Democrat Christopher Deluzio faces off against Republican Jeremy Shaffer in Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District election

• Democrat Christopher Deluzio is running against Republican Jeremy Shaffer in Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District.
• The 17th District is located in the Pittsburgh suburbs.

Democrat Christopher Deluzio faces off against Republican Jeremy Shaffer in Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District.

Rep. Conor Lamb, who currently represents the district, gave up his seat to pursue the Democratic nomination for the US Senate seat soon to be vacated by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. But Lamb lost the Democratic primary to Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.

Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District candidates

Deluzio, Lamb's Democratic replacement, is an Iraq War veteran and voting rights attorney. After returning from his deployments, including a tour in Iraq, Deluzio received his law degree from Georgetown Law and clerked for a federal judge. He then went on to work at the Brennan Center for Justice on the voting rights and election security teams and later served as the policy director at Pitt Cyber.

Deluzio handily defeated his opponent Sean Meloy in the Democratic primary, bringing in nearly two-thirds of the vote. He was added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue" program, designed to bolster campaigns in attempts to flip the district from Republican to Democratic control.

Shaffer, Deluzio's challenger, is a former Ross Township commissioner and board president. He was endorsed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and named to the "On the Radar" list as part of the National Republican Congressional Committee's Young Guns program.

Voting history for Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District

Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District encompasses the Pittsburgh suburbs of Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, and all of Republican-leaning Beaver County.

President Joe Biden had a near 3 percentage point margin of victory under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 — before it was redrawn to take in a chunk of suburban Allegheny County in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it slightly more Democratic.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Deluzio has raised $2.8 million, spent $2.7 million, and has $103,802 of cash on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Shaffer, has raised $2.5 million, spent $1.8 million, and has $663,164 of cash still left to spend, as of October 19.

Through early November, super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups have combined to spend about $18 million to advocate for or against the candidates.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, National Republican Campaign Committee, GOP-backing super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund, and Democrat-backing hybrid PAC House Majority PAC are the top spenders in the race.

What experts say

The race between Deluzio and Shaffer is rated as a "toss-up" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and a "toss-up" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.