BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Carol Obando-Derstine didn't mince words when she officially launched her campaign to become Lehigh Valley's next member of Congress.
"Frankly, I'm pissed," the Democrat said at the announcement at Payrow Plaza in Bethlehem on Thursday morning.
"I will not stand by while [Elon] Musk and (U.S. Rep.) Ryan McKenzie rip healthcare away from Americans and give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires.
"They make life harder for every single American."
Obando-Derstine is running for office for the first time. She spent the past nine years working at PPL before resigning her supervision position last month.
She is a native of Colombia and a naturalized U.S. citizen who has lived in the Lehigh Valley for 20 years.
Despite never appearing on the ballot before, Obando-Derstine isn't a political newcomer. She served on Gov. Tom Wolf's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs and worked for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey as a regional manager for Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties.
Surrounded by family members and supporters, Obando-Derstine was introduced by former U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, who lost her seat to McKenzie by a slim margin in November.
"Carol Obando-Derstine is a natural born bridge builder," Wild said at the announcement. "And I know first hand the road to taking back the House majority runs through Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District."
Once she decided not to run for reelection, Wild said, it was important to her to find a Democratic candidate who can win but also show community outreach and engagement.
After consulting with Democratic community members, Wild said she was "fortunate" to encounter Obando-Derstine.
"It became clear the past couple months she is the best candidate to lead us through this fight," she said. "Her roots in this district run deep."
In a symbolic moment of passing the torch, Wild presented Obando-Derstine dowith the former Congresswoman's own a U.S. House Democrats jacket.
Greg Edwards, pastor of Resurrected Life Community Church in Allentown, outlined Obando-Derstine's professional and personal connections to the Lehigh Valley community and also offered his endorsement of her campaign.
"I've had the pleasure personally of knowing her for the past 13 years," said Edwards, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat as a Democrat in 2018.
"During this time I have come to know Carol as a person of integrity and moral courage who has unmatched grit and tenacity for fighting for what's right and fighting for what's just."
Battleground district
The 2026 race for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District is bound to be among the most competitive of the midterm.
The district has near-equal numbers of registered Democrats and Republicans and a history of favoring moderates. Since 2020, the elections for the seat have been decided by 3 percentage points or less.
With the U.S. House narrowly split in recent years, both major parties have pumped enormous amounts of resources into recent campaigns for PA-7.
Last year saw the candidates, parties and their allies drop more than $38 million into the congressional race, making it one of the most expensive in the country.
The congressional race is more than a year and a half away, but Obando-Derstine already is the third person to enter a race.
Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, a Carbon County native whose been a dominant force in Democratic politics for 15 years, launched his own campaign for PA-7 in February.
"Our focus is on November of 2026. We are confident we are going to be the Democratic nominee who beats Ryan Mackenzie and puts a check on Donald Trump's chaos," Madison Palmer, McClure's campaign manager, said in a news release.
The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to face Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie, who is less than five months into his new job representing the district.
After serving for 12 years in the state House representing parts of Lehigh County, Mackenzie edged Wild in the November election by about 4,000 votes, or 1 percentage point.
In a prepared statement, the Mackenzie campaign accused Wild of manufacturing the Obando-Derstine campaign.
"Fresh off being rejected by the voters, Susan Wild has decided that she doesn't want to lose again, so she has decided to recruit someone who will vote the same she did and simply act as her puppet," said Arnaud Armstrong, a spokesman for the Mackenzie for Congress campaign.
Mackenzie has tried to walk a narrow path of supporting President Donald Trump's policies while seeking to moderate some of his stances.
Mackenzie has expressed interest in limiting presidential power on tariffs and backed narrower cuts to Medicaid than what Republican leadership have discussed.