The Case Against Brian Fitzpatrick

“Brian Fitzpatrick first ran for Congress promising he would be independent-minded, but now has sold Bucks and Montgomery County families out to the highest bidder. Fitzpatrick has changed and shown that when push comes to shove, he will fall in line with Donald Trump and his billionaire donors as Pennsylvania families pay the price. While Fitzpatrick has ‘gone Washington,’ Bob Harvie is a fourth-generation Bucks County resident who has a record of showing up and delivering real, bipartisan results. A proud card-carrying union member and former public school teacher, Bob will never forget the community that raised him and will fight to restore the American Dream when voters elect him to Congress this November,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene. 

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While Brian Fitzpatrick has gone Washington, Bob Harvie is Bucks County through and through and will always fight for the community that raised him. Bob is a lifelong Lower Bucks resident and a proud card-carrying union member who spent 20 years teaching social studies at Bucks County Technical High School. One of the first Democratic Bucks County Commissioners to be reelected since the Civil War, Bob has delivered balanced budgets and a more than 90% bipartisan voting record because his North Star is improving the lives of the people he was elected to serve. Affordability isn’t a political buzzword for Bob, and he knows that too many of his neighbors are working harder than ever just to get by. That’s exactly why he’s running for Congress: to restore the promise of the American Dream for hardworking families.

Pennsylvania’s 1st is one of the only districts in the entire country that Donald Trump lost and is currently represented in Congress by a Republican, making it a prime pick up opportunity for Democrats. Polling shows Fitzpatrick’s image is underwater and he is losing support across the district, while Bob has been touted as “one of the strongest candidates Democrats have ever recruited” to take on the incumbent. As voters sour on Trump and see that D.C. Republicans have actively enabled the pain he has inflicted on their communities, it’s becoming clear that the perfect storm is brewing to end Fitzpatrick’s political career.

Brian Fitzpatrick claims he’s not like other D.C. Republicans, but his voting record and campaign receipts tell a different story. Fitzpatrick pockets big checks from MAGA and special interest donors while doing their bidding in Washington and screwing over his own community. 

Fitzpatrick’s campaign finance reports show that he has “taken millions of dollars from GOP megadonors, House Republican leaders, and Wall Street interests” throughout his nearly ten years in Washington, including contributions from Peter Thiel, Jeff Yass, and Koch Industries. In return, Fitzpatrick has rewarded his donors by “frequently put[ting] their interests over those of working Pennsylvanians.” That includes voting for Trump’s Tax Scam, which gave billionaires and big corporations tax breaks while leaving working families behind, and siding with Big Pharma by voting against capping the cost of prescription drugs. As a thank you for his work in Washington, Speaker Mike Johnson traveled to Bucks County to hold a high-dollar fundraiser for Fitzpatrick’s campaign.

Fitzpatrick is happy to rub elbows with his campaign donors but refuses to engage face-to-face with his own constituents. Fitzpatrick’s last in-person town hall was in August of 2017 – nearly nine years ago. Fitzpatrick shows how little he thinks of his constituents when he refers to in-person town halls as a “waste [of] people’s time.”

Meanwhile, Bob Harvie has already held five public town halls to date during his congressional campaign and refuses to take corporate PAC money because the only group he works for are the people of Bucks and Montgomery County.

While Fitzpatrick sides with his donors in Washington and lines his campaign coffers, Pennsylvania families are paying more for health care, groceries, housing, electricity, and gas as a direct result of his votes in D.C. 

Pennie premiums have skyrocketed for Bucks families because Fitzpatrick sided with Trump and failed to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits. Fitzpatrick may try to trick voters about the role he played, but the facts are clear: when he actually had a chance to vote to extend the ACA tax credits, he took a walk – literally. Fitzpatrick was the only member of the House Ways and Means Committee to miss a vote on extending the tax credits. Afterwards, Fitzpatrick refused to comment on why he sat out the vote and allowed health care premiums to skyrocket.

Fitzpatrick is on the record voting in favor of Donald Trump’s cost-spiking tariffs a staggering eight different times. Thanks to Fitzpatrick’s support for Trump’s tariffs, costs have spiked on everything from groceries to housing. Reports show Fitzpatrick’s tariffs are estimated to cost the average American household $2500 this year. And as Pennsylvania families struggle with rising electricity bills, Fitzpatrick voted to allow utility costs to spike even higher by supporting cuts to commonsense energy tax credits.

Gas prices have soared across Bucks County because of Fitzpatrick’s support for Trump’s reckless war of choice in Iran. Fitzpatrick gave Trump a “blank check” to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on a war overseas while forcing Bucks and Montgomery County families to feel the pain at the pump. What does Fitzpatrick have to say to his constituents who are struggling to fuel up now that gas costs more than $4/gallon? He has no comment. Meanwhile, Bob Harvie has worked as County Commissioner to increase food assistance in response to federal cuts, support small businesses, and lower the cost of fresh food for senior citizens. Bob knows how to get real results for his community and will be laser-focused on tackling affordability on day one in Congress.

As hard as he may try, Fitzpatrick can’t outrun his pattern of rolling over for Donald Trump when he needs his vote. Fitzpatrick only breaks with Trump when his party bosses give him permission to make one of his meaningless gestures  – proving that “for all his talk of bipartisanship, he rarely casts a vote that makes a difference.”

Case in point: Fitzpatrick cast the deciding vote to advance Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” out of the House. Fitzpatrick could have voted to stop the OBBB dead in its tracks, but instead voted to unleash historic cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in order to fund more tax breaks for his billionaire backers. A local journalist summed up the cruelty of Fitzpatrick’s deciding vote, noting: “the first version of the bill — the one he supported — was pretty damned harsh itself, calling for $750 billion in cuts to Medicaid and nearly $200 billion in cuts to SNAP, all while adding more than $3 trillion to the national debt.”

Fitzpatrick and Trump’s partnership is a two-way street. Donald Trump recorded a robocall for Fitzpatrick in 2020, where he told Bucks County voters to vote for the two of them together. They say you are the company you keep.

If there was any doubt about Fitzpatrick’s true MAGA-bonafides, look no further than his extreme anti-abortion record. Fitzpatrick voted for a nationwide abortion ban with limited exceptions, calling it a “good starting point.” He voted not once, but twice, against codifying the freedoms Roe v. Wade guaranteed. And he voted to provide taxpayer funds to anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers,” which manipulate patients with unproven and dangerous medical misinformation. Bucks County voters know that Bob Harvie is the only candidate in this race who will protect a woman’s right to an abortion and reproductive care.

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Meet Bob Harvie, Democrats’ best chance at defeating Brian Fitzpatrick and helping win back the House [The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/29/26]

“At the core of Harvie’s campaign are bread-and-butter affordability issues and the confidence that comes with being the first battle-tested opponent of Fitzpatrick, 52, in the politically diverse district, which encompasses all of Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County. Harvie won countywide races for Bucks County commissioner in 2019 and 2023.”

The Bucks County Herald: National Democrats Target PA-01 As Flippable [The Bucks County Herald, 4/6/26]

“After nearly a decade in Washington, D.C., Fitzpatrick is seen by the DCCC as deeply unpopular with what the committee characterizes as a record of voting for higher costs and health care cuts.”

PoliticsPA: Can Bob Harvie End Brian Fitzpatrick’s Tenure in Congress? [PoliticsPA, 3/31/26]

“An internal poll obtained by PoliticsPA says that Fitzpatrick is struggling against Harvie with his numbers fading significantly since that 2018 race that the incumbent won by fewer than 8,000 votes […] once the pollsters at Global Strategy Group shared more about the challenger, he forged a one-point lead (46-45%) over Fitzpatrick.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Josh Shapiro endorses Bob Harvie’s campaign to oust Brian Fitzpatrick in Bucks County congressional seat [The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/10/26]

Levittown Now: National Democratic Group Puts Support Behind Bob Harvie [Levittown Now, 5/5/26]

The Pennsylvania Independent: Brian Fitzpatrick Votes To Help His GOP Megadonor Funders [The Pennsylvania Independent, 4/27/26]

“Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick repeatedly has touted his large campaign fundraising hauls as proof of his community support and bipartisanship. A Pennsylvania Independent review of his campaign finance reports and voting record, however, reveals that he has taken millions of dollars from GOP megadonors, House Republican leaders, and Wall Street interests and frequently put their interests over those of working Pennsylvanians.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Every Pa. Republican voted for Trump’s budget bill, which passed the House by one vote [The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/22/25]

WHYY: Pa. solar installers were counting on U.S. Rep. Fitzpatrick to keep tax credits. Some feel ‘abandoned’ by GOP rollbacks [WHYY, 6/3/25]

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Bucks County drivers are worried about gas prices, Trump, and Iran: ‘The average American won’t survive this’ [The Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/5/26]

“If the situation does not improve before November, it could have an impact in a key congressional race in the purple county as Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick looks to defend the last GOP-held House seat in the Philly suburbs. Democrats plan to capitalize on the issue in key races around the state. Fitzpatrick’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.”

Voters in PA-01 are tired of Republican control in Congress and are demanding change. Brian Fitzpatrick and his Republican colleagues are facing a serious likability problem, with poll after poll showing their favorability ratings underwater. Furthermore, having Governor Shapiro back on the ballot in 2026 provides an unequivocal boost to Harvie this cycle, especially when it comes to consolidating the large suburban Democratic base. Governor Shapiro won this district by a staggering 20 points in 2022 and remains immensely popular across the district, connecting with a growing base of Democratic voters and Independents alike. He cut an ad for Harvie during his successful 2023 reelection bid, and the Governor has endorsed and fully backs his bid for Congress to serve working families. Downballot enthusiasm will also play a key role: the path to growing the State House majority AND flipping the State Senate runs through Bucks County and the nested districts within PA-01.

Voters are finally seeing through Fitzpatrick’s moderate facade and are souring on him and the party he consistently rubber-stamps when it matters most. They are ready to elect someone who will stand up to Trump and fight for them. That is Bob Harvie.

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