Republican incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick will face Democratic nominee Ashley Ehasz in the race for the 1st Congressional District of Congress, which includes Bucks County and a small part of Montgomery County, at the polls during the midterm elections on Nov. 8.
Ehasz, 33, and a United States army veteran, has never held elected office in Pennsylvania, yet she believes that her time as a commander in the army taught her teamwork, and she told the Bucks County Courier Times she will “bring this same experience to Congress, working with any member, regardless of party, to achieve success for my country and my community.”
Before serving Congress in 2017, Fitzpatrick, 48, and a Middletown resident, served the nation as an FBI special agent and federal prosecutor, where he advanced in ranks to become the National Director for the FBI’s Campaign Finance and Election Crime Enforcement Program.
Here’s where they stand on key issues:
- Abortions: Fitzpatrick voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022, a bill that would prohibit the restrictions of abortion services and which narrowly passed in the House of Representatives, and has said in an interview with the Bucks County Courier Times that he would support legislation that “both respects a woman’s privacy and autonomy, and also respects the sanctity of human life.”
Ehasz supports the access to abortion and is pro-choice. In an interview with the Bucks County Courier Times, she said, “I believe that the choice about whether a woman should have a child is a decision that should be made by that woman alone. She may consult her family or her doctors, but that process is not improved by having the government tell her what she can and cannot do with her body.” She supports the Women’s Health Protection Act.
- Student Loans: Ehasz supports expanding the public student loan forgiveness programs.
Fitzpatrick supports refinancing student loan interest rates and delaying student loan interest rate accrual for low-income and middle-class borrowers.
- The 2020 election: Both Ehasz and Fitzpatrick believe Joe Biden legitimately won the election, yet Fitzpatrick voted against the impeachment of former President Trump. In a January 2021 press release, Fitzpatrick justified his voting by saying that any “impeachment proceedings occurring while our country’s priority should be coming together would cause considerable harm towards achieving civility and unifying our country for the betterment of our future.”
- Economy: Ehasz would like to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024, and she supports President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, which is legislation that, according to the White House, will “set the United States on course to meet its climate goals, create millions of good-paying jobs, enable more Americans to join and remain in the labor force, and grow our economy.”
Fitzpatrick would like to introduce legislation into Congress that supports simpler tax codes, and previously has voted for the CARES Act, a bill that provided emergency relief money for individuals and businesses affected by the 2020 pandemic. “We must address redundant and duplicative regulations that are barriers to growth for our small businesses. Our economy policy must focus on the middle-class,” Fitzpatrick told the Bucks County Courier Times.
- Gun control: Fitzpatrick has previously voted in favor of gun control legislation, and in response to the increase in school shootings, recently went against party lines to support a House bill that would raise the age limit for purchasing a semi-automatic rifle.
Ehasz supports the Second Amendment and would like to see universal background checks.
Ehasz faces the challenge of name recognition, along with a lack of funding, while Fitzpatrick faces the challenge of his previous term voting, as some question his bipartisan stances.
Fitzpatrick has dominated the polls and is likely to remain in Congress. Polling from FiveThirtyEight, a data and statistical analysis website, continues to predict Fitzpatrick to win.