Carol Obando-Derstine declares she’s running for Congress in competitive Lehigh Valley race, with former Rep. Susan Wild’s backing
Former Rep. Susan Wild will endorse Obando-Derstine in the race against Republican Ryan Mackenzie, who ousted Wild in 2024.
Democrat Carol Obando-Derstine, a onetime staffer for former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, launched a campaign Thursday to oust Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie from his seat in Lehigh Valley’s 7th Congressional District — a race that could have significant implications for the balance of the U.S. House in the 2026 election.
Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, who held the seat for three terms before Mackenzie bested her last November by a single percentage point, endorsed Obando-Derstine, ending speculation about whether Wild would seek a rematch.
Obando-Derstine, 48, who escaped civil war in her native Colombia with her family when she was 3, has lived in the Lehigh Valley for 22 years.
She is running for Congress, she said, because “too many families are being squeezed by a system that puts billionaires and special interests first.” She added, “I know the struggles our families are facing because I’ve lived them.”
Obando-Derstine made her official announcement to run Thursday morning in Bethlehem. Along with Wild, Obando-Derstine was joined by Allentown pastor Greg Edwards, who unsuccessfully ran for the same 7th Congressional District seat in 2018.
In a statement of support, Wild said she had the privilege of seeing “Carol’s unwavering dedication to our community up close. Her story — working through school, raising a family here, and fighting for those too often left behind — is the story of our community. … I believe in Carol.”
Obando-Derstine worked in constituent outreach for Casey, among other jobs, representing Lehigh, Northampton, and Carbon Counties. She also served as a member of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs.
The mother of two worked for Casey from 2011 to 2016, then joined PPL Electrical Utilities, where she worked as an energy engineer until three weeks ago, when she quit to pursue a run for office.
After leaving Colombia, Obando-Derstine’s family settled in Passaic, N.J., where her father — who had been a math and science teacher — went to school to study electronics and became a tech worker in a hospital. Her mother was a machine operator in a factory.
“My parents sacrificed everything for a shot at the American dream,” Obando-Derstine said in an interview Wednesday. “They came here — legally — to give me a better life."
Obando-Derstine credited her parents’ example with pushing her to serve others. She worked for Head Start; ran a food pantry and after-school program; and helped start the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of Latinas in Tech, a national nonprofit that works to provide job opportunities and empowerment.
“I lived through the struggles my parents had,” she said. “And I dedicated my life to helping others.”
She will need to summon all she has learned to mount a fight for Congress in what will be a “gigantically important race,” said Christopher Borick, a professor of political science and director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.
Both national political parties will likely pour a fortune into the race, as they did last year when Wild ran for reelection and Mackenzie flipped the seat for Republicans, he added.
“It’s a swing district and will be one of the highest-profile races in the 2026 election cycle, as the Democrats try to use the midterms to take back the House,” Borick said. “It’ll be close. When Mackenzie won by a single point in November, his margin of victory was among the smallest among Republican candidates.”
Wasting little time to criticize her potential opponent, Obando-Derstine likened Mackenzie to a “bobblehead doll for Elon Musk and Donald Trump” in a statement she released Thursday.
Mackenzie, she continued, “has supported their plans that could cut Medicare and Social Security, and repeatedly voted for abortion bans with no exceptions. I’m running to fight for the people of this district and working families like the one I grew up in.”
Mackenzie’s campaign responded by hitting both Wild and Obando-Derstine in a statement, saying the candidate will be Wild’s “puppet”:
“The sad truth that has been exposed is that Obando-Derstine is running to carry on Wild’s radical left agenda that caused the worst inflation in decades, disastrous open-border policies, failed foreign policy, and woke mandates.”
Before the general election, Obando-Derstine must face at least one opponent in the Democratic primary in May 2026: Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, who took office in 2018 after serving on the county council from 2006 to 2013.
McClure will be a “formidable” rival, Borick said, because he is a veteran of several elections.
Still, Obando-Derstine believes she has the breadth of experience to handle the responsibilities of Congress.
“If you keep listening to the concerns people have, that’s where you get your momentum to run for office,” she said. “If you show you’re organized, serious, and caring, people will support you.”