Mark Pinsley, Lehigh County’s controller who announced his plans to run for Congress in the Lehigh Valley last summer, will drop his bid for that seat and instead run for state Senate.
Pinsley, in an email to The Morning Call, said, “After taking a hard look at my campaign finances, I have made the decision to leave the race for the Pennsylvania 7th Congressional seat.” Pinsley’s campaign raised $52,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025, behind all but one of his Democratic opponents.
Democratic candidates who remain in the race include former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, former PPL engineer Carol Obando-Derstine, former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, former Bethlehem firefighter Bob Brooks, Lehigh Valley Young Democrats Vice President Aiden Gonzalez and retired IT professional Lou Shupe.
Those candidates all seek to unseat GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who is running unopposed for the Republican nomination, in November.
Pinsley instead will launch a campaign for state Senate district 16, currently held by Republican Sen. Jarrett Coleman, who is expected to run for re-election. The district covers parts of Bucks and Lehigh counties, including Upper Macungie Township, North Whitehall Township, Coopersburg and a portion of west Allentown.
Pinsley previously ran for the same seat in 2022, receiving around 45% of the vote, and in 2018, receiving around 49% of the vote. The district’s map changed in 2022 to cover a larger portion of rural Lehigh County and just a small portion of Allentown.
“With the wind at our backs, Democrats need the strongest possible candidate with name recognition and a record of taking on big fights and winning them,” Pinsley wrote in an email to the Morning Call.
Pinsley was first elected Lehigh County Controller in 2019 and was re-elected in 2023, the same year that he unsuccessfully sought the nomination for state auditor general.
Pinsley’s announcement comes as prospective political candidates begin circulating nomination petitions in support of their candidacy. Candidates need 1,000 signatures from registered voters from their respective party in the district to run for Congress, and 500 signatures to run for state Senate.
Pinsley is expected to face a primary challenge from Democrat Juan Vargas, a South Whitehall Township resident and owner of Nowhere Coffee Co.
According to reports from the Bucks County Courier Times, Bucks County Democrats had sought to avoid a contested primary via an informal committee vote, but the effort was unsuccessful and drew backlash from some party officials, who argued that voters, not party leaders, should elect a primary candidate.
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.