Bristol-born Democrat Bob Harvie announced Thursday he will make a run to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick from the U.S. House of Representatives.
The challenge will be decided at the November 2026 midterm election cycle should Harvie win the Democratic primary next year. He is the first Democratic candidate to announce.
Harvie unexpectedly flipped the Bucks County Commissioners office blue when he was sworn-in in 2020. Now his sights are set on ousting the only remaining Republican in Congress representing southeastern Pennsylvania.
“I have a proven track record of winning in Bucks County. In 2019, together, we helped make history by flipping the Board of Commissioners to Democratic control for the first time in decades. And in 2023, we made history again by winning re-election, something no Democratic-led board had ever done since the Civil War,” Harvie said.
Harvie is Bucks County Commissioners board chair and a long time former Falls Township supervisor. Harvie’s career was spent as a high school Social Studies teacher for 26 years, his campaign website notes.
“If you’re a good person who works hard you should be able to take your kids on vacation, not worry about medical bills, or how to take care of your parents. Those are all things that aren’t being paid enough attention to,” Harvie said in a interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Elected in 2019 to serve as commissioner, Harvie beat incumbent Republican Robert Loughery of Bedminster Township. Harvie’s win flipped the board to a Democratic majority.
Republican Gene DiGirolamo is the minority representative of the three-member board, which includes Harvie and Democrat Diane Ellis-Marseglia.
READ: How Democrats Can Win By Organizing from the County Up
“I’ve learned a lot about loving my country and community and I just don’t like the direction the country is going in,” Harvie told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
He added there isn’t enough Washington leadership supporting the issues and challenges of working-class people, The Inquirer said.
Fitzpatrick is a five-term House representative, having taken over the seat in 2017 after winning to represent the First Congressional District after his brother, the late Michael Fitzpatrick, did not seek reelection.
During the last election cycle Fitzpatrick refused to debate Ashley Ehasz, a Democrat, who ran two unsuccessful campaigns to unseat him. Fitzpatrick has also not held any public town halls in recent months or throughout his nearly 10 years in office. No in person town halls is a position he adopted before the GOP advised its representatives not to offer them in person.
In recent news reports his telephone town halls have been called “phony.”
With years of public service as an elected official and public school teacher, Harvie is known to Bucks County voters, local elected Democrats and constituents – an advantage Fitzpatrick’s previous challenger Ehasz did not have.
“The reason I win tough races is simple—I listen to people, and I fight for them. I’m from this community and when they face issues, I’m facing those same issues. I don’t just show up during election season. I’ve spent my entire career working to make life better for families in this district, and that’s exactly what I’ll do in Congress,” Harvie said.
