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Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District election, 2026 (May 19 Democratic primary)

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← 2024
Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 10, 2026
Primary: May 19, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Pennsylvania

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Toss-up
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
Inside Elections: Toss-up
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss-up
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District
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Pennsylvania elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

A Democratic Party primary takes place on May 19, 2026, in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
March 10, 2026
May 19, 2026
November 3, 2026



A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Pennsylvania utilizes a closed primary process. Voters are required to register with a political party to vote in the primary election.[1]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7 on May 19, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Bob Brooks
Bob Brooks  Candidate Connection
Image of Ryan Crosswell
Ryan Crosswell
Image of Aiden Gonzalez
Aiden Gonzalez
Image of Lamont McClure
Lamont McClure
Image of Carol Obando-Derstine
Carol Obando-Derstine  Candidate Connection
Image of Mark Pinsley
Mark Pinsley
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Lewis Shupe

There are no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Bob Brooks

Image of Bob Brooks

WebsiteFacebookX

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Affordability The number one thing I hear from folks is how expensive life is. People can’t keep up with groceries, rent, healthcare, childcare, or utility bills. Wages aren’t keeping up, and too many are working harder than ever for too little. Healthcare: Restore Medicaid cuts and provide Medicare for All. Housing: Build more market-rate homes, ban private equity from driving up costs, and extend VA-style home loans to essential workers. Childcare: Repeal Headstart cuts, expand subsidies and publicly funded preschool. Utilities: Invest in renewables, nuclear, and natural gas, and stop utility price-gouging. Retirement & Goods: Protect Social Security, strengthen unions, and enforce antitrust rules to stop price-gouging.

Washington is a dumpster fire Washington’s broken, and working people are the ones getting burned. Billionaires and big corporations run the show while wages stay flat and costs keep climbing. I’ve lived a working-class life. there was a time a blue-collar job could support a family. it doesn’t anymore. We need to take money out of politics, end stock trading in Congress, enforce term limits, and make the wealthy pay their fair share. I know the struggle, and I’m running to fight for working families and get Washington working for us again.

One Big Beautiful Bill The Big Beautiful Bill was the biggest cut to benefits in U.S. history. Head Start, SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare all got slashed, and Ryan Mackenzie’s vote made it happen. I know how important these programs because I grew up on Head Start and SNAP. My campaign will hold him accountable, fight to repeal these cuts, and push policies that actually help working families, like paid family leave, public pre-K, and Medicare for All. Working people deserve a government that has their back and they deserve to see Ryan Mackenzie kicked out of office for all the wrong he's done.

Carol Obando-Derstine

Image of Carol Obando-Derstine

WebsiteFacebookX

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "Carol Obando-Derstine is a Democratic candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th District. An engineer, bilingual community leader, and proud mother, she brings over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors. At PPL Electric Utilities, she led energy transition and grid modernization efforts. She also served as Regional Manager and Statewide Latino Affairs Advisor for U.S. Senator Bob Casey and previously led the SkillsUSA Council and the Children’s Coalition of the Lehigh Valley. Carol’s blend of technical expertise, public service, and lived experience drives her fight for working families."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

I'm going to fight for economic change. To build an economy where working families like the one I grew up in can afford housing, groceries and utilities, and have a pathway to real prosperity. That includes supporting small businesses so they thrive and flourish, thereby providing family-sustaining jobs. It also includes supporting career and technical training and incentivizing good-paying manufacturing jobs.

I'm going to fight for our bodies, for affordable energy, and for the American Dream. I’m running to protect our right to choose what to do with our own bodies. I will push for a resilient energy sector leading to job opportunities while ensuring that everyday residents can afford their energy bills. I will never stop fighting against shameful policies that tear away at the American Dream, make us less free, and make life harder for every single American.

I'm going to stand up to extremist Republicans. I will not stand by as Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Ryan Mackenzie rip away healthcare from millions of Americans and take food off families’ tables to give trillions in tax cuts to their billionaire donors. I’m blessed to be living my American Dream, and I have always tried to pay it forward every day to help families living on the economic edge not just get by, but to thrive.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Pennsylvania

Election information in Pennsylvania: May 19, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: May 4, 2026
  • By mail: Received by May 4, 2026
  • Online: May 4, 2026

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: May 12, 2026
  • By mail: Received by May 12, 2026
  • Online: May 12, 2026

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: May 19, 2026
  • By mail: Received by May 19, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

Varies to May 12, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (ET)

Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Bob Brooks Democratic Party $609,957 $269,190 $340,767 As of December 31, 2025
Ryan Crosswell Democratic Party $1,144,865 $532,615 $612,250 As of December 31, 2025
Aiden Gonzalez Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Lamont McClure Democratic Party $480,616 $193,026 $287,590 As of December 31, 2025
Carol Obando-Derstine Democratic Party $431,919 $308,411 $123,508 As of December 31, 2025
Mark Pinsley Democratic Party $125,194 $75,177 $50,017 As of December 31, 2025
Lewis Shupe Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

  • District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
  • Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
  • State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.


Below is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

2023_01_03_pa_congressional_district_07.jpg
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026
Information about competitiveness will be added here as it becomes available.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+1. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 1 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Pennsylvania's 7th the 213th most Republican district nationally.[2]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District
Kamala Harris Democratic PartyDonald Trump Republican Party
48.0%51.0%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Pennsylvania, 2024

Pennsylvania presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 14 Democratic wins
  • 17 Republican wins
  • 1 other win
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winning Party R R R P[3] R R R R R D D D R R R D D D R D R R R D D D D D D R D R
See also: Party control of Pennsylvania state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Pennsylvania
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 1 7 8
Republican 1 10 11
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 17 19

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Pennsylvania's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in Pennsylvania, October 2025
OfficeOfficeholder
GovernorDemocratic Party Josh Shapiro
Lieutenant GovernorDemocratic Party Austin Davis
Secretary of StateRepublican Party Al Schmidt
Attorney GeneralRepublican Party Dave Sunday

State legislature

Pennsylvania State Senate

Party As of February 2026
     Democratic Party 23
     Republican Party 27
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 50

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Party As of February 2026
     Democratic Party 100
     Republican Party 98
     Other 0
     Vacancies 5
Total 203

Trifecta control

Pennsylvania Party Control: 1992-2025
One year of a Democratic trifecta  •  Twelve years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate R D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
House D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Pennsylvania in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Pennsylvania, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Pennsylvania U.S. House Ballot-qualified party 1,000 $150.00 3/10/2026 Source
Pennsylvania U.S. House Unaffiliated 2% of votes cast in the district in the last election $150.00 8/3/2026 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ FindLaw, "Pa. Stat. tit. 25, § 299," accessed December 22, 2025
  2. ↑ Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025
  3. ↑ Progressive Party


Pennsylvania's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
John Fetterman (D)
David McCormick (R)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
Republican Party (11)
Democratic Party (8)


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