2022 Congressional Race Beginning To Shape Up

Although the 2021 general election that features casting ballots for judges, county row officers, and school board and municipal seats is just weeks away, politicos are already focusing on the race for the First Congressional District next year.

The race – among the most watched in the country – will see incumbent Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, a former FBI special agent from Middletown Township who is serving his third term, working to keep his seat in the First Congressional District, which comprises all of Bucks County and a portion of Montgomery County near Lansdale.

The district could see change in its borders through the process of redistricting following the 2020 Census, but final changes to the district are not completed.

Aside from Fitzpatrick, only one candidate has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run next year. That candidate is Souderton, Montgomery County resident Henry Conoly, who is running with the Green Party under a platform of implementing universal basic income, reforming the criminal justice system, legalization of marijuana, investment in farming, and promoting community composting.

“I find it to be one of the first accomplishments on a list that includes winning in 2022. When I set out on this mission, I knew the fight would be an uphill one, knowing that I wanted to be proactive instead of reactive. My hopes with filing early and being the first non-incumbent were that it would give this campaign a boost and the energy needed,” Conoly told LevittownNow.com.

As of Monday, no Democratic candidates have announced their bids for 2022, and sources in the know didn’t want to attach their names to a story at this point.

However, those Democratic insiders have said that Bensalem Township U.S. Army veteran Ashley Ehasz is expected to run.

Ehasz, according to sources, is considered the most viable candidate that has come forward as of mid-September, but others have kicked the tires on the race in recent months, including other military veterans.

County Democratic head John Cordisco has reportedly told local Democrats to focus on the 2021 election before moving onto 2022.

Ehasz has been a common sight at Democratic fundraising events this year and has volunteered with candidates running in 2021 in the lower and central parts of the county.

Ehasz served as a pilot flying the U.S. Army’s AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters. She deployed to Kuwait and Iraq with her unit. After leaving the military, she graduated from the University of Oxford, penning a thesis that was featured in the Cornell International Affairs Review, according to her biography posted online.

One Democratic elected official from Central Bucks County said Ehasz has worked hard to make inroads among local officials in recent months.

A Lower Bucks County Democratic committee person who knows of Ehasz’s exploration of a run for Congress said they believed the expected candidate’s military service is key for winning over moderate voters.

Several Democrats and two Republicans said they were surprised Ehasz had not announced a bid by the end of September, noting the lead time is needed for fundraising and getting her name before voters.

The Fitzpatrick brand is a strong one in Bucks County. The congressman’s brother, Mike, who passed away in 2020, served in the seat previously and was a county commissioner for years.

Over the years, the Fitzpatricks have boasted their community roots and record of public service when running. Even more so than his brother, Brian Fitzpatrick has touted that he is a Republican who doesn’t care about party labels and is willing to work with Democrats on important issues.

Like his brother, Brian Fitzpatrick is often spotted at community events, but was criticized before the pandemic by Democrats and some in his own party for not being accessible through large in-person town hall events. He has long said that he is accessible to voters and often makes numerous community events per day when in the district.

Despite having more Democratic voters than Republicans in Bucks County and Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden winning the county, Democrats running for Congress have consistently come up short against Republicans. U.S. Army veteran Patrick Murphy was the last Democrat to hold the seat in from 2007 to 2011.

Fitzpatrick easily bested his last Democratic opponent, Christina Finello, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology and a law degree, in 2020. He won over well-monied multi-millionaire Scott Wallace in 2018 and against then-State Rep. Steve Santarsiero, who is now a state senator.

Finello’s poor performance wasn’t unexpected by many Democratic insiders in the final weeks of the 2020 election. Polls from both sides showed trouble in the race, but Finello’s election time fundraising numbers and momentum by then-candidate Joe Biden gave some hope to Democrats.

Democratic politicos in Bucks County and Washington D.C. last year felt that Finello was not a strong enough candidate for such an important race and didn’t have the support she needed. One told LevittownNow.com in early 2020 that it was a “recruiting failure” for the Democrats, and that was before an early frontrunner was accused of using offensive slurs and left the race.

Finello said earlier this year she wasn’t ruling out another run for Congress. An attempt to reach her for comment Monday wasn’t successful, but several Democratic sources said it seemed unlikely she would run in 2022.

Fitzpatrick started the third quarter of 2021 with more than $1 million in fresh cash, a record for his campaign, and $1.3 million in the bank. The congressman and his campaign have proven they can raise big amounts of cash from in the district and across the nation. Additionally, he has proven that he can win elections.

Fitzpatrick’s maturing political prowess, along with savvy campaign staffs, have gained the attention of Republican leaders in Washington D.C., according to sources.

After his 2021 election win, Fitzpatrick was asked to consider a run for U.S. Senate in 2022, a race that is seen as key for both parties.

Sources close to Fitzpatrick, who believes in term limits but has not stated how many he will serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, said he spent time feeling out the U.S. Senate race, but ultimately decided not enter the primary.

At the start of 2021, Fitzpatrick changed his campaign name with federal election officials from “Brian Fitzpatrick for Congress” to “Brian Fitzpatrick for All of Us,” according to records reviewed by this news organization.

Fitzpatrick’s campaign did not respond to a question about the conversations on a U.S. Senate run or the change in campaign name.

On the right, Fitzpatrick has been rumored to face one or more Republican opponents, a challenge he has met in recent years when candidates with very strong support for former President Donald Trump have tried to get their party’s nod in the primary.

One rumored candidate has been past challenger Andrew Meehan, who has been hosting conservative events around the county. He lists himself as “Bigfoot the Great White Domestic Terrorist Insurrectionist” on his Twitter bio and recently took part in a conference that featured support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. He did not respond to a request for comment via his Twitter account on whether he was considering a second run.

Republican sources have said they are aware of at least one other pro-Trump party member who has talked of a potential challenge to Fitzpatrick, but no one has officially stepped forward.

Editor’s Note: Publisher/Editor Tom Sofield’s father, Chris, served as Meehan’s campaign manager in 2020.

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