Republican congressman Ryan Mackenzie, who is seeking re-election in Pennsylvania’s seventh congressional district, has been accused of embellishing his résumé by fabricating a career in real estate sales. Mackenzie, who won his first term in 2024 by a narrow 1% margin, has listed himself as a licensed real estate salesperson in Pennsylvania on his LinkedIn profile and in biographies.

However, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has accused Mackenzie of having “fabricated a career … that never existed.” Eli Cousin, a spokesperson for the DCCC, stated, “Now it looks like Mackenzie and his allies have embellished his résumé and fabricated a career in real estate that never existed. The truth is that Mackenzie is a career politician who has seemingly never worked a day in his life outside of politics and straight up does not understand the challenges that working Pennsylvanians are facing.”

Mackenzie’s campaign has not commented on whether he ever used his real estate license or made any sales. His office also did not respond to inquiries about previous accusations of lying about his age on Tinder or reports of a staffer removing related information from Wikipedia.

Mackenzie is running against Democrat Bob Brooks, former president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association, whom he has criticized with terms such as “fraud” and “conman.” The district is considered a swing district, with Donald Trump having won Pennsylvania in the 2024 presidential election after Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.

Notably, a 2025 Harvard Business School event listing described Mackenzie reflecting on his career path “from the real estate sector to public service at both the state and federal level.”

Sources