Another Republican candidate seeking to represent the Lehigh Valley in Congress has finally declared for the race.
Maria Montero announced her candidacy to represent Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District in 2024. She first filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in early July, but formally announced her campaign on Monday.
According to a release, Montero is an Easton resident and attorney, and characterized herself as the “daughter of an immigrant and grand-daughter of Carbon County Irish coal miners.”
She is the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission for Women during former Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration, and the Pennsylvania Latino Commission.
Montero is also a co-founder of the Lehigh Valley’s Power of Women Networking Initiative, and on the board of the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation.
She said she has “lived or worked in every county in the 7th Congressional District.” The district currently includes all of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties, as well as part of Monroe County.
She said in a statement that she was concerned “about the direction of our country,” and said action needs to be taken “to restore the American Dream not just for ourselves, but for future generations.”
Montero said her campaign would be built on four key cornerstones: safety, accountability, family finances, and education, or SAFE.
She also mentioned cracking down on “brazen crime” and fentanyl, and said elected officials need to be held accountable for “amassing $33 trillion in national debt, a fiscal and budgetary nightmare that we are leaving for our children and grandchildren.”
Montero is joining an increasingly-crowded field of candidates vying for the GOP nomination.
Kevin Dellicker, a technology service business owner and veteran, announced his candidacy about a week of Montero filed paperwork. He unsuccessfully ran for the nomination in 2022, losing narrowly to Lisa Scheller.
State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie announced last week that he was also running for the 7th District. He said he will not stand for reelection to the state House, where he represents the 187th District.
The eventual nominee will face incumbent three-term Democratic Congresswoman Susan Wild. The 7th District race is expected to be highly-competitive.
(Original air-date: 8/1/23)
