Representative Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, one of the House’s most moderate Republicans, lost his bid for re-election early Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. He had spent a decade as one of his party’s strongest survivors in a Democratic-leaning district.
Bob Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner, mobilized voters in the district outside of Philadelphia with a message that it was time to boot Mr. Fitzpatrick, and ensure a Democratic majority in Congress to check Mr. Trump’s power.
Mr. Harvie campaigned with Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader, and the state’s governor, Josh Shapiro, among others. Before the election, Mr. Harvie told voters that he hoped to ride “those Josh Shapiro coattails” to the House.
Mr. Fitzpatrick, a five-term incumbent, had been the only congressional Republican to win re-election three times — 2016, 2020 and 2024 — in a district that did not vote for President Trump, and he broke with Mr. Trump more often than most Republicans.
At one point, the president complained about Mr. Fitzpatrick’s then-fiancée, a White House correspondent for Fox News, citing her soon-to-be husband’s voting record.
“Her husband votes against me all the time. Can you imagine?” Mr. Trump said, adding, “He likes voting against Trump. You know what happens with that. It doesn’t work out well.”
The outcome is a big win for Democrats, who couldn’t defeat Mr. Fitzpatrick in 2018 even as they swept to power in a blue wave. His defeat means that Mr. Harvie is likely to hold the seat for years as the Philadelphia suburbs become more Democratic.
Democrats poured in money late in the race and worked aggressively to tie Mr. Fitzpatrick to Mr. Trump. Mr. Fitzpatrick had campaigned as a different kind of Republican, and he had the support of many groups that typically support Democrats, including labor unions and environmental organizations.
The seat had been in the Fitzpatrick family for most of the last two decades.
Mr. Fitzpatrick, a former F.B.I. agent, had succeeded his brother, Mike Fitzpatrick, who died in 2020.
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