Current:Home > FinancePennsylvania is home to 5 heavily contested races for the US House -Insightful Finance Hub
Pennsylvania is home to 5 heavily contested races for the US House
View
Date:2025-04-27 11:42:15
Follow live: Updates from AP’s coverage of the presidential election.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — 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 is in the suburbs and former steel towns west of Pittsburgh where Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio is seeking a second term.
Here is a look at those five key races:
1st District
Four-term Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in Bucks County, just north of Philadelphia, is one of 16 House Republicans running for reelection in a district won by President Joe Biden in 2020’s presidential contest.
Fitzpatrick, a mild-mannered former FBI agent who took over the seat from his late brother, has a potent winning formula that includes his family’s name recognition and inroads into traditional Democratic voting districts.
He is endorsed by top-tier labor unions, and has run ads calling himself the “No. 1 most bipartisan congressman.”
His opponent is Ashley Ehasz, a former Army helicopter pilot who Fitzpatrick beat in 2022 by almost 10 points. Democrats have attacked Fitzpatrick’s vote for President Donald Trump’s tax-cutting legislation, his opposition to Trump’s impeachment and his support for a 20-week abortion ban in 2017.
7th District
Three-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild is facing state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in an eastern Pennsylvania district around Allentown.
Wild, a former city government lawyer, won by fewer than 2 points in 2022 and is 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
Six-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright is trying to defeat Rob Bresnahan, a first-time candidate and developer who runs a family construction company in the northeastern Pennsylvania district.
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
Six-term Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry is being challenged by Janelle Stelson, a longtime local TV news anchor who is a Republican-turned-Democrat.
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.
The 2024 election is here. This is what to know:
- Complete coverage: The latest Election Day updates from our reporters.
- Election results: Know the latest race calls from AP as votes are counted across the U.S.
- Voto a voto: Sigue la cobertura de AP en español de las elecciones en EEUU.
News outlets around the world count on the AP for accurate U.S. election results. Since 1848, the AP has been calling races up and down the ballot. Support us. Donate to the AP.
17th District
Freshman U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio is being challenged in his western Pennsylvania district by state Rep. Rob Mercuri in a race that hasn’t made as much noise as the others.
Deluzio is a former Navy officer and lawyer who worked on voting rights and election security.
Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 4-3 ratio in the district, which encompasses Pittsburgh’s western suburbs and one-time steel towns along the Ohio River in Allegheny County up through Beaver County.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Katrina Sparks a Revolution in Green Modular Housing
- Ryan Reynolds is part of investment group taking stake in Alpine Formula 1 team
- Ireland Baldwin Reflects on Struggle With Anxiety During Pregnancy With Daughter Holland
- Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
- The Little Mermaid: Halle Bailey’s Locs and Hair Extensions Cost $150,000
- Khloe Kardashian Captures Adorable Sibling Moment Between True and Tatum Thompson
- Montana bridge collapse sends train cars into Yellowstone River, prompting federal response
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Will a Greener World Be Fairer, Too?
Ranking
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Channing Tatum Shares Lesson He Learned About Boundaries While Raising Daughter Everly
- Iowa Republicans pass bill banning most abortions after about 6 weeks
- American Climate Video: How Hurricane Michael Destroyed Tan Smiley’s Best Laid Plans
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Love Is Blind’s Bartise Bowden Breaks Down His Relationship With His “Baby Mama”
- Megan Thee Stallion and Soccer Star Romelu Lukaku Spark Romance Rumors With Sweetest PDA
- Sea squirts and 'skeeters in our science news roundup
Recommendation
'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
South Portland’s Tar Sands Ban Upheld in a ‘David vs. Goliath’ Pipeline Battle
The Best Memorial Day 2023 You Can Still Shop Today: Wayfair, Amazon, Kate Spade, Nordstrom, and More
Why Ayesha Curry Regrets Letting Her and Steph's Daughter Riley Be in the Public Eye
The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
‘We Need to Hear These Poor Trees Scream’: Unchecked Global Warming Means Big Trouble for Forests
Pregnant Serena Williams Shares Hilariously Relatable Message About Her Growing Baby Bump
Disappearance of Alabama college grad tied to man who killed parents as a boy