants to enact a public option for health care that matches what federal lawmakers receive, address “price gouging” by pharmaceutical middlemen, and extend Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower drug prices.
Housing: Pass legislation to enable the building of more housing across the 7th so supply keeps up with demand. End tax benefits for real estate investors who buy up homes and drive up prices.
Education: Reverse cuts to federal education funding.
Environment: Restore clean energy tax credits, fight construction of data centers built in 7th that would raise energy costs for Lehigh Valley families or damage the environment.
Budget and taxes: Expand child and dependent care tax credit. Reduce the deficit by making sure ultra-wealthy pay their fair share in taxes and ensuring taxpayer dollars are used efficiently. Dock salaries of Congress’ salaries during government shutdowns.
Trump: Hold hearings and issue subpoenas to members of the administration; use the constitutional power of the purse to assert Congress’ authority in setting policy as a coequal branch of government.
Gun laws: Centralize universal background checks using the FBI’s criminal database, close gun show loopholes and limit availability of high-capacity magazines.