Pennsylvania hosts 5 hotly contested races for U.S. House – Winnipeg Free Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania is home to five closely contested races for the U.S. House of Representatives; These races will be critical to determining control of the narrowly divided chamber, where Democrats clearly need 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 holding on to their seats in districts always seen as competitive.

The fourth district is in southern Pennsylvania, where Republican Rep. Scott Perry is running for a seventh term. Another competitive contest is in the suburbs and former steel towns west of Pittsburgh, where Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio is running for a second term.

Here’s a look at these five important races:

Region 1

Four-term Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County, just north of Philadelphia, is one of 16 House Republicans running for re-election in a district won by President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential contest.

Fitzpatrick, a mild-mannered former FBI agent who inherited the seat from his late brother, has a strong winning formula that includes gaining family name recognition and entering traditional Democratic voting districts.

It is supported by top labor unions and calls itself “No. Most bipartisan congressman #1.

His opponent is Ashley Ehasz, a former Army helicopter pilot who Fitzpatrick beat by almost 10 points in 2022. Democrats attacked Fitzpatrick’s votes for President Donald Trump’s tax cut bill, his opposition to Trump’s impeachment and his support for a 20-week abortion ban in 2017.

District 7

Three-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild is facing State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the eastern Pennsylvania district around Allentown.

Wild, a former city government attorney, won by less 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 spanning anthracite coal country.

District 8

Six-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright is trying to defeat first-time candidate and developer Rob Bresnahan, who runs a family construction company in the northeastern Pennsylvania district.

The district supported Trump in the 2020 presidential election, making Cartwright one of five Democrats nationwide running for re-election in the Trump district.

Democrats have a slight registration advantage in the district where Wilkes-Barre and Scranton are where President Joe Biden was born and which played a key role in his campaigns.

District 10

Six-term Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry is being challenged by longtime local TV news anchor turned Democrat Janelle Stelson.

Perry was the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, a hard-line group of conservatives, and was the only lawmaker whose cellphone was seized by FBI agents investigating a network of Trump loyalists central to his bid to stay in power in 2020. Perry was not charged. with a crime.