Democratic Rep. Susan Wild (Pa.) conceded her race to Republican challenger Ryan Mackenzie in one of the most closely watched House races in the country.
"I lost this election, and my opponent won," Wild said in a statement to supporters Wednesday morning. "There is no sugarcoating it: this is a bitterly disappointing outcome."
Mackenzie, a member of the Pennsylvania House, led Wild by more than 5,000 votes when she conceded the race.
Wild, a three-term incumbent, was hampered by a series of blunders throughout her campaign. She came under fire after giving contradictory positions on the Israel-Hamas war in letters responding to two pro-Israel constituents who called on her to support the Jewish state in its war with Hamas.
In one letter, Wild said she supports Israel’s "right to defend itself." In a letter seemingly intended for a pro-Gaza constituent, Wild called for an "immediate" Israeli ceasefire and asserted the Israeli military "has inflicted devastation on staggering numbers of innocent Palestinian children, families, and civilians in Gaza."
Mackenzie, a member of the Pennsylvania House since 2012, portrayed Wild as a "radical partisan," citing her embrace of liberal causes, as well as several examples of Wild privately mocking conservative constituents.
Wild told fellow Democrats in a leaked conference call earlier this year that voters in Carbon County, a Republican stronghold in Wild’s district, had "drank the Trump Kool-Aid." In 2022, Wild said she would have to "school" conservative voters in her district.
Wild apologized for the remarks at a debate in September, admitting that she had failed to "think" before speaking.
Wild ran heavily on the abortion issue, casting Mackenzie as a pro-life hardliner who opposed exceptions for abortion in the case of rape and incest. Mackenzie denied the allegation, saying he is "opposed to a federal abortion ban and will always protect exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother."
Wild leaned heavily on organized labor throughout her campaign, touting endorsements from several major labor unions at a Labor Day event in Allentown. An official with one of those unions offered $100 stipends to rank-and-file union members to attend the rally, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
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