Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick wins reelection; 3 Pennsylvania congressional races still uncalled
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HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is home to five heavily contested races for the U.S. House, contests that will be critical to determining control of a narrowly divided chamber where Democrats need a net pickup of four seats to take control.
Three of those five races are in eastern Pennsylvania, where Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Democratic Reps. Susan Wild and Matt Cartwright are defending their seats in districts that are viewed as perennially competitive.
A fourth district is in southern Pennsylvania, where Republican Rep. Scott Perry is seeking a seventh term. Another competitive contest was in the suburbs and former steel towns west of Pittsburgh where Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio won a second term.
Here is a look at those five key races:
1st District
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
Fitzpatrick, a four-term congressman and former FBI agent, represents a district based in Bucks County that Democrat Joe Biden carried in the 2020 presidential election.
He defeated Democrat Ashley Ehasz, a retired Army helicopter pilot who lost to Fitzpatrick by nearly 10 percentage points in 2022. The Associated Press declared Fitzpatrick the winner at 1:23 a.m. EST.
Fitzpatrick was just one of 16 Republicans running for reelection in a district carried by Biden in 2020. But Fitzpatrick, who took over the seat from his late brother, has a potent winning formula that has included his family’s name recognition and inroads into traditional Democratic voting districts.
He was endorsed by top-tier labor unions, ran a digital ad calling himself the “No. 1 most bipartisan congressman” and contended that he backs abortion rights, despite Ehasz’s contentions otherwise.
7th District
State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie defeated three-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild for control of the state’s 7th Congressional District, an eastern area around Allentown.
Wild, a former city government lawyer, conceded the election Wednesday morning. “There is no sugarcoating it: this is a bitterly disappointing outcome,” Wild said in a concession statement posted by NBC10 in Philadelphia. “I lost this election, and my opponent won. I congratulate my opponent on winning this seat, and I am going to do everything to ensure a smooth transition, because the people of this district deserve nothing less.”
With more than 95% of the vote in, Mackenzie had amassed a 50.7% lead to Wild’s 49.3%.
Wild won by fewer than 2 points in 2022 and has been a perennial target for Republicans. Democrats hold a slight registration advantage in a district that includes fast-growing suburbs and rural areas that span anthracite coal country.
8th District
First-time candidate Rob Bresnahan claimed victory Wednesday morning over six-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright in the state’s 8th Congressional District.
“I am humbled and honored by the trust the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania have placed in me to serve as their voice in the House of Representatives,” Bresnahan said Wednesday morning. “I sincerely thank Congressman Matt Cartwright for his many years of service. While we may not always agree on how to best serve, I know he has always acted in what he believes is the best interest of Northeastern Pennsylvania.”
With more than 95% of the vote totals in, Bresnahan has 51% of the vote to Cartwright’s 49%. The Associated Press had not yet called the race.
The district supported Trump in 2020’s presidential election, making Cartwright just one of five Democrats nationally running for reelection in a Trump district.
Democrats hold a slight registration advantage in the district, which is anchored by Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, the city where President Joe Biden was born and that played prominently into his campaigns.
10th District
There remain no call on the race between six-term Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry and challenger Janelle Stelson, a longtime local TV news anchor who is a Republican-turned-Democrat.
As of 11 a.m., Perry holds the lead with 50.8% of the vote to Stelson’s 49.2%, according to unofficial results.
Perry was chairman of the Freedom Caucus, a hardline faction of conservatives and was the only lawmaker to have his cellphone seized by FBI agents investigating the web of Trump loyalists who were central to his bid to remain in power in 2020. Perry has not been charged with a crime.
Stelson has her own baggage: She doesn’t live in the Republican-leaning district, which includes the cities of Harrisburg and York, surrounded by deep-red exurbs, rolling farm country and fast-growing suburbs. Still, she has relentlessly attacked Perry over his opposition to abortion rights and his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.