Inquirer.com – Zurich DR

Tag: Scott Perry

Epstein abuse survivor tours Bucks County and other Pa. swing districts as Democrats highlight Trump’s ties

Democrat Bob Harvie thumbed through hundreds of pages bound together in a book labeled “The Partially Redacted Epstein Files” and said he was disgusted with what he read — or at least what he was able to read.

Entire blocks of text regarding the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019, were marked black.

But survivors of Epstein’s predatory behavior, including Sharlene Rochard, who appeared with Harvie Friday in Bristol, are heroes for illuminating what has been blocked from the public, the congressional candidate said.

Harvie pledged to push “very, very hard” to release the full, unredacted files related to Epstein’s crimes if elected.

The Bucks County commissioner is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick to represent the 1st Congressional District, one of two swing districts in the state that Rochard visited Friday to campaign for Democrats. She’ll be hitting another the following day.

“These are files, but I’m in these files, and that is my life in these files,” Rochard told Harvie. “And I need justice. We need accountability, and we need some transparency, and we need people like you.”

Rows of files were contained inside a traveling bookmobile parked in front of the Bristol waterfront. Plastered on the outside of the truck was a decades-old image of President Donald Trump with his arm around Epstein.

Reminding voters of Trump’s history with Epstein has been a campaign tactic used by Democrats in competitive contests across the country, but Harvie said the issue of justice for survivors should go beyond partisan politics.

“I don’t care what party they’re from,” Harvie said. “I don’t care what office they hold or held. I don’t care how much money they have. I don’t care. We need to do everything we can to protect the victims and honor them and shine a light on this part of our society.”

Sharlene Rochard, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual trafficking and abuse, and Bob Harvie during a news conference at the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile in Bristol.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

Earlier in the day, Rochard visited Harrisburg, where she was welcomed by Democrat Janelle Stelson, a former news anchor who promised to “take on the culture of corruption across the government” if elected over incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in the 10th District.

Rochard was slated to appear Saturday in Bethlehem with Democrat Bob Brooks, who is running against U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the 7th District, one of the most competitive contests in the nation.

The truck arrived in Pennsylvania one month before Election Day as Trump continues to plummet in popularity among likely voters in the state. It’s an officially nonpartisan project of Institute for Primary Facts, a nonprofit that builds public art installations, and DEFIANCE.org, a group dedicated to ending sexual exploitation of children and adults.

Rochard, who was born in Canada, began traveling to the U.S. as a teen to model when she met Epstein and was with him in New York, Florida, and on his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, she said. Though she’s unable to go into details about her trafficking experience because she is involved in ongoing legal action, she now works alongside fellow survivors to advocate for the files to be exposed.

Every Pennsylvania lawmaker voted to release the Epstein files last year, including Fitzpatrick and the other vulnerable Republican incumbents whose districts Rochard was touring this week.

In a statement last year, Fitzpatrick said he is “unequivocally behind the victims and their family members who suffered immensely” from Epstein’s crimes.

“He 100% stands with the victims, and will support disclosure and transparency every single time,” Heather Roberts, a spokesperson for Fitzpatrick’s campaign, said Friday.

A couple dozen people trickled through the bookmobile during its Bristol stop, though multiple people interviewed entered with familiarity about the files and were already convinced of a strong connection between Trump and Epstein.

“I’m dumbfounded that there are people who don’t believe the victims,” said Deb Crasnick, 69, of Langhorne.

Sharlene Rochard, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual trafficking and abuse, and Bob Harvie at the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile in Bristol on Friday. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

Crasnick found out about the event from her friend Diane Grant, 71, of Bensalem, who has been following the tour on social media. But Grant, who called the revelations disturbing, worried the tour’s effectiveness may have limits.

“People have their mindset. Nothing said or shown in there will change it,” she said.

And most guests — all of whom said they plan to vote for Harvie, who is polling just behind Fitzpatrick — said cost-of-living concerns rather than Epstein are their top priorities to address in this year’s election.

“The economy keeps me up at night,” said Tracey Marshall, 57, who lives in Falls Township. “We need a change.”

Rochard said the purpose of the tour goes beyond Election Day.

Trump has called the Epstein case “a hoax” and said that the files that have been publicly shared are “enough,” a notion the survivor is hoping to dispel with the tour.

“This is something that has happened to me,” Rochard said. “I’m not a Democratic hoax. I am a real person, and we need some justice.”

October 3, 2026
Affordability is on voters’ minds in Pa. swing districts as the cost of gas and groceries skyrockets

SCRANTON — Four of Mike Parry’s tenants can no longer afford to pay their rent. Suddenly, their financial pain is his.

“It’s the affordability of everything that’s the problem,” said Parry, 60, of Clarks Summit, Lackawanna County. “We’re all feeling it now.”

With the war in Iran rocketing gas to almost $5 a gallon, inflation surging to 3.4% from 2.6% in 2025, and food prices up nearly 3% over last year, the high cost of living is weighing on the minds of many voters — and candidates — as the midterm elections draw near.

Nowhere is that more critical than in four tightly contested Pennsylvania congressional districts that could decide the control of the U.S. House — in Bucks County, the Lehigh Valley, the Harrisburg area, and Northeast Pennsylvania.

Mike Parry of Clark Summit, Lackawanna County.Courtesy of Mike Parry

Parry, a Republican and supporter of President Donald Trump, said he is aware that many Americans hold the president and his party accountable for the affordability crisis, including in the 8th Congressional District, where Parry plans to back GOP U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan over Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, the Democratic nominee.

But other voters might not be so kind to Trump-aligned incumbents this fall.

Among likely voters in Pennsylvania, 75% disapprove of how Trump is handling the cost of living, compared with just 25% who approve, according to a recent poll from The Inquirer, the New York Times, and Siena University. And 73% disapprove of how he has handled gas prices, vs. 24% who approve. About 65% disapprove of his handling of the economy, vs. 34% who approve.

“It doesn’t matter what party you’re in,” Parry said. “We’re all getting hammered the same.”

‘Spend less’

At his local Wawa gas station in Allentown, P.J. Santos, 32, removed his finger from the pump trigger before his tank filled.

“Now I tell myself to spend less,” said Santos, a Democrat who is supporting former firefighter Bob Brooks over Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the Lehigh Valley’s 7th Congressional District.

P.J. Santos of Allentown.Courtesy of P.J. Santos

“So I buy less than I need,” he added, tightening his gas cap. “Same goes for date nights with my wife: Spend less.”

That is harder when you’re buying food, said Tammy McCoy, 52, of Easton, in the same district. “Walk into any grocery store,” said McCoy, a Democrat and professional cook. “It’s like you have to hand them $50 at the door.”

(function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})();

Trump, she remembered, promised to lower prices on Day 1 of his presidency. Not only did that not happen, she added, he raised tariffs, making imported staples like coffee, nuts, and olive oil more expensive. “Because of that,” McCoy added, “I’m against him and Republicans.”

Tapping into the frustration over food prices, Democrat Janelle Stelson’s campaign is pointing to the cost of hamburgers as she seeks to oust Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in the 10th Congressional District.

Janelle Stelson (left) and Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa.(right) from a Stelson campaign photo in 2024, the last time the two squared off against each other in a bid to represent the 10th Congressional District. Stelson Campaign, AP

Stelson eats a burger in a TV ad that says Americans now pay $7.29 for a pound of ground beef — a result of tariffs Trump imposed and Perry supported.

But criticism of Trump’s tariffs will not sway Tammy Green, 60, a Republican voter in the 8th Congressional District who supports Bresnahan over Democrat Cognetti.

“Because he’s a businessman, President Trump understands the economy. … He’s negotiating fair prices with tariffs,” said Green, a former travel agent who lives in West Wyoming, Luzerne County.

More households need help

On a hot September day in Levittown, people gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the new headquarters of the United Way of Bucks County. Focused on helping anyone experiencing financial hardship, the building features an expanded HELP Center, where diapers, fresh produce, and clothing are available at no charge.

As need skyrockets, the nonprofit expects a 40% to 50% increase in demand this year, Marissa Christie, president and CEO, said in an interview.

“Folks are telling us that in the grocery store, their budget is not going as far as it used to,” Christie said. “When they go to fill up their gas tank, their money is not going as far as they expected.”

Attending the event alongside other local lawmakers was U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks), who secured $4.15 million in federal funds for the building and said the agency will “always be in that top-10 list” of key nonprofits helping those in need.

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks) speaks outside the U.S. Capitol about legislation to put national restrictions on gerrymandering on Sep. 16, 2026.Sam Janesch / Staff

The cost of living has become a focal point in the 1st Congressional District race as Fitzpatrick fends off a challenge from Democratic County Commissioner Bob Harvie in the Bucks County-based swing district.

Pennsylvania Democrats, including Harvie, have centered their campaign messaging on affordability in hopes of appealing to voters across the political spectrum.

“Costs are what affect people every single day … whether it’s at the pump, whether it’s in the grocery store,” Harvie said in an interview with The Inquirer’s Editorial Board. “Housing costs obviously are huge. It’s a major issue here in this district, especially in the county.”

(The Editorial Board, which runs The Inquirer’s opinion pages and decides endorsements, operates independently from the newsroom. Newsroom editors and reporters have no role in endorsements, and opinion staffers have no role in news coverage.)

Fitzpatrick, too, acknowledged in an interview at the U.S. Capitol last month that affordability is the top issue not just in this election, but in every election.

“The No. 1 priority, the No. 1 focus, has to be on affordability — has to be,” he said. “That’s the issue that got Trump elected in ’24. It’s what got [New York Mayor Zohran] Mamdani elected in ’25. It’s what people care about.”

‘Affordability front and center’

Demonstrating their awareness of voter focus on the high cost of living, Trump administration officials and local Republicans repeatedly emphasized “affordability” as they touted their work to combat rising electricity prices at a PPL Electric Utilities facility in Allentown last week.

“This is a quick way to lower electricity prices and increase reliability,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said as he announced up to $71.5 million in federal funding for PPL, which was among $2 billion in new spending aimed at improving the electric grid.

Upgrades to existing transmission lines will include new technology like sensors to detect weather conditions, improving efficiency and ultimately lowering electricity costs, according to the Energy Department.

Asked how quickly consumers might see those improvements, Wright did not specify a timeline but noted that new, large-scale energy users — like data centers — are negotiating with utilities about how much of the increased demand they will cover.

Mackenzie, a freshman lawmaker whose district includes the Lehigh Valley and Poconos, also emphasized a bill he supports that would set federal standards for data centers to pay for their electricity use, and another to promote transparency around retail electric costs.

President Donald Trump invites 7th District U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (right) to the stage to visit Mack Trucks in Macungie, outside Allentown in the Lehigh Valley, in June.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

Mackenzie said energy policy needs to keep “affordability front and center.”

The war’s economic consequences

Some Trump voters say they are willing to pay more for gas and other essentials as the president pursues his policy goals at home and in Iran.

“We incur a cost that stinks now to avoid another Sept. 11 later,” said T.J. Fitzgerald, 60, a Republican bail bondsman from Nanticoke, Luzerne County, in the 8th Congressional District. “Fighting Iran, a terrorist organization, is worth inflation at the pump.”

Ryan Kavulich, a 37-year-old project manager from Dunmore in nearby Lackawanna County, disagreed with that logic.

“The war’s a nightmare with what it’s costing for diesel,” said Kavulich, a Democrat who plans to back Cognetti in November.

(function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})();

People in the 8th District know that Bresnahan voted against ending the war with Iran in September, Kavulich said.

“And that makes voting for Paige [Cognetti] in November the easiest choice ever,” he said. “So many people around Scranton have a blue-collar, kitchen-table, commonsense vibe. They know going into Iran isn’t what you do. They know it’s time to be over Bresnahan and Trump.”

As the cost of fuel continues to climb, even some longtime Republicans in the district are expressing their doubts about the economic consequences of Trump’s war.

“I voted for Trump three times,” said Greg Kerrick, 58, a Republican voter from Scranton.

“But I don’t like him pushing up gas prices,” added Kerrick, who is unemployed. “And I feel for anyone paying over $4 a gallon.”

October 2, 2026
Vulnerable Pa. Republican Rob Bresnahan delivers ‘Trump-a-palooza’ speech in Dallas amid tough race back home

DALLAS — In an arena littered with President Donald Trump’s image — from the photos that lined the concourse to the gift shops selling merch depicting the president as a cowboy — one of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable Republican lawmakers this fall went all-in.

U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, running for reelection in a Scranton-based district that is one of the most competitive in the nation, addressed the Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention during its opening night on Wednesday.

His decision to attend “Trump-a-palooza” (as the RNC has described it) at all was notable. Some Republicans in tight races decided to stay away out of concerns of associating themselves with a president with low approval ratings. U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks), for example, is not attending and has distanced himself from parts of Trump’s agenda.

Bresnahan promoted Trump’s signature tax policy in a brief speech focused on supporting workers and their families.

“Tax relief matters,” Bresnahan told hundreds of party loyalists at the American Airlines Arena in a speech that followed Ken Paxton, the controversial Trump-backed U.S. Senate candidate in Texas. “In Northeastern Pennsylvania, we work until the job is done. And those extra hours should mean more money in your pocket.”

Democrats have used Bresnahan’s vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included cuts to Medicaid and food assistance, as a wedge against Bresnahan and other vulnerable Republicans. But Bresnahan contended the income tax cuts and other policies in the legislation, like no tax on tips, are paying dividends for families.

Two other Pennsylvania GOP lawmakers in similar situations, U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie (R., Lehigh) and Scott Perry (R., York), are also attending the two-day convention, with Mackenzie slated to speak Thursday.

Key Pennsylvania races to watch in the midterm elections this November

Bresnahan spoke to a somewhat sparse crowd compared with Republican National Conventions during presidential election years, which served as a model for the novel midterm convention this year as the party looks to energize its base of voters while seeking to defend narrow majorities in the House and Senate.

Delegates, clustered by state on the convention floor, cheered and waved signs reading “Keep the majority” and “Republicans are fixing Democrats’ mess.” The stands in the roughly 19,000-person arena remained largely empty, at least for the first few hours before Trump’s speech.

Merchandise shops were packed with Trump’s typical MAGA merchandise, copies of his son Eric Trump’s book, Under Siege, and new mugs and shirts showing Trump on a horse in cowboy gear. Red, white, blue, and — in an unmistakable nod toward the president — gold balloons waited in the rafters for the grand finale on Thursday.

“I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot. I’m on the ballot, just one more time,” Trump told the cheering crowd in prime time, noting there were about 35 “swing” races the party was prioritizing.

President Donald Trump speaks at the Republican convention Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)Alex Brandon

About 1,500 miles away, in another town called Dallas, one of Bresnahan’s constituents hatched a plan to tune in.

On the opening night of the annual Luzerne County Fair — in a booth yards from deep-fried Oreos, flying elephant kiddie rides, and life-size cardboard cutouts of Abraham Lincoln, Donald Trump, and Jesus — Dwayne McDavitt fiddled with his tablet to see if he could stream the convention.

The symmetry of Dallas, Texas, and Dallas, Pa., was “too good to pass up,” said McDavitt, the head of a conservative group called Thunder and Liberty PAC and also the Pennsylvania chapter of Bikers For Trump.

He said he supports Bresnahan, who lives in Luzerne County, over Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, the Democratic nominee.

“He shares our values of faith, family, and freedom — meaning free and fair elections,” McDavitt said.

Interviews with other voters in the district on Wednesday underscored the potentially risky nature of Bresnahan’s leaning into the Trump administration.

Malcolm Mabry, 28, of Wilkes-Barre, said he had been victimized by a “Trump bait and switch” as a Republican who voted for the president two years ago. He picked Trump, believing that better policing of the Southern border was paramount.

And while Trump has been using ICE to “grab up people,” as he said, Mabry said much of what else the president promised, like lowering prices and avoiding war, has not occurred.

“Trump just said what he had to, to get into office,” said Mabry, who was unaware of the convention happening at the same time.

A campaign about workers and affordability

Bresnahan won his seat by less than 2 percentage points in 2024 to take down a six-term Democrat in the northeast corner of the state. Trump won the district by more than 8 percentage points.

His Democratic challenger, Cognetti, has garnered high-profile supporters like Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is also up for election, and she has repeatedly targeted Bresnahan for trading stocks while in office despite his previous statements that he would not do so.

Bresnahan, the former head of a family-run electrical contracting business, has made jobs and the workforce a top focus in his campaign and in his brief congressional career.

On a few occasions, he has broken with House Republican leaders to support bills that would strengthen union protections for federal workers. He has said that he hopes his party changes tactics to support those kinds of bills.

“We need the unions that have trained generations of some of the most skilled workers in American history,” Bresnahan said onstage Wednesday. “We have those workers in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and communities across this country are ready for the same opportunity.”

Texas state Rep. Keresa Richardson (R), right, attends the GOP midterm convention. (Joel Angel Juárez/For The Washington Post)Joel Angel Juárez

Bresnahan has racked up a series of union endorsements that are otherwise rare for Republicans. While major unions like the AFL-CIO and the Pennsylvania State Education Association have backed Cognetti, he has won support from organizations like the American Federation of Government Employees and the Teamsters — groups that, in a region with a long history of union issues, could make a difference in a close race.

In his speech, Bresnahan talked generally about supporting workers and manufacturing in the U.S. He spoke about tax policies that put “more money in your pocket” and help “build communities where people can stay, raise a family, and build a life.”

U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.), in a speech that was introduced with an unusual video featuring U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.), also spoke about Trump’s push to improve economic indicators.

They and other speakers did not address other affordability issues that Democrats have seized on and that polls show voters have top-of-mind heading into early voting.

Trump has mocked the Democratic attacks on the issue as a hoax, including in a speech in Bresnahan’s district last year. But it is a message, and a reality, that has resonated with voters in Pennsylvania, according to polls and interviews.

“I’m on a fixed income,” Bill Dudeck, 83, of Nanticoke in Luzerne County, said Wednesday. “But under Trump, gas, groceries, and utilities are skyrocketing.”

Trump promised a lower cost of living, “but now all our money is out the window,” said Dudeck, a Democrat and former construction worker in Bresnahan’s district.

Bresnahan, whose campaign said earlier this week that he was looking forward to bringing “NEPA to the national stage,” appeared onstage instead with a sheet metal worker and mother of seven from Baltimore.

Cognetti’s campaign noted the pairing in a comment Wednesday that criticized Bresnahan, in part, for trading stocks in office.

“That’s probably why he didn’t have a Pennsylvanian on stage with him tonight,” a Cognetti campaign spokesperson said in a statement. “His speech is just more empty words to try and distract from his broken promises.”

Nora Pruitt, who joined Bresnahan, had previously been recognized by the White House as a beneficiary of Trump’s second term. Listed on the agenda as an “everyday American, factory worker, working mother and manufacturing success story,” Pruitt said “things have really improved for our family since President Trump returned to office.”

“We are so grateful President Trump and Republicans in Congress like Congressman Bresnahan vote for families like ours,” she said.

September 10, 2026
With control of Congress on the line, Pa. Republicans head to Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas

Key figures in Pennsylvania Republican politics — including the state’s top elected federal GOP official and several lawmakers in the middle of heated reelection campaigns — will participate in their party’s first-of-its-kind midterm convention this week in Dallas.

The gathering, spurred and heavily promoted by President Donald Trump, arrives as Republicans look to defend their control of Congress this fall amid difficult circumstances. Trump’s approval ratings, including on key issues such as the economy and the war in Iran, have sunk, including in Pennsylvania.

And Democratic challengers, some of whom have outraised their Republican opponents, have waged aggressive campaigns.

After Trump successfully won the White House and ushered in a wave of downballot Republican wins just two years ago, the convention — described as “Trump-a-palooza” by Republican National Committee chairman Joe Gruters — is aimed at energizing the base at a critical time.

Pennsylvanians, representing a swing state that has been key to Trump’s success in the past, will play a role.

U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) and a pair of House lawmakers in competitive districts — U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie (R., Lehigh) and Rob Bresnahan (R., Luzerne) — are among the more than 100 scheduled speakers over two days, starting Wednesday.

Their speaking slots were among the first to be announced. Underscoring the Keystone State’s role in keeping the House Republican majority, only the host state of Texas had more representatives on the initial list of elected officials scheduled to address the crowd.

The Pennsylvania Republican Party, meanwhile, has orchestrated a “full slate” of 55 delegates and alternate delegates.

“The Republican Party of Pennsylvania is excited and honored to be a part of the first ever RNC Midterm Convention in Dallas,” spokesperson James Markley said in a statement. “It will be a tremendous opportunity to hear from everyday Americans about how this administration has changed their lives for the better.”

The state party had not provided the names of the delegates as of Tuesday, though the list is expected to include party activists and other elected officials. State party leaders had encouraged Pennsylvanians to attend the gathering.

Democrats, who see the president’s lagging approval ratings as a key to their success in the midterms, were quick to blast Pennsylvania Republicans for attending. Their response includes plans to send a small group of House Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D., Montgomery), to Dallas to push back against the GOP messaging.

“While swing seat House Republicans try to hide from their record of raising costs on working families, gutting Medicaid to fund tax breaks for billionaire donors and supporting a reckless war of choice in Iran, House Democrats will be present to hold them accountable,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democrat in line to become House speaker if his party wins the majority, said in a statement.

Fitzpatrick skips as other Pa. Republicans take center stage

Four of Pennsylvania’s 10 Republican-held U.S. House seats are considered key battlegrounds as the GOP looks to maintain its four-seat advantage nationwide.

Of those, only U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks) has distanced himself from parts of Trump’s agenda and is not planning on attending the convention.

Mackenzie and Bresnahan, on the other hand, will be among the featured speakers, and U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R., York) will attend.

Perry, a close Trump ally, has routinely won reelection in a Harrisburg-based district but is running this year against Democrat Janelle Stelson, a former local television anchor who nearly defeated him two years ago.

Freshmen Mackenzie and Bresnahan were elected to Congress in 2024 after they each defeated incumbent Democrats by less than 2 percentage points. Local, state, and national Democrats have rallied behind their challengers — union leader and retired firefighter Bob Brooks in the Lehigh Valley, and Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti in the district that covers the northeast corner of the state.

Bresnahan campaign spokesperson Samantha Bullock said the lawmaker was “excited to bring NEPA to the national stage because these are the people driving his work in Washington.”

Mackenzie, in a statement that referenced his work to bring federal funds to his district and support areas like local healthcare and tax relief, said he was “looking forward to talking to the people of the Lehigh Valley, the Poconos, and the entire nation about these accomplishments, and how we can build on them in the years ahead.”

Brooks said Mackenzie was “flying to Dallas to kiss the ring of Donald Trump and his party bosses.”

“This is exactly why people are fed up with a broken Washington that isn’t working for working people,” Brooks said in a statement.

Mackenzie’s campaign has similarly criticized Brooks for campaigning with national Democrats — calling an event Brooks had with Jeffries in July a sign that “establishment backers” were trying to “bail him out.”

The convention will feature six hours of programming each night.

Topics that speakers will highlight include the elements of Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans have rebranded as the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.

Supporters have applauded the law’s extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and its litany of other features, such as investment accounts for children. Democrats and other critics have pointed to the law’s cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid spending, among other measures.

The convention speakers will also touch on the president’s enhanced border control measures and his push for election changes such as universal voter ID, according to an outline of the agenda.

A “candidate showcase” that will highlight “key candidates in target districts” and contrast them with their “extreme” opponents is set for Wednesday night. And an “opposition contrast” to “[deliver] the night’s sharpest partisan case against the extreme liberal Democrats” is slated for Thursday night, according to the agenda.

Besides Trump, the members of his administration scheduled to speak include Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has engaged in a war of words with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro over the state’s measles outbreak.

National Republicans have described the convention as a way to energize voters in a tough election year.

Two years after winning Pennsylvania for the second time in 2024, Trump had an approval rating of 39% and a disapproval rating of 58% among likely voters in the state last month, according to an Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll.

The poll found that 51% of likely voters said they were more likely to vote for a Democrat for Congress and 53% said they would want to see the House flip to Democratic control, though the poll did not ask about specific congressional races.

September 8, 2026
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.
September 4, 2026
TMI owner says Pa. nuclear plant is on track to reopen next year

Constellation Energy crews have been laboring since 2024 to reopen Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 nuclear plant to meet spiking electricity demand. Planned data centers and other new demands have materialized since 2019, when the plant was shut because generating power there was too expensive to compete with cheap natural gas.

Now Constellation has moved up its own deadlines and says it’s approaching its goal to load uranium next spring and add electricity to the grid later in 2027.

That’s despite naysayers such as Neil Chatterjee, President Donald Trump’s former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chair.

“It will never work” because of TMI’s aging technology and the complex U.S. and Pennsylvania energy bureaucracies, Chatterjee wrote in January in The Hill, which neglected to note Chatterjee had become a solar-power lobbyist.

In testimony submitted to regulators, environmental groups, including Eric Epstein’s TMI Alert, called the utility’s plans rushed and incomplete. Montgomery County-based PJM, which oversees power distribution for 13 states and the District of Columbia, warned it could be 2031 before the plant could connect to the power grid, Constellation chief executive Joe Dominguez told analysts and investors in March.

But Dominguez minimized that warning. “Normally, they start off with a pretty long timeline and shorten that up,“ he told investors in a conference call May 11, adding that he would work with states to speed connections.

Dominguez has moved up the original 2028 target date to next year, in part because of supporters like President Donald Trump and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and because Microsoft has promised to buy as much power as the plant produces to run a growing array of data centers.

So Constellation is paying an army of builders, lawyers, and plant operators to prepare the plant.

Earlier this month, PJM agreed to speed up its process for connecting new power plants in states where regulators agree to approve sites faster.

Here’s an update on what’s happening at TMI:

At Constellation’s nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island near Middletown, Pa., in June 2025. Ted Shaffrey

New equipment

Constellation bought three building-sized replacement transformers from manufacturer Hyundai in South Korea, to be delivered later this month, after reinforcing the bridge to the island to bear their weight. Two will be installed “later this year,” one kept as a spare, said spokesperson Paul M. Adams.

The company says crews are repairing the partly dismantled Bravo cooling tower and inspecting the reactor building and diesel motors on the site. They are restoring controls — originally analog systems made by manufacturers in Reading and other Pennsylvania cities.

The company has scheduled enriched-uranium fuel assembly deliveries from its supplier Framatome in Richland, Wash., later this year, so fuel can be loaded into the reactor core next spring. The uranium is sourced from U.S. and foreign mines.

The deal with Microsoft

Microsoft has promised to buy power equal to the plant’s entire production at prices above today’s levels for 20 years.

But that doesn’t mean the software and data-center giant is going to run wires to new, power-burning facilities in the neighborhood.

The Microsoft deal supports Constellation’s regulatory and investor arguments in favor of reopening. It confirms this major data-center operator will need more power in years to come.

Jobs for construction and plant workers

Constellation says more than 3,000 construction workers will help bring the plant, which it now calls the Crane Clean Energy Center, into service.

The company also has hired hundreds of permanent workers for the plant, named after the late Exelon Corp. CEO who spun off Constellation and championed nuclear power. More than 550 full-time employees are on site, including the current class of 80 operators being trained in federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission procedures.

About 145 of those employees are “boomerang” staff who worked at Three Mile Island before its 2019 shutdown, according to Constellation.

More than 400 hires live within 25 miles of the plant. They include about a dozen recent graduates of the Penn State Harrisburg campus nearby.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Doug Burgum (center) with Constellation Energy staff on May 1 at the Three Mile Island nuclear power complex Unit 1, which Constellation Energy plans to reopen as the Crane Clean Energy Center uranium-powered electric plant in 2027.Constellation

Financing for the advance work

In November, the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office approved a $1 billion low-interest government loan to help Constellation reopen the Three Mile Island plant.

Supporters of nuclear loan and subsidy programs say federal money ensures long-term operation at reasonable financing costs. Critics such as the Cato Institute, which generally opposes subsidies, say the government shouldn’t help pay for power that would otherwise be unprofitable.

Supporters of the TMI reopening

Shapiro, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.), U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R., Pa.), state legislators, and local officials have toured the plant to tout job and energy creation.

With permit applications pending before the NRC and other agencies, Constellation says it is “on track” to restart the plant next spring and deliver energy into the grid by summer or fall.

U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick with Tori VanderMeersch, senior manager, operations support for the Crane Clean Energy Center, in the control room at Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear power plant in early 2026.Constellation Energy

A workaround for PJM’s warning on connecting to the grid

In early June, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission agreed to an unusual switch: It will let Constellation transfer “Capacity Interconnection Rights” from its diesel- and natural gas-burning electric power plants at Eddystone, Delaware County, to Three Mile Island, to speed the process of bringing the nuclear plant back online.

Constellation says it can do this without having to shut the Eddystone complex because the Trump administration gave the company special permission to keep Eddystone open, along with other fossil-fuel plants that were earlier scheduled for closing under a long-term program to reduce carbon-burning. It no longer needs the rights at Eddystone and can apply them at Three Mile Island.

An agreement on using water from the Susquehanna River

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission in early June approved Constellation’s plan for using river water at the restarted Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

Constellation plans to pull 73 million gallons per day from the river to control temperatures at the plant. That’s about one-third of 1% of the river’s average flow; an equivalent volume of water will be released and won’t, on average, cause “significant adverse impact to the ecosystem and other users,” notes commission spokesperson Stacey Hanrahan.

“Of course, we do not review a project based on average daily flow,” but on days the river is low, for example during a drought, she added. If the river gets too low for too long, Constellation could be ordered to stop using it.

June 15, 2026