Pennsylvania Rep.-elect Ryan Mackenzie, who defeated incumbent Democrat Rep. Susan Wild in Tuesday's election, said Thursday on Newsmax that his win came from highlighting the Democrats' failures on the economy and immigration and offering positive solutions.
"We also had to talk about our positive plans for America, how we were going to put more money back in people's pockets, and how we would go about securing the border and our communities here in Pennsylvania," the Lehigh Valley Republican told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "It was that dual track that we had to execute on the campaign."
Mackenzie won against Wild by just 1 point to claim the 7th Congressional District seat, and said it was "a hard-fought campaign."
"We were outspent probably by 7 to 1," he said. "There was just that massive amount of Democrat spending."
The Democrats were "pushing all kinds of nonsense in their messaging, but at the end of the day, the truth won out," said Mackenzie. "The people were really looking for change, and we were able to deliver on it."
Mackenzie added that now the task is to go to Washington, D.C., and work with Congress and President-elect Donald Trump, "who's going to make positive results and positive changes for the American people."
Mackenzie's district includes Northampton County, a previously blue district that Trump flipped to red Tuesday, and much of that victory came from Hispanic voters, specifically Puerto Ricans, voting for Trump.
"Economics, illegal immigration, security in our communities, those issues don't change across gender or racial lines," Mackenzie said. "That's not how people view these issues nowadays. They view the impact on them and their family, their local community, and everybody is the same when they want financial security for their family and safety in their communities."
Meanwhile, some Democrats are saying that had their nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, picked Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, she may have had a better chance of winning the swing state.
Mackenzie said it would potentially have helped her, but still, the Democrats on the national stage are pushing a "hard-left agenda, which has failed."
"The resounding message that we were putting out and people responded to was that they were looking for change in their elected leaders, change in the direction of the country, and change in these failed policies," said Mackenzie. "We were able to convey that message that we were that candidate of change."
Republicans, meanwhile, still have not clenched the House majority, as several races remain too close to call, but Mackenzie said he's confident that the GOP will retain its control of the chamber.
"Looking at the map, it looks like we're going to end up either minus one or maybe plus or on the side of 3 to 4 seats," he said. "That is critically important if we want to be able to go out and effectuate the change that I've been talking about on this show, you need that House, Senate, and executive branch all lined up. And that's the only way that we're going to get to deliver change for the American people."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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