Susan Wild | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Ranking Member of theHouse Ethics Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2023 – January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Michael Guest |
| Succeeded by | Mark DeSaulnier |
| Chair of theHouse Ethics Committee | |
| In office September 30, 2022 – January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Ted Deutch |
| Succeeded by | Michael Guest |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania | |
| In office November 27, 2018 – January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Charlie Dent |
| Succeeded by | Ryan Mackenzie |
| Constituency | 15th district (2018–2019) 7th district (2019–2025) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Susan Ellis (1957-06-07)June 7, 1957 (age 68) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Domestic partner | Kerry Acker (2003–2019) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | American University (BA) George Washington University (JD) |
| Website | House website |
Susan Wild (néeEllis; born June 7, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as theU.S representative forPennsylvania's 7th congressional district from 2018 to 2025. She is a member of theDemocratic Party. The district encompasses theLehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, and includesAllentown,Bethlehem,Easton, andBangor. Wild was narrowly defeated byRepublicanRyan Mackenzie in2024.[1]
Wild spent the last two months of 2018 as the member forPennsylvania's 15th congressional district afterCharlie Dent, former U.S. representative for the district, resigned in 2018. She co-chaired the New Democrat Coalition Climate Change Task Force and was vice chair of both the Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus and theSubcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations. She was the first woman to represent the Lehigh Valley in Congress.[2]
Wild was born to aJewish family on June 7, 1957 inWest Germany, the daughter of Norman Leith, a member of theU.S. Air Force, and Susan Stimus Ellis, a journalist.[3][4] Wild was born onWiesbaden Air Force Base inHesse, West Germany, where her father was then stationed. She also lived in France, California, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C.[5]
In 1976, Wild volunteered to work forJimmy Carter's presidential campaign.[5] She attendedAmerican University, where she graduated in 1978.[6] She earned herJuris Doctor fromGeorge Washington University Law School in 1982,[7] where she studied underJohn Banzhaf.[5]
In 1999, Wild became a partner at the law firm Gross McGinley.[8]
In 2013, Wild ran unsuccessfully for county commissioner inLehigh County, Pennsylvania.[9] In 2015, she was appointedsolicitor ofAllentown, Pennsylvania, the first woman to hold the position.[10][11]
On December 31, 2017, Wild resigned as City Solicitor to campaign to succeed retiring U.S. representativeCharlie Dent, aRepublican, in theU.S. House of Representatives in November 2018[12] inPennsylvania's 15th congressional district, which had been represented by a Republican for seven terms. She won the six-candidateDemocratic Party primary with 33% of the vote, narrowly defeatingNorthampton County district attorneyJohn Morganelli. In the 2018 general election, she defeated RepublicanLehigh County county commissionerMarty Nothstein, winning 54.5% of the vote to Nothstein's 43.5%.[13][14][15][16]
On the same day, Wild also ran in a separate special election for the balance of the term of Dent, who resigned in May 2018 after announcing he would not run for reelection,[17][18] winning the 15th congressional district's special election with 130,353 votes to Nothstein's 129,593.[19][20]
There was a closer margin in the special election largely because the former 15th district, which was thrown out by thePennsylvania Supreme Court in February 2018, stretched from the Lehigh Valley into heavier Republican regions of the state betweenLebanon andHarrisburg, by way of a tendril inBerks County. The new 7th district is a more compact district centered in the Lehigh Valley, and including a sliver of thePoconos.[citation needed]
Wild ran for reelection to a second term. She was unopposed in the Democratic primary[21] and faced formerLehigh CountycommissionerLisa Scheller[22] in the general election. Wild defeated Scheller with 51.9% of the vote, less than was expected.[23]
Following the 2020 census, Wild was redistricted into a more competitive congressional seat. She was criticized by some district residents when she said of her new district, "Carbon County has many attributes, but it is a county that—although it was once an Obama county—it since has become a Trump county. I'm not quite sure what was in their heads because the people of Carbon County are exactly the kind of people who should not be voting for a Donald Trump, but I guess I might have to school them on that a little bit. But most of all, it is a very rural county."[24]
In a rematch of the 2020 election, Wild narrowly defeated Scheller by 51% to 49%.[25]
Wild ran for reelection in 2024, and was defeated by RepublicanRyan Mackenzie, aPennsylvania State Representative.[26][1]
Following her defeat in the 2024 election, Wild was traced as the source ofHouse Committee on Ethics media leaks related to the committee's investigation of former U.S. representativeMatt Gaetz (R-FL). "Any leaks from members and staff are a violation of the committee’s rules: Individuals on the panel take an oath swearing they will not disclose unauthorized information,"The Hill reported in covering the leaks.[27]
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In March 2021, Wild co-sponsored a resolution to expel U.S. representativeMarjorie Taylor Greene from Congress, saying that Greene "advocated violence against our peers, the Speaker and our government".[28]
As of November 2022, Wild had voted in line with PresidentJoe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.[29] In the117th Congress, Wild voted withHouse speakerNancy Pelosi 100% of the time.[30]
In March 2020, Wild co-sponsored a bill to reauthorize theOlder Americans Act for five years with a 35% increase in funding, which then PresidentDonald Trump signed into law in March.[31]
In July 2022, Wild voted for H.R. 1808: Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, a bill that would have banned various guns, includingAR-15s.[32][33]
Wild was critical ofBrazil's presidentJair Bolsonaro, which she characterized as "far-right", "misogynistic", "homophobic" and "anti-immigrant". In March 2019, she and 29 other Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter toU.S. secretary of stateMike Pompeo, which read in part, "Since the election of far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro as president, we have been particularly alarmed by the threat Bolsonaro's agenda poses to the LGBTQ+ community and other minority communities, women, labor activists, and political dissidents in Brazil. We are deeply concerned that, by targeting hard-won political and social rights, Bolsonaro is endangering Brazil's long-term democratic future."[34]
In 2023, Wild voted against H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Biden to remove U.S. troops fromSyria within 180 days.[35][36]
In February 2023, Wild signed a letter urging President Biden to giveF-16 fighter jets toUkraine.[37]
On January 31, 2023, Wild voted against H.R.497, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, a bill that would liftCOVID-19 vaccine mandates for healthcare workers.[38][39] The following day, on February 1, 2023, Wild voted against a resolution to end theCOVID-19 national emergency.[40][41]
In 2019, Wild voted against allowing victims of crimes byillegal immigrants insanctuary cities to report the incident to theDepartment of Homeland Security.[42] On February 9, 2023, Wild also voted against H.J. Res. 24: Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022 which condemns the District of Columbia's plan that would allownoncitizen voting in local elections.[43][better source needed][44]
Wild voted for both articles of impeachment against PresidentDonald Trump.[45]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Susan Wild | 15,001 | 33.3 | |
| Democratic | John Morganelli | 13,565 | 30.1 | |
| Democratic | Greg Edwards | 11,510 | 25.6 | |
| Democratic | Roger Ruggles | 2,443 | 5.4 | |
| Democratic | Rick Daugherty | 1,718 | 3.8 | |
| Democratic | David Clark | 766 | 1.7 | |
| Total votes | 45,003 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Susan Wild | 140,813 | 53.5 | |
| Republican | Marty Nothstein | 114,437 | 43.5 | |
| Libertarian | Tim Silfies | 8,011 | 3.0 | |
| Total votes | 263,261 | 100.0 | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Susan Wild | 130,353 | 48.54% | +10.52% | |
| Republican | Marty Nothstein | 129,594 | 48.26% | −10.13% | |
| Libertarian | Tim Silfies | 8,579 | 3.19% | −0.40% | |
| Total votes | 268,526 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Susan Wild | 76,878 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 76,878 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Susan Wild | 195,713 | 51.9 | |
| Republican | Lisa Scheller | 181,569 | 48.1 | |
| Total votes | 377,282 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Susan Wild | 151,364 | 51.0 | |
| Republican | Lisa Scheller | 145,527 | 49.0 | |
| Total votes | 296,891 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ryan Mackenzie | 203,688 | 50.5% | |
| Democratic | Susan Wild | 199,626 | 49.5% | |
| Total votes | 403,314 | 100.0 | ||
Wild married Russell Wild in 1981. They divorced in 2003 after 22 years of marriage. They have two adult children. Following her divorce, Wild reunited with Kerry Acker, who remained her life partner until his death by suicide on May 25, 2019.[56] She lives inSouth Whitehall Township, located west of Allentown.[5]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 15th congressional district 2018–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 7th congressional district 2019–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Ethics Committee 2022–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Ethics Committee 2023–2025 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
