Susan Wild

Susan Ellis Wild (born June 7, 1957) is an American attorney and former Democratic politician who served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district from 2018 to 2025. Born at Wiesbaden Air Force Base in West Germany to a U.S. Air Force family, Wild grew up in a military household that moved frequently before she settled in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley region, where she established a legal practice after earning a B.A. from American University in 1978 and a J.D. She became the first woman to serve as solicitor for Allentown, Pennsylvania, from 2015 to 2018, handling the city's chief legal responsibilities amid local governance challenges.

Wild entered Congress via a special election victory on November 6, 2018, flipping the Republican-held seat vacated by Charlie Dent and becoming the first woman to represent the Lehigh Valley in the House. She retained the competitive district through the 2020 and 2022 cycles but lost re-election in 2024 to Republican Ryan Mackenzie by a narrow margin in a race marked by national partisan shifts. During her tenure, Wild focused on bipartisan efforts, co-introducing legislation such as the Advocates for Families Act to support kinship care families and bills expanding specialized education support in schools. She also held key committee roles, including ranking member on the House Ethics Committee, overseeing investigations into member conduct.

Wild's congressional record included advocacy for mental health resources, informed by her experiences during the January 6, 2021, Capitol events, but drew controversy for personal social media posts, such as labeling a veteran constituent a "homophobic bigot" after a Memorial Day interaction, prompting backlash and her decision to lock her Facebook account. Her career reflects a transition from local legal service to national politics in a swing district, where empirical voting patterns showed her vulnerability to economic and cultural voter priorities favoring Republican challengers in 2024.