Harvie to run for Fitzpatrick’s U.S. House seat
Bucks County Commissioners Chairman Bob Harvie announced Wednesday he will run for Congress in Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District in 2026.
Republican Brian Fitzpatrick has represented the area, made up of all of Bucks and some Montgomery County communities, since 2017. The incumbent defeated Democratic challenger Ashley Ehasz in a 12.8-point landslide last November. Harvie hopes to be the first Democrat to represent Bucks County in Congress in over fourteen years.
In a statement, Harvie took a populist tone depicting the American economy as unfair and stifling for those in lower income strata.
“People are working longer and harder, but they still can’t get ahead,” he said via X. “The American Dream — the idea that if you work hard, you can build a better life for yourself and your family — is slipping further out of reach. Washington is catering to special interests, lobbyists, and billionaires like [President Donald Trump’s advisor and Tesla’s founder] Elon Musk instead of fighting for working families.”
A Bristol Borough native, Harvie graduated from George Washington University with a masters from Holy Family University. Having studied history, he went on to teach high school social studies for 26 years. He would eventually serve for sixteen years as a Falls Township Supervisor before winning county commissioner elections in 2019 and 2023.
He hasn’t avoided reproach during his years in public life. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been probing allegations that Falls officials under his watch delayed issuing permits at an electrician union’s behest to pressure businesses into hiring union tradesmen. Harvie reportedly testified before the grand jury examining the matter.
Harvie’s campaign has itself received significant union contributions, including from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers whose local 269 is at the center of the FBI investigation.
Most recent Falls Democratic supervisor candidates have taken large sums of IBEW federal PAC money, notably current supervisors Jeff Boraski and Jeff Dence. Both men failed to report tens of thousands in IBEW donations. Harvie once shared a campaign committee with Dence.
While Fitzpatrick’s presence in the 2026 congressional election isn’t yet etched in stone, the congressman and former FBI agent has raked in heaps of campaign donations, reporting more than $5 million cash on hand last month.
“Congressman Fitzpatrick’s record-breaking fundraising comes as no surprise,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said in a statement. “The most bipartisan member of the House, Fitzpatrick works across the aisle to deliver commonsense results for Pennsylvanians. He has always put people over politics, and these monumental fundraising numbers underscore that.”
In his announcement, Harvie denounced Fitzpatrick as a proponent of a substandard economic status quo. He tied Fitzpatrick’s persona to that of Trump, whose approval rating has slipped into net negative territory and whose trade protectionism has stoked financial turbulence. Suggesting a Fitzpatrick-Trump fusion may not be easy however, as the centrist Republican has frequently broken with Trump, including on the January 6 riot and on Ukraine.
“Brian Fitzpatrick has failed to stand up for us—his silence and inaction is unacceptable,” the commissioner said. “We need a leader who will actually fight for our future. I’ve seen firsthand what bad policies from Washington do to our communities.”
O’Toole issued a defense of the incumbent that suggested Fitzpatrick supporters aren’t worried about Harvie’s challenge.
“Out of touch Democrat Bob Harvie is a slimy career politician who has done nothing but serve himself and his own agenda,” she said. “Meanwhile, Rep. Fitzpatrick has a proven record of working across the aisle for Pennsylvanians. The contrast couldn’t be clearer, and voters will resoundingly reject Bob Harvie.”
Bradley Vasoli is politics and government correspondent at Broad + Liberty.
