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Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District election, 2020 (June 2 Republican primary)

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2022
2018
Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: February 18, 2020
Primary: June 2, 2020
General: November 3, 2020

Pre-election incumbent:
Susan Wild (Democratic)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Pennsylvania
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Likely Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District
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Pennsylvania elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

Lisa Scheller defeated Dean Browning to win the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District on June 2, 2020. Scheller received 52.1% of the vote to Browning's 47.9%.

Browning and Scheller both served on the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners (at different times). President Donald Trump (R) endorsed Scheller.[3] Former Republican primary candidate Matt Connolly endorsed Browning.[4]

Both candidates referred to their records on the county board as evidence of their conservative values. Browning criticized Scheller by saying she was a "pro-China anti-Trump fake conservative," while Scheller said Browning supported raising taxes.

The National Republican Congressional Committee targeted the 7th District in 2020 and named Scheller to its "Contenders" program, indicating the group's belief that Scheller was running a competitive campaign. Incumbent Susan Wild (D) defeated Republican Marty Nothstein 54% to 44% in the 2018 election.

As the result of court-ordered redistricting in 2018, the 7th District absorbed much of the previous 15th District, which Charlie Dent (R) represented from 2005 to 2018. He won re-election in 2016 with 58% support to Democrat Rick Daugherty's 38%.

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

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Pennsylvania modified its primary election process as follows:

  • Election postponements: The primary election was postponed from April 28 to June 2.
  • Voting procedures: The absentee ballot receipt deadline for the primary election was extended to 5:00 p.m. on June 9 (with a postmark deadline of June 2) in Allegheny, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.


Responses to the coronavirus pandemic

See also: Ballotpedia: Political responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

The candidates posted statements related to COVID-19 to their campaign Twitter accounts. In tweets on May 26, 2020, Browning criticized mail-in voting and said Scheller was pushing for it as hard as Democrats. In a May 21 tweet from Scheller, she said she supported the Paycheck Protection Program.

Candidates and election results

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lisa Scheller
Lisa Scheller
 
52.1
 
29,673
Image of Dean Browning
Dean Browning
 
47.9
 
27,260

Total votes: 56,933
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways. Either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey or Ballotpedia staff created a profile after identifying the candidate as noteworthy.[5] Ballotpedia staff compiled profiles based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements.

Image of Dean Browning

WebsiteFacebookTwitter

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: 

Lehigh County Board of Commissioners (2007-2011)

Biography:  Browning received a B.S. from Denison University and an M.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He worked for Air Products and Chemicals, the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of the Lehigh Valley, Harvel Plastics, and New World Aviation. At the time of his 2020 campaign, he served on the Allentown Rescue Mission board. Browning was a 2018 Republican primary candidate for the 7th Congressional District.



Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.


Browning said he was a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-Trump Christian conservative.


Browning said he "stood up to public employee union bosses and saved taxpayers nearly $7 million a year by initiating a pay freeze and reforming the county compensation and pension system, while reducing the deficit by 65%."


Browning campaign ads referred to Scheller as a liberal. One ad called Scheller a "pro-China anti-Trump fake conservative."


Show sources

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7 in 2020.

Image of Lisa Scheller

WebsiteFacebookTwitter

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: 

Lehigh County Board of Commissioners (2012-2016)

Biography:  Scheller earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado and a master's degree from Lehigh University. She served as chairwoman of the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners for two years. Scheller founded Hope & Coffee, a coffee shop and recovery meeting space. At the time of her 2020 campaign, she was president of Silberline Manufacturing Co. and served on the executive committee of the Aluminum Association of America.



Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.


Scheller said of her experience running a business and recovering from addiction, "I haven't just lived my life, I've learned from it. Now, I'm running for Congress to work for things that matter to people in the Lehigh Valley: healthcare, secure borders, jobs, and a future for our children right here."


Scheller said she was a fiscal conservative who worked to limit spending, lower taxes, create jobs, and end special interest giveaways. 


A Scheller campaign ad said Browning sided with Democrats on a tax increase.


Show sources

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7 in 2020.

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[6] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[7] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Dean Browning Republican Party $409,881 $407,383 $2,504 As of December 31, 2020
Lisa Scheller Republican Party $3,740,779 $3,661,738 $79,041 As of December 31, 2020

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. 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.

Primaries in Pennsylvania

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.[8][9]

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

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[10]
  • Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[11][12][13]

Race ratings: Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportLikely DemocraticLikely DemocraticLikely DemocraticLikely Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallLikely DemocraticLikely DemocraticLikely DemocraticLikely Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

District analysis

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

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+1, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 1 percentage point more Democratic than the national average. This made Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District the 194th most Democratic nationally.[14]

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.97. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.97 points toward that party.[15]

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Three of 67 Pennsylvania counties—4.5 percent—are pivot counties. These are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 pivot counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Erie County, Pennsylvania 1.56% 16.03% 19.88%
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania 19.31% 4.81% 8.41%
Northampton County, Pennsylvania 3.78% 4.71% 12.30%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Pennsylvania with 48.2 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 47.5 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Pennsylvania cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 76.7 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Pennsylvania supported Republican candidates for president more often than Democratic candidates, 53.3 to 43.3 percent. The state, however, favored Democrats in every presidential election between 2000 and 2012, but voted Republican in 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Pennsylvania. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[16][17]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 89 out of 203 state House districts in Pennsylvania with an average margin of victory of 37.4 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 84 out of 203 state House districts in Pennsylvania with an average margin of victory of 37.3 points. Clinton won 19 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 114 out of 203 state House districts in Pennsylvania with an average margin of victory of 20 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 119 out of 203 state House districts in Pennsylvania with an average margin of victory of 28.2 points. Trump won 17 districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

District election history

2018

See also: Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7

Susan Wild defeated Marty Nothstein and Tim Silfies in the general election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Susan Wild
Susan Wild (D)
 
53.5
 
140,813
Image of Marty Nothstein
Marty Nothstein (R)
 
43.5
 
114,437
Image of Tim Silfies
Tim Silfies (L)
 
3.0
 
8,011

Total votes: 263,261
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7 on May 15, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Susan Wild
Susan Wild
 
33.5
 
15,262
Image of John Morganelli
John Morganelli
 
30.1
 
13,754
Image of Greg Edwards
Greg Edwards
 
25.4
 
11,602
Roger Ruggles
 
5.4
 
2,467
Image of Rick Daugherty
Rick Daugherty
 
3.9
 
1,760
David Clark
 
1.7
 
777

Total votes: 45,622
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7

Marty Nothstein defeated Dean Browning in the Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 7 on May 15, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Marty Nothstein
Marty Nothstein
 
50.5
 
16,241
Image of Dean Browning
Dean Browning
 
49.5
 
15,923

Total votes: 32,164
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.


Results prior to 2018 redistricting

On February 19, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopted a new congressional district map after ruling that the original map constituted an illegal partisan gerrymander. District locations and numbers were changed by the new map. Click here for more information about the ruling.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Note: In Allegheny, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, the absentee ballot deadlines were: June 2, 2020 (postmarked) and June 9, 2020 (received).
  2. Note: In Allegheny, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, the absentee ballot deadlines were: June 2, 2020 (postmarked) and June 9, 2020 (received).
  3. Lehigh Valley Live, "Trump endorses Republican who wants to represent the Lehigh Valley in Congress," May 23, 2020
  4. Dean Browning's 2020 campaign website, "Matt Connolly Drops House Bid And Joins Dean Browning for Congress Team," February 27, 2020
  5. Candidate Connection surveys completed before September 26, 2019, were not used to generate candidate profiles. In battleground primaries, Ballotpedia based its selection of noteworthy candidates on polling, fundraising, and noteworthy endorsements. In battleground general elections, all major party candidates and any other candidates with the potential to impact the outcome of the race were included.
  6. Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
  7. Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
  8. National Conference of State Legislatures Website, "State Primary Election Types," accessed September 24, 2024
  9. Casetext, "25 Pa. Stat. § 299," accessed September 24, 2024
  10. Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  11. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  12. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  13. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
  14. Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  15. FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  16. Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  17. Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
  18. Pennsylvania Department of State, "Unofficial Candidate Listing – Pre Ballot Lottery," accessed February 17, 2016
  19. The New York Times, "Pennsylvania Primary Results," April 26, 2016
  20. Politico, "2012 Election Map, Pennsylvania"


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