Republican Nominee for U.S. House, Pennsylvania's 7th District
By Rebecca J. Horvath, Tennessee
Lisa Scheller is a trailblazing engineer and philanthropist whose business acumen and personal experience make her uniquely qualified for Congress.
A candidate in Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district - which leans Republican, according to the Cook Political Report - Scheller will face Democrat Susan Wild in November. The race is a rematch of the 2020 contest Wild won by the narrowest of margins.
The granddaughter of immigrants, Scheller is the CEO of the manufacturing company they founded. The company - which makes a key ingredient in paints and coatings that’s sent to 87 different countries - is the only woman-owned business of its type in the world. Scheller says, “I have lived the American Dream, and I want to protect that American Dream for future generations. I’ve been all over the world and seen what doesn’t work and why our system of free enterprise is so important to protecting the American Dream.”
Her successes have followed seemingly insurmountable challenges. As a young adult, Scheller struggled with heroin addiction; after entering recovery at age 22, she got her life on track and never forgot the power of reaching out to help others. “I broke my anonymity after 35 years in recovery to found a 501(c)(3) organization that helps addicts in early recovery get back into the workforce, living productive lives, and it invites the community into the space so they can see what early recovery looks like - people in recovery are ordinary people,” she explains. Today, Scheller has been clean and sober for 40 years and her non-profit, Hope & Coffee, is a popular coffee shop in her hometown of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.
Education played a vital role in Scheller’s recovery when she attended a trade school to learn computer programming, equipping her to find an excellent job. She later earned bachelor's and master’s degrees and became a tireless advocate for education. In the early 2000s, Scheller created a scholarship for students in need through her local community college, and it’s become one of the largest privately endowed scholarships of its kind in the country. “I believe a quality education - which does not always mean college - leads to a quality job which leads to a person being able to pursue the American Dream - whatever the American Dream is for that person,” she says.
Like many Americans, current events have Scheller concerned with the future of the American Dream. “With crime, the border crisis, fentanyl, and more, we have to put the brakes on before we can go in reverse,” she says, adding, “I can be part of the solution because I understand the struggle.”
Scheller is looking toward November with enthusiasm and hope. “It’s an exciting time to be a Republican woman and an even more exciting time to be a Republican woman candidate,” she believes. She’s a member of the Lehigh Republican Women’s Club, where she appreciates connecting with “people who are like-minded in political views and family values” and being part of grassroots efforts around the community.
Scheller is listed on the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Gun program. If she wins, Scheller will be the first Jewish Republican woman in Congress in 35 years and only the third in history. Her roles as a business owner, mother of two, and public servant have all prepared her to blaze her own trail all the way to Washington, DC.
Learn more about Lisa's campaign at lisaschellerpa.com.