(The Center Square) – As the primary election approaches in Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro has announced his support for a candidate running in a closely watched congressional race in the Philadelphia suburbs.
On Sunday, Shapiro announced that he is supporting Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie for the Democratic Party nomination for the 1st Congressional District.
“Bob Harvie is a public servant who has dedicated his career to serving his community – from teaching our kids to delivering for working families all across Bucks County,” said Shapiro. “I’ve worked with Bob to get stuff done for Bucks County – from investing in our schools and law enforcement, to creating jobs and economic opportunity.”
Harvie is viewed as the frontrunner for his party’s nomination, but is slated to face Lucia Simonelli, a scientist, in next week’s primary election. The winner of that primary election will challenge U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-1st District, in the general election.
“I know Bob’s first vote in Congress will be for a Democrat to serve as Speaker of the House and to advance a legislative agenda that helps Pennsylvania and stands up against the chaos, cruelty, and corruption of Donald Trump,” Shapiro said.
Harvie called having the support of Shapiro in the race an “honor.”
“Unlike Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick – who likes to say one thing at home only to fall in line with Trump and his party bosses in Washington – Governor Shapiro and I know a thing or two about delivering real results and fighting for working families,” Harvie said. “This is one of the most important congressional races in the entire country, and Bucks and Montgomery voters have a chance to reject Donald Trump, Brian Fitzpatrick, and a broken Washington that is pushing the American Dream further out of reach.”
After losses up and down the ballot to Republicans in the 2024 election, which included two congressional seats flipping from blue to red, the Democratic Party appears to be on the offensive in the Keystone State for the 2026 midterm election.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, announced last week that its supporting four candidates in Pennsylvania, more than any other state, in a program that seeks to invest in races and flip seats red-to-blue. Harvie is also one of those candidates named in that program.
Fitzpatrick, who is serving his fifth term in Congress, serves as the chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in the U.S. House.
And since winning the seat in suburban Philadelphia in 2016, Democrats have been attempting to unseat him.
Despite those previous efforts, Fitzpatrick has won by nearly double digits in nearly every election – except 2018. In that race, he defeated Democrat Scott Wallace by just under 3 points during the first Trump midterm election.
Fitzpatrick made headlines in April when he told Punchbowl News that he said he wouldn’t stay a member of the Republican Party if the state’s closed primaries ever opened up. During that same interview, Fitzpatrick called Shapiro a “good man” and “a friend,” and added that he thinks the governor will win a second term in November over fellow Republican, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity.
“I think he's done a really, really good job for Pennsylvania,” Fitzpatrick, talking about Shapiro, told the news outlet.
While Harvie and Shapiro have linked Fitzpatrick to Trump, the GOP congressman has attempted to distance himself from the president. He is the only Republican in Pennsylvania, and just one of three nationwide, to represent a district Harris won over the president in 2024.
He told Philadelphia Magazine earlier this year that he didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 and 2024. Instead, he wrote in Mike Pence in 2016 for president and Nikki Haley in 2024.
However, Fitzpatrick told WBCB-AM that he voted for Trump in 2020, and in the hours before the general election, Levittown Now reported that “Fitzpatrick received a robocall phone endorsement from Trump through the Bucks County Republican Committee.”
The last time Shapiro was on the ballot statewide, he defeated GOP state Sen. Doug Mastriano by double digits.
DCCC Spokesperson Eli Cousin noted that in 2022, Shapiro carried the boundaries of the 1st Congressional District by 20 points. However, that same year, Fitzpatrick won his bid for reelection by nearly 10 points over Democrat Ashley Ehasz.
Fitzpatrick, who holds a massive cash-on-hand advantage in the race, is currently viewed as the frontrunner in his race. The Cook Political Report describes the race in the 1st District as “likely Republican.” However, Inside Elections, another national ratings outlet, believes Fitzpatrick’s race could be tighter and rates it “Lean Republican.”
Shapiro’s campaign announced on Sunday that the governor invited and convened Pennsylvania’s Democratic Congressional delegation this past week, to “discuss the importance of winning up and down the ballot this November and the power Pennsylvanians have to flip the U.S. House of Representatives.”
The Shapiro campaign also highlighted that the governor has invested over $1.5 million in organizing work and party infrastructure for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.
In addition to offering support for Harvie’s campaign, Shapiro has also endorsed Democrats Bob Brooks, Paige Cognetti, and Janelle Stelson for their respective bids for the 7th, 8th, and 10th Congressional Districts. All of those seats are also held by Republican incumbents, who are being supported by Trump.
Trump, however, has yet to weigh in on Fitzpatrick’s bid for reelection.
