| Vulnerable Republican Brian Fitzpatrick is sweating bullets. New reporting from The Philadelphia Inquirer reveals that Fitzpatrick has made a joint ad reservation with his D.C. Republican Party bosses… IN JUNE.
The Inquirer notes that this marks “the first foray by the NRCC in any Pennsylvania district,” revealing just how worried national Republicans are about losing this seat.
Asked about the ad buy, a Temple University political science professor tells The Inquirer: “They have a new level of concern that they didn’t have before” and that it “means that their polling has shown them they’ve got a problem.”
 DCCC Spokesperson Eli Cousin:
“If you want to know just how vulnerable Brian Fitzpatrick is, all you have to do is follow the money. National Republicans are trying to bail out Fitzpatrick because they know they can count on his vote when they need it most. They are terrified of facing an opponent as strong as Bob Harvie, and their own ad buy is proof that this seat is fully in play.”Read key details from the Inquirer for yourself:
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Brian Fitzpatrick steps up criticism of House Republican leaders while he starts to lean on their campaign cash
By Sam Janesch | June 12, 2026
- […] 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.
- [Fitzpatrick] votes with his party and supports Trump’s priorities the vast majority of the time.
- Fitzpatrick’s office and campaign did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
- 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 provide additional funding for immigration enforcement within the Department of Homeland Security.
- Fitzpatrick is one of 15 Republicans in the NRCC’s “patriots” program that prioritizes sending resources to competitive districts.
- 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 “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] 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.”
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