(The Center Square) – Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie has bested Lucia Simonelli, a scientist, for the Democratic Party nomination for the 1st Congressional District.
Around 10 p.m. and with roughly half of ballots counted, the Associated Press declared Harvie the winner with 65% of the vote. He will face U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Bucks, for the seat in the suburbs located north of Philadelphia.
Fitzpatrick, who is currently in his fifth term representing the district, did not have a primary challenger in this year’s primary election, a first for the Bucks County Republican since he won the seat in 2016.
Harvie was viewed as the frontrunner for his party’s nomination, holding a massive fundraising advantage over Simonelli during the primary election and having the support of Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Bucks County Democratic Committee and the Montgomery County Democratic Committee, plus a bevy of local elected officials.
Simonelli was backed by various progressive organizations including Indivisible Greater Jenkintown, Indivisible Lower Merion, and Track AIPAC.
Earlier this month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee weighed in on the primary race and added Harvie to its “red-to-blue” program, which aims to flip Republican-held seats to Democratic wins.
Simonelli’s campaign spoke out against the decision from the DCCC to offer support to Harvie before the primary election was decided.
“Hand-picking a party loyalist did not work for the Democratic establishment during the Harris campaign, and it will not work for PA-01,” Simonelli’s campaign said to the Center Square on May 4. “After nearly a decade of Fitzpatrick, voters deserve a candidate who will go to bat when working people are on the line – not another representative who embodies the status quo of lukewarm, pre-approved Party politics.”
“Lucia Simonelli’s background, experience, and commitment to working people are exactly the kind of representation constituents in this district need in Congress,” the campaign added. “Voters decide elections, not Washington insiders.”
Fitzpatrick serves as the co-chair of the bipartisan U.S. House Problem Solvers Caucus.
The 1st U.S. House District in Pennsylvania voted for Vice President Kamala Harris by a narrow margin in the 2024 presidential election. During that same year, Fitzpatrick defeated Democrat Ashley Ehasz by double digits.
Fitzpatrick is one of three Republicans nationwide, and the only in Pennsylvania, to represent a district Harris won over Trump in 2024.
Fitzpatrick made headlines last month when he told Punchbowl News that he said he would register as an independent if the commonwealth had open primary elections and said Josh Shapiro has done a “really, really good job for Pennsylvania,” as governor.
Harvie has criticized Fitzpatrick’s voting record and believes he is not the moderate he claims to be.
As of the last campaign finance report, filed a few weeks ago, Fitzpatrick held a massive fundraising advantage over Harvie. Fitzpatrick has the support of a variety of local and national Republicans.
However, Trump has not publicly endorsed a candidate in the race and is the only Republican in the state’s congressional delegation for whom the president has not publicly announced his support.
Fitzpatrick told Philadelphia Magazine earlier this year that he didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 and 2024, writing in Mike Pence for president in 2016 and Nikki Haley in 2024.
Fitzpatrick, however, told WBCB-AM that he voted for Trump in 2020. In the hours before that general election, Levittown Now reported that “Fitzpatrick received a robocall phone endorsement from Trump through the Bucks County Republican Committee.”
Fitzpatrick is currently viewed as the frontrunner in the race, according to national ratings outlets.
Inside Elections describes the race in the 1st Congressional District as “Lean Republican,” while the Cook Political Report believes that Fitzpatrick is a heavier favorite to win the seat again, dubbing the race as “likely Republican.”
