BURSTScranton Mayor Paige Cognetti (D) launched her bid for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 8th congressional district on Tuesday, teeing up a challenge against incumbent Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.).
In her launch video, Cognetti repeatedly hit Bresnahan over stock trading and over his vote supporting the Republican mega bill and its impact on Medicaid access.
“Congressman Rob Bresnahan lied when he promised he would ban congressional stock trading, and he lied when he said he would protect access to health care. What’s even worse is that Bresnahan is profiting off our pain, playing the stock market while voting to screw us over in Washington,” Cognetti said in a statement.
Cognetti, who ran her first mayoral bid as an Independent, noted that she took on “the Democratic machine at City Hall.
“We got to work, for the people, by cutting red tape, fixing our finances, attracting new businesses, putting more cops on the beat, building new parks, and making real reforms,” she said.
Democrats touted internal polling from the Democratic House Majority PAC following Cognetti’s announcement, showing her narrowly leading Bresnahan 45 percent to 43 percent.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as “lean Republican.” Bresnahan ousted former Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) in 2024. President Trump carried the district by nine points and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) won it by four points.
Bresnahan, along with fellow Pennsylvania Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), and Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.), are being targeted by House Democrats ahead of the midterms.
In a memo released following Cognetti’s announcement, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee referred to Bresnahan as “the poster-child of the swamp.”
“Bresnahan’s prolific stock trading is more than just a broken promise – it’s a scandal of his own making that will define his time in Washington and be a major reason why he will lose his seat, DCCC regional press secretary Eli Cousin said.
The National Republican Congressional Committee painted Cognetti as extreme in a statement to The Hill.
“By jumping into a congressional race before even wrapping up her re-election bid for mayor, Paige Cognetti is showing voters exactly where her true priorities lie,” said NRCC spokesman Reilly Richardson. “From defunding police and banning fracking to government-run health care, open borders, and raising taxes, she won’t stand a chance against Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who continues to deliver results for Northeast Pennsylvania.”