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  • Key Pennsylvania races to watch in the midterm elections this November

    Key Pennsylvania races to watch in the midterm elections this November

    In the country’s premier battleground state, Pennsylvania Democrats believe they’re in striking distance of a tidal-wave victories that would dramatically shift the balance of power in both Washington and Harrisburg.

    For the first time in decades, the party could take full control of the legislature. That would give Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro — seeking reelection with a wide polling gap on his Republican challenger Stacy Garrity — significantly more power to shape the direction of the state as he potentially pursues a White House bid in 2028.

    Democrats also see a chance to flip four congressional seats and take control of the U.S. House. Republicans, meanwhile, are prioritizing defending the Pennsylvania seats with their House majority on the line as President Donald Trump, who won the state just two years ago, sinks in popularity.

    The path for power in Washington in the high-stakes midterms runs through Pennsylvania and its results will be closely watched as both parties prepare for a presidential race in two years when the state promises to play a pivotal role.

    Voters across Pennsylvania will head to the polls in November to cast their ballots for races that will decide the balance of power in the state and nation.

    Here are the races to watch and how to vote.

    Shapiro’s November could dictate his 2028

    Shapiro, widely viewed as a likely contender for the 2028 presidency, has big ambitions this fall when he’ll stand for reelection against Garrity, the state’s treasurer.

    More than just securing his own reelection, Shapiro hopes to run up the margin and carry downballot Democrats across the finish line.

    Another double-digits win and a string of coattail victories would be a show of strength about his ability to perform in a key swing state that his party lost in the last presidential election. In a presidential primary, Shapiro could use that result to make an argument that he’s a strong general election candidate who can boost the Democratic brand.

    Two months out from the election, all signs point to a Shapiro win. He holds a historically large campaign war chest and a commanding 55-39% lead in the race against Garrity, according to a recent Philadelphia Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll.

    Garrity, who has been endorsed by Trump, broke the record in 2024 for the most number of votes received by a candidate running for state-level office in Pennsylvania. But support from the national GOP establishment has been limited, and as she faces off against a formidable incumbent, the question is: Can she overcome her stark cash disadvantage and low name recognition to become the state’s first female governor?

    Will Republicans hold on in competitive congressional seats?

    There are four U.S. House districts in the eastern portion of Pennsylvania, targeted by both parties as must wins. In each, the Republican incumbents are seeking to fend off highly financed challengers amid deep frustration among voters with the leader of their party that could translate into a wave of Democratic victories down ballot.

    1st Congressional District: Five-term Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick faces a challenge from Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie in the district, which covers all of Bucks County and a portion of Montgomery. Fitzpatrick, a moderate who has survived previous blue waves, has maintained a fundraising advantage on Harvie unlike the other swing-district incumbents.

    7th Congressional District: Freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie narrowly flipped the Lehigh Valley district two years ago and is widely seen as one of most vulnerable incumbents in Congress. He’s facing a challenge Democrat Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter and union leader whose blue-collar campaign has attracted support across the party’s ideological spectrum with endorsements from Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

    8th Congressional District: Freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan ousted a six-term incumbent in this district centered in former President Joe Biden’s hometown of Scranton two years ago. But as he faces a tough challenge from Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, Bresnahan has faced scrutiny over his stock trades and his vote to cut Medicaid — to pay for Trump’s tax cuts — despite a promise to protect the program.

    10th Congressional District: Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a close ally of Trump, faces a November rematch against Democrat Janelle Stelson, a former TV anchor, in the Harrisburg area district. Stelson has consistently outraised Perry after narrowly losing in 2024.

    In addition to these four races both national parties have targeted, Shapiro has argued that the 9th Congressional District, where Democrat Rachel Wallace is taking on incumbent GOP U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, is flippable — despite the strong GOP lean in the district, which stretches from Berks County to the New York state border. The district is home to two warehouses that ICE was planning to convert into detention centers before abandoning the plan after a backlash from residents.

    Will Democrats flip the Pennsylvania Senate?

    In Harrisburg, Democrats hold an extremely narrow majority in the state House, but the Pennsylvania state Senate has been under Republican control for more than 30 years.

    This year, Shapiro wants to flip the chamber and win a trifecta to push forward his key priorities, such as codifying abortion access, raising the state’s minimum wage, and increasing funding for transit.

    Republicans currently hold 27 of the chamber’s 50 seats. Democrats, who currently hold 23 seats, need to win at least two additional seats and the governor’s office to win control of the chamber with the lieutenant governor as a tiebreaking vote.

    The seats, drawn advantageously for Republicans, have been stubbornly resistant to political change for decades.

    But this year a blue wave could usher in Democratic pickups in Philadelphia suburbs and the Lehigh Valley.

    Races to watch include:

    • Bucks County’s 6th District, where Republican incumbent State Sen. Frank Farry faces a challenge from Democrat Eileen Hartnett Albillar.
    • Montgomery County’s 24th District, where incumbent Republican State Sen. Tracy Pennycuick is up for reelection against Democrat Chris Thomas.
    • Bucks and Lehigh County’s 16th District, which will see a rematch race between incumbent Republican State Sen. Jarrett Coleman and Democrat Mark Pinsley, the Lehigh County controller.

    What are the important dates to know?

    Election Day is Nov. 3.

    The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 19. You must be at least 18 years old, a resident of Pennsylvania and a citizen of the United States to vote. You can register online, by mail, at your county elections office, or at one of several other government buildings.

    You can check your voter registration on the Department of State’s website.

    Pennsylvanians can vote by mail with no excuse required. To apply, fill out an application by mail, online, or in-person and send it into your county election office. Applications must be received by Oct. 27 at 5 p.m. and the completed mail ballot must be received — not just postmarked — by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

    An application and mail ballot can be completed in one visit at an election office, essentially functioning as early voting.

    Staff writer Fallon Roth contributed to this article.

  • Most of Pa.’s likely voters disapprove of Donald Trump and his policies, new poll shows

    Most of Pa.’s likely voters disapprove of Donald Trump and his policies, new poll shows

    More than half of likely voters in Pennsylvania’s forthcoming midterm elections disapprove of President Donald Trump’s job performance, and he is drastically underwater among the state’s electorate on key issues — some of which helped him win a second term in 2024.

    Trump, who won the crucial swing state by nearly two percentage points in November 2024, now has an approval rating of 39% and a disapproval rating of 58% among Pennsylvania’s likely voters, according to an Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll published Tuesday.

    The poll, which was conducted from Aug. 17 to 21 among 760 likely Pennsylvania voters, raises questions about how voters’ perception of the president will affect November’s midterms, when many Pennsylvanians will cast their ballots in four critical swing district races that could determine which party controls the U.S. House.

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    Even among his Pennsylvania supporters who were surveyed, Trump faces some of his lowest approval ratings regarding his handling of the war in Iran and cost-of-living issues, according to the poll, counteracting campaign promises that proved successful in 2024: ending foreign wars and helping people pay their bills.

    Read the full Inquirer/NYT/Siena poll here.

    Once again, the economy will likely be at the front of voters’ minds heading into November — 22% of Pennsylvanians polled said it is their top issue in the governor’s race — and it could also serve as an indicator for the outcome of House races where Republicans will be on the defensive.

    “Certainly it’s got to be a drag on their fortunes,” said Don Levy, director of the Siena Research Institute.

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    Trump losing ground on issues that propelled him to White House

    The new polling on Trump’s management of top concerns facing the United States — particularly the economy and the cost of living — shows how the issues that helped propel him to the White House in 2024 are now souring his approval among Pennsylvanians, including some who previously voted for him.

    Among likely voters in the Keystone State, 39% approve and 61% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy. On his handling of the cost of living, 33% said they approve and 66% disapprove.

    The data come as voters continue to grapple with rising costs, including unusually high gas prices, and grocery prices that have been increasing for nearly six years. Trump’s tariffs, one of the defining policies of his first year back in office, also raised prices for consumers and businesses.

    Now, a quarter of Pennsylvanians who voted for the president in 2024 say they disapprove of how he is handling of the cost of living.

    Michael Patterson, 60, of Bucks County, is one of them.

    Though Patterson said Trump’s term has been “great” overall, he was expecting more from the president on the economy and costs.

    “The prices are still too high, interest rates are still too high,” Patterson said. “We still haven’t seen anything from that promise yet.”

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    Trump’s messaging on the economy in 2024 was part of why he won Pennsylvania with more votes than any other statewide GOP candidate in history. Pennsylvania voters cited Trump’s promises to bring costs down as a top reason that they voted for him and overlooked Democrats’ warnings about what his election could mean for democracy.

    Trump is also hurting on other issues that helped boost him to the presidency, including his promise to end wars. Thirty-two percent of likely voters in Pennsylvania approve of Trump’s handling of the war in Iran and 66% disapprove — including 30% of Trump voters.

    The war has now gone on for almost six months, after Trump promised it would last just a few weeks, and has contributed to rising oil and gas prices.

    Kay Skripac, who voted for Trump in 2024, said that though she supports the president on almost every other issue, “I just don’t think that we should have invaded or bombed Iran. I was very surprised, because I didn’t vote for that.”

    The 72-year-old independent voter said, despite thinking Trump has done strong work on the economy (she says her retirement portfolio doubled from 2016 to 2026), she is feeling the war’s impact at the gas pump.

    “I want everything to just be normal and stay the same, because everything was fine,” said Skripac, who lives in Crawford County. “We weren’t involved in any wars. You didn’t have to worry about any friends or loved ones potentially getting killed. I don’t like that at all.”

    Trump’s handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict also received low marks from voters, with 62% disapproval, compared with 36% approval.

    Republican Sandra Faust, 40, approves of Trump’s handling of that conflict. But her support does not extend to the war in Iran, which Trump launched in coordination with Israel.

    Faust, who voted for Trump two years ago, said she strongly disapproves of the war due to rising gas prices and believes it conflicts with the president’s promise to end wars. The Pittsburgh resident, who has a family member in military training to become a jet refueler, said she wishes the conflict in Iran would end.

    “Them dragging it on is not only harming us, locally with gas and, you know, pricing and stuff like that, but it’s putting our military in harm’s way, and I’m not happy about that,” she said.

    Faust added that she opposes the war because of her belief in the “America First” ideology. That perspective also makes her supportive of Trump’s immigration agenda, she said.

    The president is lagging in Pennsylvanians’ support of his immigration policies — which have included mass deportations and enhanced border security — but the disapproval is not as stark. Among likely voters, 44% approve of his handling of immigration and 55% disapprove.

    “We are not responsible for taking care of the world’s problems,” Faust said.

    What does Trump’s approval rating mean for November in Pa.?

    So what does this mean for the midterms?

    Time will tell.

    But 51% of Pennsylvania’s likely voters who were polled indicated they would be more likely to vote for a Democrat in their congressional district, and 44% said they would support a Republican. More than half, 53%, say they would want to see a flip of control in the House, putting Democrats in charge, while 44% say they would want to see the GOP maintain control.

    The polling for the GOP in November is not as bleak as Trump’s numbers, but it shows where voters’ heads are a little more than two months away from the midterms, when Pennsylvanians will weigh in on four competitive swing district congressional races.

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    Both parties are targeting GOP-held seats in Bucks County’s 1st Congressional District, the Lehigh Valley’s 7th Congressional District, the Scranton area’s 8th Congressional District, and the Harrisburg area’s 10th Congressional District.

    Democrats are hoping that a message focused on affordability and tying opponents to Trump will usher in wins this fall. For instance, Democrat Bob Harvie in the heated 1st Congressional District race published a new campaign platform recently that focuses mainly on addressing economic issues.

    “The task of Republicans running in various congressional districts, or for the governor of the state, is going to be to somehow separate themselves from the perception that Pennsylvanians have about the job that the head of their party is doing on the economy,” said Levy, the Siena polling director.

    But for Democrats, connecting Harvie’s opponent, longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, to Trump could be a harder sell. The Bucks County lawmaker consistently outperforms his party and has survived one blue wave after another.

    The poll’s findings signal that both parties may also have to think about their branding to the public — 50% of respondents said the Democratic Party is too far to the left and 47% said Republican Party is too far to the right.

    Republicans will also have to consider Trump’s unpopularity, especially with women. Sixty-two percent of female likely voters in Pennsylvania disapprove of Trump’s policies, while 34% approve. The president is also struggling with men — a key base for him in 2024: 51% of men disapprove of Trump’s policies, compared with 46% who approve.

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    Democrat Vincent Russo, 78, of Lackawanna County, where Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan faces a challenge from Democrat Paige Cognetti in the 8th District, said he will be voting straight blue on his ballot in November and thinks opposition to Trump’s policies will motivate his party to get out to the polls.

    “I think the people are starting to see he does nothing but lie,” Russo said.

    Staff writers Michelle Baruchman and Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.

  • Bob Harvie’s debate challenge to Brian Fitzpatrick sets off new war of words in Bucks County race

    Bob Harvie’s debate challenge to Brian Fitzpatrick sets off new war of words in Bucks County race

    Candidates are trading debate challenges in a contentious congressional race in a key swing district in the Philadelphia suburbs.

    Democrat Bob Harvie is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick to four debates, his campaign told The Inquirer. Fitzpatrick, after learning of Harvie’s challenge from The Inquirer, countered with 10 debates — but only if Harvie releases files related to an FBI investigation that Fitzpatrick and allies have routinely alleged focuses on the Democrat.

    Harvie does not have files to release, said Dan McCormick, the candidate’s campaign manager. Harvie also has never been under investigation, lawyers for his campaign said. And he has already filed a defamation lawsuit against a pro-Fitzpatrick super PAC for making the same claim.

    “Bob would be happy to participate in 10 debates,” McCormick said. “Bob has no files to release and Brian Fitzpatrick knows it. If Fitzpatrick has proof as he says he does, he should put up or shut up.”

    The back-and-forth emerged Monday when the Harvie campaign told The Inquirer that the two-term Bucks County commissioner would be challenging the five-term GOP lawmaker to three debates in Bucks — one each in the lower, central, and upper parts of the county — and a fourth in the Montgomery County portion of the 1st Congressional District.

    Harvie said that Fitzpatrick “refuses to answer questions here at home” and “has nothing to show for his nearly 10 years in Washington.”

    The increasingly heated race is one of four marquee congressional contests in Pennsylvania that could decide which party controls the U.S. House in November.

    “It’s time for Fitzpatrick to show up in Bucks and Montgomery County — not Manhattan or the Lavender Fields in France,” Harvie said in a statement, referring to the venues for Fitzpatrick’s wedding and engagement to Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich. “I’ll be there whether or not he shows, because I will never forget who I am fighting for.”

    Heather Roberts, a spokesperson for Fitzpatrick, said as soon as Harvie releases “his full FBI files,” the campaign will move forward with date and venue selections for 10 debates.

    “If the Subject of an FBI Corruption investigation is asking to be provided a platform by the only FBI Agent in Congress, he sure as hell will be required to come clean with the public and release these documents in their entirety,” Roberts said in a statement. “If he has nothing to hide, this should be an easy decision for him.”

    Roberts also proposed a joint sit-down interview with Harvie and Fitzpatrick, conducted by The Inquirer, to discuss the allegations.

    The Harvie campaign questioned how Fitzpatrick would know the content of the files.

    Roberts said that Fitzpatrick, who served 15 years as an FBI agent and a federal prosecutor, “is extremely familiar with this specific grand jury protocol and the documents that are generated.”

    The debate drama is the most recent development in what has become an increasingly combative race, filled with personal jabs and legal filings related to controversial ads making allegations that Harvie is the subject of an FBI investigation.

    Harvie, a former Falls Township supervisor, and other officials testified as witnesses to a grand jury in an FBI probe in 2022 into political donations and union contracts related to the Pennsbury School District. In 2020, the FBI interviewed several people connected to Falls Township and Pennsbury.

    It has been four years since voters have been able to see a general election debate in the 1st Congressional District. In 2024, Fitzpatrick did not debate Democratic challenger Ashley Ehasz, after doing so in 2022.

    The Harvie campaign said that it would be willing to work with the Fitzpatrick campaign on logistics and other event details, but that the commissioner’s preference is a town hall-style debate so voters can hear from him directly.

    The last time Fitzpatrick announced an in-person town hall was August 2017, according to Fitzpatrick’s government website.

    Fitzpatrick has held tele-town halls, including one in June, for constituents, and frequently posts on social media recapping the meetings and events he attends in the community.

  • Bob Harvie files defamation suit against GOP super PAC over ‘beyond the bounds’ claims of FBI investigation, inappropriate relationship

    Bob Harvie files defamation suit against GOP super PAC over ‘beyond the bounds’ claims of FBI investigation, inappropriate relationship

    Attorneys for Bucks County Democrat Bob Harvie filed a lawsuit Wednesday against a political action committee and a consultant supporting his opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, in a high-stakes congressional contest.

    The lawsuit comes after what Harvie’s campaign says are repeated and false claims about his involvement in an FBI investigation. Harvie’s legal team is also disputing a new attack from the PAC alleging that the county commissioner had an inappropriate relationship with a county employee.

    The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, claims that Defending America PAC Inc. and its president, Chris Pack, have sustained a “campaign to defame Harvie by repeatedly and recklessly publishing false and defamatory statements imputing criminal conduct that go beyond the bounds even of a highly contested political campaign.”

    Harvie’s testimony to a grand jury in an FBI probe in 2022 has sparked a firestorm in the race for the Bucks County-based 1st Congressional District, a seat that could help determine control of the U.S. House this fall. Harvie’s attorneys last month sent a cease-and-desist letter over such statements to Defending America PAC, which subsequently challenged Harvie to file a lawsuit.

    Last month, Fitzpatrick and his campaign also received a cease-and-desist letter from Harvie’s lawyers, but neither the Bucks County Republican nor his campaign is named in Wednesday’s suit.

    Website and social media posts and other materials from Defending America PAC and Pack this election cycle have stated Harvie is an “FBI corruption subject” or “under FBI investigation” related to his time as a Falls Township supervisor, according to the suit, but Harvie’s lawyers assert that the allegations are false and that he has never been under criminal investigation.

    “Contrary to the meaning that out-of-state political operatives have endeavored to convey — to convince Harvie’s community that Harvie is somehow connected to a crime — Harvie is not now and never has been the target of any criminal investigation nor has he ever been charged with a crime,” wrote Harvie’s attorneys, Timothy J. Ford and Marion Barker Taylor of Dilworth Paxson, in the legal filing.

    Harvie and his campaign are seeking an unspecified amount of damages greater than $150,000, as well as legal fees, for defamation and false light invasion of privacy.

    In a statement to The Inquirer on Wednesday, Pack once again referred to Harvie as an “FBI Corruption Subject” and said the Democrat “has predictably chosen to engage in lawfare by filing a meritless lawsuit in an attempt to stifle our political speech” instead of releasing “complete” records “related to his corruption investigation.”

    “Rest assured we will vigorously defend ourselves and seek every remedy available under Pennsylvania law, including Pennsylvania’s anti-SLAPP protections signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro,” Pack said, referring to a bill signed in 2024 by the Democratic governor that essentially offers extra layers of protections for defendants in defamation suits.

    The organization appears to have been ready for this next step to happen. In an email blast and website post last week, the group said “we’re willing to pay for Harvie to sue us” so that the PAC could obtain any relevant records during the suit’s discovery phase.

    In response, Harvie said in a statement Wednesday: “Put your money where your mouth is. Just tell us where to send the bills. See you in court.”

    In that same post last week, the PAC made an additional claim — rebuked by Harvie’s lawyers Wednesday — that the Democrat had a “recent divorce” that “may have had something to do with Harvie getting a little too cozy with a county employee.” It links to a screenshot of a random Facebook account that alleges Harvie cheated on his wife with an employee from Bucks County’s children and youth services department and, in turn, helped her become a supervisor.

    Harvie’s lawyers rejected the allegation, calling it “outrageous.”

    “Harvie never cheated on his wife and never had sex with a Bucks County employee. Harvie never used his position to influence a decision to promote a Bucks County employee inappropriately,” they said.

    Harvie and his wife divorced in 2023, public records show.

    ‘Not politics as usual,’ Harvie’s lawyers argue

    The string of events that culminated in Wednesday’s suit dates back to 2022, when Harvie and other officials testified as witnesses before a grand jury in connection with an investigation into political donations and union contracts related to the Pennsbury School District. In 2020, the FBI interviewed several people connected to Falls Township and Pennsbury.

    Harvie’s attorneys said in the filing Wednesday that he has not been asked to provide additional information or testimony and has not had any contact with the FBI since his 2022 testimony.

    Similar allegations were made during Harvie’s 2023 reelection campaign for county commissioner and were also disputed by the Democrat at the time.

    Three years later, they have again bubbled up to the surface as Harvie seeks federal office in one of four Pennsylvania seats being targeted by both parties.

    Harvie’s attorneys said Wednesday that since the Democrat announced his candidacy for the U.S. House in April 2025, Defending America PAC has maintained a website entitled “Fire Bob Harvie,” where the group refers to him as “the subject of an FBI corruption investigation” or an “FBI corruption subject.” The lawyers estimate that the PAC has used similar language in at least 30 social media posts and that Pack has personally done so at least 27 times.

    The commissioner’s lawyers contend that Defending America PAC’s and Pack’s actions have harmed Harvie’s reputation and qualify as “actual malice.” Since Harvie is a public official, lawyers would have to clear a high legal bar to prove that the organization and Pack either knew the information they are pushing is false or otherwise exhibited a “reckless disregard” for its accuracy.

    “Defendants’ conduct is not politics as usual. As shown by doubling down on their escalating rhetoric, Defendants’ conduct is willful, wanton, malicious, and undertaken with actual malice and reckless indifference to Harvie’s rights, thereby entitling Harvie to recover punitive damages,” Harvie’s lawyers wrote.

    What is Defending America PAC?

    Defending America PAC, a super PAC that is designed to work independently from a candidate, launched as Fitzpatrick was seeking reelection in 2024 and has scaled up its operation this year as the candidate faces his most high-profile challenge yet, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

    The goal, according to the PAC’s website, is to defend Fitzpatrick “from extremist challengers on the far left and far right.” In 2024, Fitzpatrick defeated a far-right challenger in the Republican primary.

    Without the same donor limits as candidates, it raised $425,000 in 2024 and spent its money to oppose Fitzpatrick’s challenger in the Republican primary. In the current two-year cycle, it has raised more than twice that amount and started spending to oppose Harvie. The PAC currently has about $712,500 in its account.

    About half the money it has pulled in this election cycle came from labor-affiliated groups that are backing Fitzpatrick, including $250,000 from LIUNA Building America, the political action committee for the Laborers’ International Union of North America. An additional $100,000 came from the PAC for the Transport Workers Union of America, and $50,000 came from the Air Line Pilots Association. In recent weeks, Fitzpatrick has continued to receive sweeping support from labor unions.

    Defending America also appears to have received funds from some of the largest Republican donors in the country.

    Billionaire Harlan Crow, a GOP mega-donor and real estate developer known for his association with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, donated $25,000. Craig Duchossois, the former chair of a Chicago-based investment firm, donated $50,000.

    A $100,000 donation from Keystone Next — a super PAC that launched in 2025 with funds from an organization aligned with U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) — arrived in April. The donation was marked just two days after Keystone Next received a $250,000 contribution from Jeffrey Yass, Pennsylvania’s richest man and largest Republican political benefactor.

    It also coincided with two other $100,000 donations that Keystone Next made to super PACs aimed at boosting Pennsylvania Republicans, including the more conservative U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in a competitive Harrisburg-based district.

    Staff writers Michelle Baruchman and Abraham Gutman contributed to this article.

  • Democrats are outraising Republican incumbents in competitive Pa. House districts — except for one

    Democrats are outraising Republican incumbents in competitive Pa. House districts — except for one

    With control of the U.S. House on the line in November, Pennsylvania’s swing-district candidates are stocking up their war chests for a critical election — but one Democrat is lagging behind his counterparts.

    Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, who is challenging longtime incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the 1st Congressional District, raised almost $552,300 between April 30 and June 30, according to new campaign finance reports filed Wednesday, putting him at a little over $2 million raised since he launched his campaign in April 2025.

    But Harvie’s sum for this two-month period is almost half a million less than Fitzpatrick, and roughly $915,000 on average less than the other Democratic candidates.

    Fellow swing–district Democrats Bob Brooks, Paige Cognetti, and Janelle Stelson all outraised the Republican incumbents in the 7th, 8th, and 10th Districts respectively, each gathering more than $1 million during this two-month period, a sign national Democrats say is proof of their strength in these competitive Pennsylvania seats.

    The reporting period covers the final weeks before the May 19 primary and the six weeks that followed.

    Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie hosts a veterans roundtable on May 4 at Middletown Township Building in Langhorne.William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer

    Harvie is seen by Democrats as the party’s best chance in a decade to beat Fitzpatrick, a five-term moderate with a massive fundraising operation, who has raised $6.7 million so far this campaign, bringing in over $1 million this period.

    The Bucks County Republican has been tough to beat, thanks to his name recognition and ability to garner support from voters across the political spectrum, but Democrats believe Harvie’s roots in the county, and his electoral record as county commissioner, make him their strongest candidate to date.

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    And their outlook on the race hasn’t budged. Democrats believe all four swing district Democrats will be successful in November but understand it will take continued investments, including more money, to get all of them across the finish line.

    Bucks County’s 1st Congressional District “is a winnable race, and Democrats should be all in on investing in Harvie so that he can help take back control of Congress,” said Dan McCormick, Harvie’s campaign manager, in a statement.

    He also added that Harvie doesn’t “take a dime” of corporate PAC money. McCormick did not comment on the contrast between Harvie’s fundraising and that of his counterparts in the other targeted districts.

    “Fitzpatrick sees the same polling we do, that’s why he’s busy lighting his money on fire lying about Bob,” McCormick said.

    Fitzpatrick began funding ads against Harvie before the May 19 primary, underscoring the significance of Harvie’s challenge in a year Republicans are expected to lose seats nationally. Fitzpatrick’s campaign spent nearly $2 million between May and June, compared with about $360,000 in spending by Harvie’s campaign.

    Both parties are targeting the seat, which includes all of Bucks and a sliver of Montgomery County, as they battle to secure control over the U.S. House.

    In a pre-primary report that covered April 1 through 29, Harvie had raised about $107,000, in addition to his stockpile reported Wednesday. Fitzpatrick raised $246,000 during that same period.

    Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) speaks to reporters June 3 after the House passed an Iran war powers resolution.Haiyun Jiang

    The nonpartisan Cook Political report has rated the 1st Congressional District as “likely” Republican, and the three other swing districts are considered toss-ups.

    In a high stakes election year — and with popular Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro at the top of the ticket and a sinking approval rating for President Donald Trump — Harvie’s fundraising numbers at this point are mostly on par with the last Democrat to take on Fitzpatrick.

    Former challenger Ashley Ehasz, who ran against Fitzpatrick in 2022 and 2024, raised more than $767,000 during this period two years ago, bringing her campaign total to $2.1 million as of June 30, 2024.

    Brittany Crampsie, a Democratic strategist in Pennsylvania, said donors may be doing “a little bit of hedging” their spending for Harvie at the moment, waiting to see more information on Shapiro’s poll numbers, Trump’s approval rating, and the national mood before investing more in the 1st District.

    “Democratic donors absolutely want to beat Fitzpatrick,” Crampsie said. “We want to control Congress by large margins. But PA-1 is an expensive race. I mean, you might want to be looking at a little bit more information.”

    The 1st and 7th Congressional Districts are part of the expensive Philadelphia television market, meaning both Harvie and Brooks will be competing for airtime.

    Brooks, who is taking on freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the Lehigh Valley, has raised $2.3 million over the entire span of his campaign — getting a boost this period after winning a competitive primary — but it’s not too far off from Harvie’s $2 million total haul.

    Christopher Nicholas, a GOP consultant who grew up in Bucks County, said that Harvie is not just in a competition against Fitzpatrick, but also with the three other Democratic contenders in Pennsylvania.

    “If you’re some official at the DCCC, and you say ‘Let’s see, get me the report on Pennsylvania,’ and you see this, where is Harvie going to be in the rankings? Is he going to be moving up or moving down? I think that’s a pretty easy question to answer,” Nicholas said.

    Eli Cousin, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, emphasized that Pennsylvanians are wholeheartedly behind all four candidates who he says are “on the front lines of our path back to the House majority and will shake up a broken Washington in order to put Pennsylvania families first.”

    Donors still have a lot of time to realize that Harvie is “the right candidate” and to contribute to TV and other ad spends that will come later this summer into the fall, Crampsie said. Some may already be writing checks to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other Democratic aligned-issues to support their cause of flipping the House blue.

    “Fitzpatrick has won several times after being called the number one target, and stakeholders may be less likely to oppose him publicly and want to put their money into spending for Harvie that’s not necessarily into PAC spending … but I don’t think that it’s a sign that people are not supporting Harvie,” Crampsie said.

    But even in the races where Democrats are outraising incumbents victory isn’t guaranteed in districts where Republicans have previously managed to prevail despite a cash disadvantage.

    Janelle Stelson, running to represent Pennsylvania in Congress, campaigns at a gas station. Michelle Gustafson

    In 2024, Stelson raised about $6.5 million during the entire cycle, roughly $2.1 million more than Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, and still lost. Republicans are hoping Perry can prevail again when they have a rematch in November.

    And Republicans see other signs of hope in these races despite Democrats’ momentum. For example, Mackenzie has more than $2.9 million cash on hand, roughly $1.9 million more than Brooks.

    “Republicans remain in a strong position to defend our House majority after excellent quarters by our incumbent Members across Pennsylvania,” Reilly Richardson, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement.

  • Democrat Bob Harvie sends cease-and-desist letter to Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, claiming defamation in campaign ads

    Democrat Bob Harvie sends cease-and-desist letter to Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, claiming defamation in campaign ads

    The Democratic nominee for a crucial swing seat in Pennsylvania is accusing the Republican incumbent of making categorically false and defamatory statements, the latest move as escalating attack ads circulate in the Bucks County district.

    Attorneys representing Bob Harvie sent a cease-and-desist letter to U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a five-term Republican incumbent facing a competitive reelection, and his campaign for a “series of defamatory allegations” that, they say, misleadingly portray Harvie’s role in an FBI investigation.

    A lawyer representing Fitzpatrick and his campaign confirmed receipt of the letter but did not respond to additional requests for comment.

    The advertisements purport that Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner, is currently under criminal investigation for stealing taxpayer money, assertions his campaign said falsely stem from a federal case that appeared to have quieted after the grand jury met in Philadelphia in 2022. The probe was about problems related to contracts, unions, and a Pennsylvania school district.

    Harvie is not and never was under investigation, his lawyers said, nor was he the subject of the federal case, but mailers and television spots continue to blur the lines.

    The election fights are ramping up as both men compete to win Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional district in November, and with it, decide fate over which party controls the U.S. House. It’s one of four seats in the commonwealth being targeted by both political parties during the high-stakes midterm elections. Fitzpatrick has represented the area since 2017.

    Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) speaks to reporters on June 3 after the House passed an Iran war powers resolution.Haiyun Jiang

    Harvie’s attorneys sent Fitzpatrick and his campaign the letter Thursday shortly after 5 p.m. and gave the campaign 24 hours to respond.

    “Brian Fitzpatrick’s lies are intended to deceive the voters and that’s a disgrace to this district,” Harvie said in a statement.

    Further action will depend on whether and how Fitzpatrick and his campaign proceeds, Harvie’s campaign said.

    Defending America PAC, a political action committee that supports Fitzpatrick, has also used similar language in social media posts, news releases, and video content that said Harvie is the subject of an FBI investigation. Harvie’s campaign sent Defending America PAC a cease-and-desist letter Thursday, too, around 9 a.m.

    In a statement, Chris Pack, president of the PAC, said further legal action from Harvie would be an effort “to chill protected political speech.”

    What happened with the FBI investigation?

    The FBI in 2020 interviewed several people with connections to Falls Township and the Pennsbury School District, LevittownNow reported in September 2022.

    Harvie and several other officials were among those who testified before a grand jury in the probe, which has not been active since 2022, the campaign said. But Harvie and his lawyers in the letter maintain he “is not now and has never been the subject of any criminal investigation” or stealing money from taxpayers to throw himself a party.

    Political advertisements, paid for by the Fitzpatrick campaign, suggest otherwise.

    In a television spot that has aired on three cable systems that run across the district since June 30, a man is seen asking, “Commissioner Harvie, why did you steal taxpayer money to throw yourself a party” while the words “BOB HARVIE UNDER FBI INVESTIGATION” are displayed on screen. His campaign committee, Brian Fitzpatrick for All of Us, paid for the ads.

    The letter also accuses Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent himself, of “actual malice,” which would require proof in court that he made the advertisements with knowledge that the allegations were false or with reckless disregard to whether they were false or not.

    When similar charges were made in 2023 in a race for county commissioner, Harvie denied the claims as false.

    “There comes a line where you cannot straight up lie about folks,” said Dan McCormick, Harvie’s campaign manager.

    What other action could be taken?

    Harvie’s campaign could file a lawsuit claiming Fitzpatrick has defamed him, but that would involve likely months of subpoenas, depositions, and evidence gathering before the case potentially goes to a judge or jury — a process that could extend past November’s election.

    The Federal Election Commission, an independent agency in the U.S. government, oversees federal elections and campaign finance, but defamation is under the jurisdiction of courts, not the commission.

    The television stations that have aired the advertisements have also been alerted to the defamation claims, Harvie’s campaign said. The Federal Communications Commission, another independent U.S. agency, monitors communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. However, it also does not investigate or resolve defamation claims.

    It’s not uncommon for campaigns to trade cease-and-desist letters as elections heat up, and some are outright ignored.

    How much money has been spent on the campaign?

    A competitive U.S. House seat has drawn state and national attention, resources, and lots of dollars.

    Fitzpatrick entered April with $7 million already stored in the bank, allowing him to spend early on ads against Harvie — even before the Democrat won his May primary. Some of Fitzpatrick’s money went to attacking Harvie in his race against Lucia Simonelli, a grassroots candidate and climate policy expert.

    In total, Fitzpatrick has already spent $2.81 million from Jan. 1, 2025, to April 29, 2026, according to campaign finance reports — with roughly four months left to go before the campaign. During the entire 2024 campaign cycle, he spent $3.47 million.

    In addition to the FBI investigation ads, other TV hits and mailers have framed Harvie as a “career politician” who “voted to give himself a raise” and voted to count faulty mail ballots during a U.S. Senate recount, in violation of a state Supreme Court ruling.

    Prior to beginning his tenure as commissioner in 2020, Harvie was on the Falls Township Board of Supervisors for 17 years, and spent 12 of those as chair. As chair of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners in 2022, Harvie approved an annual 1% increase in salaries for commissioners and several other local offices.

    Fitzpatrick and the National Republican Congressional Committee have placed a joint ad buy starting Tuesday. This type of purchase was made more possible after the Supreme Court case, announced this week, that allows coordinated campaigns and direct campaigns to work more in tandem.

    Harvie, though, has his own stash of cash. He’s raised $1.45 million, according to campaign finance reports, and has released ads that connect Fitzpatrick to President Donald Trump’s agenda — even as the lawmaker has voted against Trump on numerous issues and earned his ire. The next financial disclosure will be released July 15, and Harvie’s campaign said it has now raised about $2 million.

    National Democrats have also thrown resources behind him, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has listed Harvie on its “Red to Blue” list as a key seat to flip.

    “This is a defining moment in this campaign: After nearly a decade in D.C., Fitzpatrick has been caught with egg on his face by resorting to the very kind of gutter politics that he pretends to stand against,” said DCCC spokesperson Eli Cousin.

    Harvie was one of four swing-districts Democratic candidates Gov. Josh Shapiro supported ahead of the May primary, as he looks to elevate the party in fall and help win control of Congress.

    Staff writer Fallon Roth contributed to this article.

  • Brian Fitzpatrick ties the knot with Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich in NYC wedding

    Brian Fitzpatrick ties the knot with Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich in NYC wedding

    U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), who represents Bucks County, and Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich got married Saturday in New York City.

    The wedding was attended by high-profile figures in politics and media and featured a nighttime cruise around the Statue of Liberty.

    The celebrations for the newlyweds and their 302 guests included a ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and a reception on a yacht called Horizon’s Edge, with a 10-piece brass band and the toasts of former GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and former Sen. Joe Manchin (I., W. Va.), People magazine reported.

    The nuptials of Fitzpatrick, 52, and Heinrich, 37, comes almost a year after their engagement and amid the Republican’s high-stakes reelection campaign to represent Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District against Democratic challenger Bob Harvie.

    Fitzpatrick and Heinrich said they chose New York for their wedding because of its significance in jumpstarting their respective careers as an FBI agent and a network news reporter and its connection to their families’ immigration journey, People reported. It was also a central meeting point for the couple’s families from New England and Pennsylvania.

    The reception featured other nods to family — Heinrich’s parents got married on a chartered cruise and the couple’s cake-cutting song was an “Irish tune,” People reported, written by Fitzpatrick’s great-uncle, an NYPD officer who was killed in the line of duty, according to People.

    Former Sen. Joe Manchin (I, W.Va) and former GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (right) give a toast to U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich’s nuptials.Charming Images

    Guests took to social media to congratulate the newlyweds including Heinrich’s Fox News colleagues, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R., Neb.), and President Donald Trump’s former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was invited to the wedding, but the Democrat was unable to attend.

    Fitzpatrick and Heinrich met in Washington when Heinrich was a correspondent on Capitol Hill. After she switched beats to cover the White House, Fitzpatrick asked her on a date to the Kennedy Center Honors.

    Heinrich’s LinkedIn page shows she began working as Fox News’ White House correspondent in May 2021 during former President Joe Biden’s term.

    They are one of the most high-profile couples on Capitol Hill, sometimes earning the ire of Trump.

    Last month, after Fitzpatrick won his GOP primary unopposed, Trump threatened Fitzpatrick, without saying his name, when asked a question by Heinrich, who is vice president of the White House Correspondents Association.

    “Her husband votes against me all the time. Can you imagine? I don’t know what’s with him,” Trump said. “You better ask what’s with him. She’s married to a certain congressman. He likes voting against Trump, You know what happens with that? It doesn’t work out well.”

  • Brian Fitzpatrick steps up criticism of House Republican leaders while he starts to lean on their campaign cash

    Brian Fitzpatrick steps up criticism of House Republican leaders while he starts to lean on their campaign cash

    WASHINGTON — As U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick’s fiercest reelection battle in years got underway in the last two months, the moderate Bucks County Republican has called to restrict President Donald Trump’s war in Iran and prohibit a so-called “anti-weaponization fund” that could reward the president’s allies.

    He’s talked up Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s potential run for president, and he’s said he would “100%” become an independent if Pennsylvania didn’t have closed primaries.

    He went even further this week — deriding House Republican leadership for opposing a process that allows lawmakers like him to force a vote on issues like the weaponization fund.

    “Leadership of both parties have been guilty of this for years… just further evidence of the brokenness of the two-party system — and the rise of Independent voters is a direct manifestation of this,” Fitzpatrick wrote on social media.

    Behind the scenes, though, Fitzpatrick has started to lean on his party’s vast resources to help win his reelection and, Republicans hope, keep the narrowly divided 435-member House in GOP control.

    In a newly scheduled television ad campaign that will begin later this month, Fitzpatrick is teaming up with the National Republican Congressional Committee — the official campaign arm of House Republican leaders — to launch ads aimed at boosting his campaign in the 1st Congressional District against Democratic nominee Bob Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner who won last month’s primary with support from Shapiro and national Democrats.

    The $120,000 worth of cable TV ads represent the first foray by the NRCC in any Pennsylvania district so far this year, according to the tracking firm AdImpact.

    Both parties are competing heavily over four Republican-held seats in Pennsylvania, making the state one of the centerpieces in the fight to win the House majority during this year’s high-stakes midterms.

    The NRCC and other Republican groups have promised to help reelect all four incumbents. And with the new ads benefiting Fitzpatrick, the NRCC is spending first on the candidate who’s been the most publicly critical of their leadership and even gotten some blowback from Trump as a result.

    “Trump can say whatever Trump wants,” Robin Kolodny, a Temple University political science professor, said of the president’s accusations that Fitzpatrick is insufficiently loyal. “But you get to 218 by adding one race at a time. And if you have an incumbent who’s been successful, the party has every incentive to support them until they find that the polling says it’s the lost cause.”

    Fitzpatrick has won five terms in a nearly evenly divided Bucks County-based district with what observers have called a specific brand of politics. He votes with his party and supports Trump’s priorities the vast majority of the time, though he’s broken with them in instances like the final passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill and the expiration of COVID-era Affordable Care Act tax credits that kept costs lower for individuals using the public marketplace.

    His recent opposition to the anti-weaponization fund has echoes of that healthcare debate in December, when Fitzpatrick joined with Democrats in trying to use a process called a discharge petition to force a vote that Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson declined to set up.

    Fitzpatrick’s office and campaign did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

    But earlier this week, the Pennsylvania lawmaker and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D., N.Y.) said they would launch a discharge petition to prevent Trump from creating a fund to compensate people who claim to be victims of a weaponized federal government, Punchbowl News reported. The idea for the $1.8 billion fund emerged from a settlement between Trump and the Department of Justice in a case about the leak of Trump’s tax returns.

    Republican lawmakers who have often acquiesced to the president’s demands voiced deep concerns. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche responded by saying the administration was walking away from the idea. Still, Trump officials have quietly worked to keep it alive and have not ruled out payments going to individuals previously charged with attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, The Atlantic reported Thursday.

    “The statement’s not satisfactory,” Fitzpatrick said on CNN earlier this month while discussing Blanche’s comments. “We need both a legal avenue here and a statutory legislative avenue. That’s what Tom and I have introduced, and that’s what we’re going to force to the floor.”

    He called the fund an “abuse” of the law. In a post on X this week, he also disparaged Republicans leaders’ “poorly managed House Floor” for preventing a discharge petition to squash it.

    Johnson, the Louisiana Republican who leads the chamber, headlined a fundraiser earlier this year for Fitzpatrick, who generally does vote for GOP priorities — including this week’s successful effort to provide additional funding for immigration enforcement within the Department of Homeland Security.

    Fitzpatrick and Suozzi had not yet launched the discharge petition as of Thursday evening, after Punchbowl reported that Republican leadership was frustrated with the idea. Some even proposed pulling back campaign contributions from NRCC “patriots” who signed on to a discharge petition, according to Punchbowl.

    Fitzpatrick is one of 15 Republicans in the NRCC’s “patriots” program that prioritizes sending resources to competitive districts.

    Also on the list are U.S. Reps. Scott Perry, in a Harrisburg-based district; Ryan Mackenzie, in the Lehigh Valley; and Rob Bresnahan, in a Scranton-based district. Each of those races are considered more of a “tossup” than Fitzpatrick’s, and Kolodny said it’s likely the NRCC will invest in advertising and campaign operations to help them as well, possibly a little later in the summer.

    She said the earlier spending on behalf of Fitzpatrick is likely a sign they found him to be “newly vulnerable” after the May 19 primary, when Harvie was nominated.

    Widely considered the most formidable challenger to Fitzpatrick so far, Harvie has already been elected by voters twice in a majority of the district and both national and state Democrats have coalesced around him.

    Kolodny called the size of the NRCC’s ad-buy “modest” but said that “they’ve done anything at all means that their polling has shown them they’ve got a problem.”

    “They have a new level of concern that they didn’t have before,” Kolodny said.

    Harvie, who is expected to benefit from outside spending by the NRCC’s counterpart, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement that the ads are proof Republican leaders “can count on [Fitzpatrick’s] vote when they need it most.”

    “We are tired of politicians like Fitzpatrick talking out of both sides of their mouth,” Harvie said. “He claims to be ‘independent,’ but he’s seeking a bailout from Trump’s Republican Party because he is one of their own.”

    Charlie Gerow, a Republican strategist with a Harrisburg-based public affairs firm, said he didn’t view Fitzpatrick’s latest moves as much different from any other instance in which he’s successfully walked a “political tightrope” in his district, which is one of only nine GOP-held districts in the country that went for Kamala Harris in 2024.

    He said the assist from the NRCC also makes sense because of how large Fitzpatrick’s district looms in a House that’s currently split 218 Republicans to 212 Democrats, with one independent and four vacancies.

    “Leadership has an absolute interest in making sure that Brian Fitzpatrick gets reelected, despite their displeasure from time to time with what he says and does,” Gerow said.