Who is running in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District race?
Midterms: Georgia, PA & Michigan Battlegrounds
S.E. Cupp and Bill Anderson discuss key races in Georgia and PA, historic bids by Black women and Michigan’s toss-up 7th District.
DOYLESTOWN, PA. - Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, encompassing all of Bucks County and parts of Montgomery County, remains one of the premier swing seats in the country.
Situated in the competitive Philadelphia suburbs, the district reflects a rare political split—voters backed Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket in 2024 while re-electing moderate Republican incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick.
As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the winner serves a two-year term representing roughly 768,000 residents—drafting federal legislation, passing national budgets and providing crucial constituent casework.
Seeking to hold that office once again is five-term Republican incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick, who leans on his bipartisan track record, while Democratic Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie challenges him with a campaign focused on economic investment, affordability and reproductive rights.
The incumbent: Brian Fitzpatrick (R)
Local perspective:
A former FBI supervisory special agent and federal prosecutor, Republican incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick has represented the Bucks County-centered seat since taking office in 2017—originally as Pennsylvania's 8th District before it was renumbered to the 1st District following court-ordered redistricting in 2018.
(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Consistently ranked among the most bipartisan members of Congress, Fitzpatrick has built a brand around centrist pragmatism and willingness to buck strict party lines—most recently demonstrating his independent streak by opposing key Republican spending cuts to SNAP and Medicaid enacted by President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Fitzpatrick's platform emphasizes problem-solving over ideology, highlighting his leadership within the Problem Solvers Caucus to position himself as a stabilizing force in an increasingly polarized Capitol; this caucus—a bipartisan group of U.S. House members split evenly between Democrats and Republicans—specifically focuses on finding common-sense, cross-party solutions to break congressional gridlock.
The challenger: Bob Harvie (D)
Local perspective:
Democrat Bob Harvie enters the race with deep local roots, currently serving on the Bucks County Board of Commissioners.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Before holding countywide office, Harvie spent over two decades as a high school social studies teacher and served as a local township supervisor, according to his campaign website.
His campaign points to his record of local governance, emphasizing fiscal responsibility alongside investments in public safety and infrastructure.
Harvie’s bid centers on framing national issues through a suburban lens. He focuses his platform on reproductive rights, expanding access to affordable health care, protecting public education and supporting local job growth, according to a list of priorities on his campaign website.
Instead of advocating for strict partisan alignment, Harvie presents himself as an independent-minded leader, stating on his website that he is willing to critique his own party when necessary to fight for the district's working families.
The Source: Information sourced from official candidate platforms, congressional voting entries, nonpartisan database profiles and historical redistricting records, including Bob Harvie for Congress, Brian Fitzpatrick for Congress, the Problem Solvers Caucus, the U.S. House Clerk, The Lugar Center, 270toWin, Congress.gov, Ballotpedia, The Cook Political Report and official House district profiles.