Wild, Scheller differ on many major issues
Election forecaster predicts rematch will be an extremely competitive race
Susan Wild and Lisa Scheller, who are vying for Pennsylvania’s competitive 7th District seat in Congress in a race with national implications, differ drastically on nearly every issue.
Wild, a former lawyer and Democratic congresswoman since 2018, describes herself as a moderate Democrat. Wild has sponsored bills to lower prescription drug costs and expand access to mental health care, and was recently appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to chair the House Ethics Committee.
Prior to taking office, Wild was Allentown’s first female city solicitor.
Republican nominee Scheller is CEO of pigments manufacturing company Silberline in Tamaqua, a position she has held since 1997.
Silberline was founded by her grandfather, Ernest Scheller, in 1945.
She describes herself as a conservative Republican and served as a Lehigh County commissioner from 2010 to 2016. Scheller, who is in recovery from heroin addiction, founded the Tamaqua shop Hope & Coffee in 2018 that aims to employ and uplift people in recovery.
Wild beat Scheller in a close race for the seat in 2020. They will face off again Nov. 8 in what is expected to be an extremely competitive race, with election forecaster FiveThirtyEight rating it a toss-up.
Federal redistricting in 2020 added all of conservative Carbon County to the district, making re-election an uphill battle for Wild.
The tight race could play a role in determining which party takes control of the House of Representatives after November.
The Morning Call spoke with both candidates to see where they stand on some of the most important issues to Pennsylvania voters.
Democracy and elections
What is your response to widespread false claims about the 2020 election, and what do you make of efforts to enact stricter requirements for voting, such as voter ID laws?
Election
Wild: Efforts to claim that the 2020 election was not a legitimate outcome have been widely debunked and abandoned except for the most extreme folks. It’s really important to understand that we have the fairest, most secure elections in the world.
The right to vote I consider to be our single most important Democratic right, and it’s very important that we trust in the outcome of our elections. Having said that, I have never opposed voter ID. I know that’s at odds with some in our party. I would not be opposed to that, with the caveat that we have got to make sure that non-drivers have an easy way of getting a legitimate government ID.
Scheller: When it comes to the 2020 election, Joe Biden is the president. And people need to trust our election process. You know, there were anomalies in Pennsylvania’s election. I look at my own race. I was up by 30,000 votes on election night [in 2020].
We need to make sure that our legislators fix these issues so that people can trust in the elections. Twenty-two states already have voter ID, it’s not a bad thing to have. But what’s going on at the federal level right now by the Democrats with HR1 is the wrong way to go. HR1, which Susan Wild is a sponsor of, federalizes elections and takes states’ rights away from deciding how to run their elections.
When I said I was up by 30,000 votes, I’m not questioning the results of my election.
Abortion
Can you articulate your stance on abortion and detail how you think Congress should respond to restrictions on the procedure? Wild: It is really important that we stay, at the government level, out of that issue. That pretty much sums up my position on abortion. For us to try to create some sort of one-size-fits all policy is doing a terrible injustice to women, not to mention we are rolling back rights they’ve had for 50 years now. Roe v. Wade was decided my freshman year of college. I went to high school with girls who needed abortions and they were not legal, and I know what they went through. We cannot roll back the clock on women’s rights.
Scheller: I am pro-life, but I believe in exceptions for rape and incest and health of the mother. I think sending the legislation back to the states to let local people decide what they want to do is appropriate. I am opposed to lateterm abortions so I think there needs to be some restrictions. I would like to see funding for what I call the culture of life, centers that help pregnant women keep their babies and have alternatives when they find out when they’re pregnant.
Marijuana and drug policy
Do you support legalizing marijuana nationally, why or why not?
Wild: I support the legalization of marijuana. We should be treating it as we treat alcohol, a mood or mind-altering substance that can be used responsibly. We should be regulating it, we should be deriving revenue from it, as we do from alcohol taxes. I want to mention that we have legalization of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania but sadly veterans can’t be prescribed marijuana in a VA hospital, because it has never been descheduled. That is an injustice to veterans.
Scheller: That’s a very sensitive question for me because of my background being in recovery, and the information we have on marijuana as it relates to addiction. I would support the legalization of medical marijuana, I believe there are medical uses for it. But at this time I don’t think I can support the legalization of recreational marijuana federally. We do need prison reform, and people who are caught with small amounts of marijuana need alternatives other than lengthy prison sentences.
Same-sex marriage and LGBT issues
Should Congress codify same sex marriage? What can you say about your support for LGBT issues?
SW: I am a full-throated supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I believe every person deserves the right to love who they love, free from violence or discrimination. We are on a slippery slope here, I don’t know where the Supreme Court is going to go next. It seems ridiculous to me that we have to codify [samesex marriage], but I think we need to. I’m really distressed that these issues are even up for debate in 2022. It appalls me that the GOP has gotten to the point of being so vicious toward that community.
Scheller: I am endorsed by the [LGBT Republican organization] Log Cabin Republicans and am supportive of the issues that are important to them. I believe the courts have really spoken on samesex marriage at this point, so I don’t know that it’s an issue. [That said], I would not be opposed to supporting a bill that allows samesex marriage. When our founders wrote the Declaration of Independence, they said all men are created equal. We should not be discriminating against anybody.
Inflation
How should Congress tackle inflation and the financial pain many Americans are feeling as a result?
Wild: We should keep doing what we have started doing, which is fashioning common sense legislation that will deal with the effects of global inflation. We have got to make sure that corporations that are price-gouging are held accountable. You want to talk about prices of gas and oil? Let’s talk about oil companies that are sitting on drilling leases they haven’t used. They are artificially keeping prices high and hurting the American people.
As gas prices have started to come down, we have not seen a corresponding decrease in food prices. We have got to stop allowing these monopolies in different sectors. The whole idea of being a capitalist country is that we promote competition, we should not be protecting those sectors.
Scheller: We have got to stop the egregious spending, the trillions of dollars going into the country are absolutely fueling inflation. The second piece is, I really do believe we need to open up Pennsylvania and America’s energy. Having low-cost, reliable domestic energy is critical. The third thing is getting our economy growing, getting people back to work, getting businesses making money and creating revenue. When you grow the economy, you are going to put a damper on inflation.
Climate change
How should Congress address climate change to secure a livable future on earth?
Wild: I’m very concerned about future generations. My children are in their late 20s, everyone’s children and grandchildren should have a livable world. I am a big believer in clean energy manufacturing. I support providing tax credits so that companies are willing to invest in new technologies that will help them produce product in more environmentally sustainable ways.
Scheller: Right now, we are not ready to be completely [reliant] on renewables, and we are finding ourselves depending on foreign countries who don’t like America for energy when we have all the energy that we need right here in Pennsylvania. We should be doing things with solar, wind, natural gas and oil. I don’t think the government should be picking winners and losers when it comes to energy.
Crime and policing
How should Congress tackle issues of violent crime and gun violence? Please specifically address gun control and funding for police departments.
Wild: Just a week ago, we passed four pieces of funding for police which would do things like increase funding for small police departments, of which we have so many here in the Lehigh Valley. The other bills also addressed issues of resources, accreditation and hiring for police departments.
I think the vast majority of gun owners are responsible citizens who are in no way to blame for the epidemic of gun violence we have seen in this country. We have got to crack down on the methods by which criminals are getting their hands on guns. The idea of doing more careful investigation of somebody’s mental health and propensity for violence is really important.
Scheller: I am a supporter of our Second Amendment. The issue is keeping guns out of the hands of violent criminals, and we need to find ways to do that that do not restrict ownership to people who are law-abiding citizens.
In terms of how we tackle violent crime, it does come down to making sure our law enforcement officers have the authority and equipment and training to do their job effectively. We have so much crime going on in our cities, and that includes Allentown. We need to make sure we treat our criminals like criminals and we treat our law enforcement officers as heroes.