Lehigh Valley with Love Podcast
Congressional Candidate Conversations | Ryan Crosswell | PA-07 (2026)
Get More at LVwithLOVE.com! Become a partner or contact us On this special series of the Lehigh Valley with Love Podcast, we sat down with candidates running for U.S. House in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District ahead of the May 19, 2026 primary. To keep this fair and useful, every candidate was asked the same core questions. Mark Pinsley is not included because he dropped out. We also reached out multiple times to Congressman Ryan McKenzie’s office and did not receive a response. In this episode, we speak with Ryan Crosswell. Crosswell describes his background in public service, including serving in the Marine Corps after graduating from Duke Law School, and later working as a federal prosecutor. He also discusses why he decided to run for Congress now. Campaign: https://ryancrosswell.com/ Day to day financial stress Crosswell says people are feeling higher costs across the board, and he mentions grocery costs rising in Pennsylvania. He says the biggest day to day stress he hears most often is healthcare costs, and he argues that cuts to Medicare and ACA subsidies destabilize care providers and make the system worse for everyone, including people who already have insurance. He says he is talking to residents who are losing insurance or are uninsured. Healthcare and ACA premium tax credits Crosswell says he supports extending the ACA premium tax credits for as long as needed to keep premiums down. He adds that long term he wants a public healthcare option, described as a government regulated healthcare option, and argues that broader access would also drive down costs for people who keep private plans. Immigration enforcement, legal pathways, and work authorization Crosswell says he served as a federal prosecutor in San Diego and prosecuted immigration related offenses, including drug smuggling, illegal entry, and human smuggling. He says he supports a strong border, and also says he prosecuted law enforcement officers who broke the law, including a Border Patrol agent. He then focuses on internal enforcement by ICE, calling it disturbing and saying it violates Fourth Amendment rights through actions like entering homes without search warrants and detaining people without adequate cause. He argues Congress should rein ICE in, including by using funding leverage, and he supports requiring federal agents to remove masks and display identification. He also calls for accountability when due process is bypassed. He says his law firm is filing lawsuits on behalf of people he says were detained illegally by ICE. Warehouses and data centers Crosswell starts with data centers and says a major concern is energy use and the risk of higher energy prices. He says data centers should provide their own energy so local residents are not left paying more. He also raises concerns about environmental impact and water consumption, and says builders should be required to power facilities with renewable energy sources. He also says there should be requirements tied to water, including investment in desalination. He says he is uncomfortable with how quickly data centers are being rushed into the area without deeper cost benefit analysis and without clearer answers on environmental impact, energy impact, and job creation. He also connects warehouse growth to the