Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, who announced plans to run for Congress 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. “While I may not have the means to raise the stratospheric amounts of cash just to compete in the congressional primary, I do have the network, the support, the experience, to win the nomination for the state Senate in the 16th District,” Pinsley said in a video posted on Facebook. Democratic candidates who remain in the May primary race for Congress include former Northampton County Executive Lamont G. 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. Democrats in Lehigh Valley race for Congress talk affordability at town hall Those candidates all seek to unseat GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who is running unopposed for the Republican nomination, in November. The 16th state Senate District seat is held by Republican Sen. Jarrett Coleman, who is expected to run for reelection. The district covers parts of Bucks and Lehigh counties, including Upper Macungie Township, North Whitehall Township, Coopersburg and a portion of west Allentown. Pinsley ran for the state Senate 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 his email to The Morning Call. Pinsley was elected Lehigh County controller in 2019 and was reelected 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 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 in the state Senate race from 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. In addition to Vargas, Pennridge School Board Director Bradley Merkl-Gump and Richlandtown Mayor Wayne Codner were potential Democratic candidates, according to the report. Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at [email protected].