Bucks County Race Decides House Control

Voters in Bucks County will decide one of the most consequential races in the upcoming midterms.

A three-way poll released on Monday by The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, and Siena University places Democrat Bob Harvie ahead of incumbent Republican Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District.

The survey found Harvie with 48 percent support compared to 46 percent for Fitzpatrick.

Eli Cousin, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the path to a House majority runs through four specific seats in Pennsylvania.

Those seats include the districts represented by Fitzpatrick in Bucks and western Montgomery counties, Ryan Mackenzie in the Lehigh Valley, Rob Bresnahan in the Poconos, and Scott Perry in central Pennsylvania.

Cousin stated that these incumbents have contributed to soaring costs and Washington corruption that impacts local families.

Harvie currently serves as a Bucks County Commissioner and is challenging Fitzpatrick, who has held the seat for five terms.

Fitzpatrick has recently aligned himself with Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, while running for re-election.

The Washington Times reported that Fitzpatrick supports Shapiro’s effort to allow registered Independents to vote in state primaries.

Local coverage from LevittownNow noted that Fitzpatrick called Shapiro a good man and invited him to his wedding, though the governor did not attend.

Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for the Shapiro campaign, said Republican candidates often run on the governor's record rather than the record of their own party's treasurer, Stacy Garrity.

Bonder argued that Fitzpatrick cannot block the governor’s agenda and then campaign on the results he delivered for Pennsylvania families as of August, Garrity, who is running against Shapiro, had refused to acknowledge Joe Biden’s 2020 election win against Donald Trump, according to campaign statements available at that time. On October 3, Shapiro attended a campaign rally in Yardley and called the race for the First District the most competitive in the Commonwealth. He stated that Pennsylvania has the power to determine the House majority and identified the Bucks County race as the pivotal contest. In the same remarks, Shapiro endorsed several other Democrats running for state senate seats, including Eileen Hartnett Albillar, Chris Thomas, Brian Wrightson, and Mark Pinsley. He did not endorse Fitzpatrick for re-election despite the congressman’s public alignment with the governor. In a recent press statement, Shapiro addressed Republican Senate candidate Frank Farry, who appeared to align with the governor in a recent advertisement. Shapiro said he was not returning Farry's embrace. Farry has been linked to conservative PACs and billionaire Jeffrey Yass, while Fitzpatrick’s campaign has received donations from data center developers and the MAGA Inc. super PAC. Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Hughes, chair of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, said the governor has watched Republican failures in the state senate for four years. Hughes noted that Shapiro proposed a budget to fund communities, but Republicans passed it late after cutting funds. He added that the governor advocated for a minimum wage increase, which the House passed but the Senate killed in committee. Hughes said the governor enacted strict data center regulations that the Senate would not support, and that Republicans blocked a window of justice in child sex abuse cases. He concluded that Republican control of the state senate has lasted thirty years too long and that the candidates Shapiro supports want to legislate. An effort to reach Fitzpatrick for comment regarding the poll results and his alignment with Shapiro was unsuccessful.