Brian Fitzpatrick is doing everything he can to distance himself from Donald Trump ahead of the midterms. He has voted against the president’s tariffs, his signature tax legislation and his power to wage war against Iran without congressional approval. He skipped Trump’s recent midterm convention in Dallas. He criticized Trump in April when the president called Pope Leo XIV “weak” and said he was captive to the “Radical Left.”
But Fitzpatrick may not be able to save himself. A 60-year-old medical writer from the Philadelphia suburbs, Mary Ryan, who voted for him in past elections, is now planning to vote Democratic this year for Bob Harvie. Ryan voted against Trump in 2024 due to his “crass style of politics and chaotic approach to governing.” She said of Fitzpatrick: “I don’t see it happening.”
Fitzpatrick’s record and his critics
Fitzpatrick won his 2024 race by 13 percentage points, while Democrat Kamala Harris won the district by less than a single point. In 2022, Fitzpatrick won by about 10 points when Democrats won the U.S. Senate and governorship. In 2020, Democratic candidate Joe Biden won the district by about 5 points while Fitzpatrick carried it by about 13.
Robert Speel, an associate professor of political science at the Penn State campus in Erie, said: “Every two years Democrats in Washington label Congressman Fitzpatrick as vulnerable. Every two years he wins anyway. It’s, to some extent, possibly like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football and failing each time.”
Fitzpatrick graduated with an MBA and a law degree, served as an FBI special agent and assistant U.S. attorney, and worked in private practice as a lawyer and accountant before running for his brother Mike Fitzpatrick’s seat. Mike Fitzpatrick died of cancer in 2020.
One voter still backs him. Jim Rachau, a 45-year-old photographer from Doylestown, plans to vote for Fitzpatrick again this year despite his own frustrations with the war and the economy.
Another does not. Jean Dolan, 61, a Democratic voter from Newtown, has never backed Fitzpatrick and does not plan to this year, citing his lack of independence from party leaders.
Harvie, a former social studies teacher and twice-elected countywide commissioner, described the race as an existential threat to American foundations.
What Fitzpatrick says about the voters
Fitzpatrick said in a podcast: “There’s so many angry voices out there. We all know that’s the case. People are sick and tired of the noise. They’re sick and tired of elected officials not being focused on the kitchen table issues that people really care about.”
Harvie said his deep roots in the district make him different from previous Democrats who ran against Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick posts regularly about meeting with groups across the district, including showing up at a picket line with striking sheet metal workers, a local Catholic church’s parish picnic, and a community college hosting a maternity coalition.
He has spent millions on attack ads against Harvie.
The verdict on Fitzpatrick’s fate
Fitzpatrick is clearly running against Trump, not with him, and he has put that position on display through his votes, his actions and his words. But his past record shows that surviving a Democratic label is his specialty. He wins anyway.
The Charlie Brown comparison is apt. Fitzpatrick keeps trying to kick the football, and it keeps pulling away from him at the last second. This time may be different, but the pattern is not broken.
Speel’s point is worth keeping in mind: Fitzpatrick has been labeled vulnerable every two years for as long as anyone can remember, and he has won every two years. That track record has made him the kind of politician who can survive criticism from both sides.
The question is whether this year is the year the football finally holds.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs no candidate and is against treating politics as a horse race between two machines, judging Fitzpatrick and Harvie against its own north star of individual freedom, small business and no concentrations of power on every issue instead. Fitzpatrick is running against Trump, not with him, and has put that position on display through his votes, his actions and his words. But his past record shows that surviving a Democratic label is his specialty, and the pattern is not broken.
The Charlie Brown comparison is apt, and it is worth keeping in mind that Fitzpatrick has been labeled vulnerable every two years for as long as anyone can remember, and he has won every two years. That track record has made him the kind of politician who can survive criticism from both sides. The question is whether this year is the year the football finally holds.
The paper wants voters to look past the two-party machine and judge each candidate issue by issue, against the north star of individual freedom, small business and no concentrations of power, instead of treating politics as a horse race.
Key facts box
- Mary Ryan: 60-year-old medical writer, voted for Fitzpatrick in past elections, now backing Bob Harvie
- Fitzpatrick won 2024 by 13 percentage points; Kamala Harris won the district by less than a point
- 2022: Fitzpatrick won by about 10 points; Democrats won Senate and governorship
- 2020: Biden won by about 5 points; Fitzpatrick carried by about 13
- Mike Fitzpatrick died of cancer in 2020
- Robert Speel: associate professor of political science at Penn State campus in Erie
- Jim Rachau: 45-year-old photographer from Doylestown, plans to vote for Fitzpatrick again
- Jean Dolan: 61, Democratic voter from Newtown, never backed Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick is running as the candidate who disagrees with Trump. The question is whether that position is enough to hold this district.
Source material: “This swing state Republican is distancing himself from Trump, but it may not save him in the midterms,” PBS.
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