Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley enters crowded Democratic race for Congress in Pa.

Daniel Patrick Sheehan, The Morning Call on Jul 31, 2025

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ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley has joined the field of Democrats hoping to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie for the Lehigh Valley’s congressional seat next year.

Pinsley For Congress was registered with the Federal Elections Commission on Wednesday, documents show.

The South Whitehall resident joins Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, former PPL executive Carol Obando-Derstine and former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell in challenging Mackenzie, who narrowly defeated incumbent Democrat Susan Wild last year.

The 7th Congressional District, which includes all of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties and a portion of Monroe County, is one of the nation’s most competitive, and is considered key to which party controls the House of Representatives.

Pinsley, who has run unsuccessfully for state senate twice and lost a bid for state auditor general last year, was not immediately available for comment Thursday.

Pinsley has made headlines in recent years not only through his political campaigns but for sometimes controversial reports he has generated as the county’s fiscal watchdog.

His 2023 report “The Cost of Misdiagnosis” criticized doctors for what it alleges were rushed medical decisions that led to unsubstantiated reports of medical child abuse and to children being taken from homes by child welfare workers in both Lehigh and Northampton counties.

More recently, Pinsley was accused of politicizing a decision by the Lehigh County Pension Board to stop buying Tesla stock.

Pinsley, who introduced a motion to dump the stock, attributed the decision to Tesla owner Elon Musk’s choice to become “a political figure rather than a customer-focused leader.” At the time, Musk was generating controversy as head of the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, tasked with making major cuts to federal spending.

Yet Lehigh County Commissioner Ron Beitler said in a statement that three people who participated in the vote said it was not based on politics but on economic considerations.

“Unfortunately, our controller often turns straightforward matters into political theater,” Beitler said.

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