Poll Shows Congressman Fitzpatrick Leading Over Challenger Finello, Trump Behind Biden In First District

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick is leading his Democratic opponent, Christina Finello, in the latest poll made public in the race.

The mid-July poll in the First Congressional District found that Fitzpatrick, the two-term Republican incumbent, leads political newbie Finello 53 to 39. The poll also found that Fitzpatrick had a 59 percent favorable rating and 27 percent unfavorable rating.

Republican-aligned polling firm Public Opinion Strategies conducted the survey.

The poll showed 68 percent of those called said they had not heard of Finello, while only 3 percent had never heard of Fitzpatrick, whose family has strong name ID in the district.

The survey in Fitzpatrick’s favor came out weeks after the Finello campaign released a poll putting the race at a virtual dead heat. In the campaign’s poll by Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling, Fitzpatrick was at 40 percent with Finello at 38 percent and 21 percent undecided.

The Public Policy Polling survey also found the overall political climate in the district appears to be favorable for Democrats.

PoliticsPA reported in June that a Democratic House Majority PAC poll showed Fitzpatrick leading Finello by only one point.

The Finello campaign boasted about the positive poll numbers and also used them in fundraising pitches.

In the wake of the Fitzpatrick poll being released this week, his campaign said their data shows he’s has the clear advantage.

“For those interested in where this campaign actually stands at the moment, here you go. Christina Finello’s fake push-polls, which were solely designed to lie to donors and help her fundraising, have been exposed, and it’s not going to get much better for her,” campaign spokesperson Kate Constantini said.

All three polls – the two Democratic-leaning ones and one Republican poll – show former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, ahead of incumbent President Donald Trump by several points.

Bucks County was won by Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. The Trump campaign has invested in county this year with staff working with volunteers in the First Congressional District. The candidate made a stop to Newtown Township in 2016.

Over this election cycle and the past two, Fitzpatrick has tried to balance supporting the Republican agenda under Trump and also distancing himself from the former entertainer and businessman known for stroking controversy enough to win support from moderate and some Democrats.

Finello’s campaign had some good news of their own this week as they were added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue Top-Tier Candidate Program that places additional focus on Republican-held districts that might be able to be flipped. The program gives campaign’s organizational and fundraising support.

“With her deep roots in Lower Bucks County and a district trending rapidly toward Democrats, momentum is on Christina’s side. I look forward to welcoming her to Congress next year where I know she’ll be a champion for all people in Bucks and Montgomery counties,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairwoman Cheri Bustos said in a statement.

Recent fundraising numbers released by the campaigns show Fitzpatrick with a much larger war chest than Finello heading into the final months of the campaign.

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