It’s not just public town halls that Republican Brian Fitzpatrick avoids like the plague. Voters can now add debates and candidate forums.
With just 26 days until Election Day, voters have yet to see and hear incumbent Fitzpatrick and his Democratic challenger Ashley Ehasz make their case to the people in a single debate – not that the public should be satisfied with a single debate.
“Our community has always had a history of multiple debates for our congressional candidates,” said Laura Rose of Indivisible Bucks County, a lifelong resident of this community. “It was not too long ago that we had three debates a cycle. Then Congressman Fitzpatrick only agreed to one debate in 2022. And now we aren’t even getting that.”
After the PA-01 Congressional debate at Bucks County Community College was canceled, Ehasz challenged Fitzpatrick to a publicly accessible debate in September.
“I’m ready to debate because I’m ready to lead. Are you Brian?” Ehasz asked in her video challenging Fitzpatrick.
Typically, Bucks County Community College hosts the first congressional district’s candidate debate, but opted not to this year.
Ehasz announced in a statement Wednesday she would participate in the forum hosted by New Pennsylvania Project, while Fitzpatrick has not yet accepted the invitation – or Ehasz’s debate challenge.
The New Pennsylvania Project is a nonpartisan voting rights organization focusing on voter registration, civic education, and mobilization. The group will host the PA-01 candidate forum open to the public and press on Oct. 22, with the location to be announced in the coming days.
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“I believe that the public should be able to hear directly from their candidates about the issues that matter most to them, particularly when our fundamental freedoms and the safety of our democracy are on the line,” Ehasz said.
In a press release, Ehasz called out Fitzpatrick for not responding to her debate challenge and not yet accepting the invitation to the candidate forum.
“It’s just like Brian Fitzpatrick to duck from any unscripted exposure to the public and the media as he tries to run from his own record,” she said.
The candidate forum will give voters in Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District the chance to get to know their candidates better. Fitzpatrick and Ehasz have the opportunity to explain where they stand on important issues facing Pennsylvanians.
“Brian Fitzpatrick owes it to the people of Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District to participate in a debate. All representatives, or those who seek that position, have an obligation to their constituents to tell them exactly where they stand on matters of consequence, so their voters can make an informed decision on their ballots,” said Kierstyn Zolfo, also of Indivisible Bucks County. “For a person like Brian Fitzpatrick, who already shuns town halls and media interactions, to abandon the long tradition of congressional debates in our district, shows the contempt he has for the people in our community.”
The two candidates faced off previously in the only debate for the 2022 election covering topics such as abortion, inflation, healthcare, and immigration. With no debate scheduled, Ehasz said the four-year incumbent should take accountability for his actions while in office.
“The fact that Brian isn’t even willing to face me on the debate stage and defend his record tells us all that we need to know: he doesn’t show up for this community,” she said. “Brian supported a national abortion ban without exceptions for the health of the mother, and he repeatedly voted to restrict access to abortion. Brian refused to hold Trump accountable for his actions around January 6, 2021, and he continuously caves to MAGA extremists in the GOP by voting to block critical investments that have brought relief and thousands of jobs to PA-01.”
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Ehasz, a combat veteran, said her time and leadership role in the military gave her the experience needed to be in Congress.
“As a commander in the Army, I know a little something about being accountable to my soldiers,” Ehasz said. “I show up for my people, and in Congress, I will always show up for my community in Pennsylvania’s First.”
Ehasz said she looks forward to sharing her “vision for pro-choice, pro-democracy leadership” with Bucks and Montgomery County voters at the New Pennsylvania Project’s candidate forum.
“Our voters deserve to know what they will be voting for come November, and they deserve a leader who is willing to show up for them and stand by the work they have accomplished,” Ehasz said.
