Bucks Co. Congress Primaries: Fitzpatrick, Finello Hold Leads

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — With votes still being counted, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Bucks County solicitor Christina Finello appeared in control of their primary races for Pennsylvania's 1st Congressional District.

With 344 of 347 precincts reporting, Fitzpatrick held a 29,059 to 22,165 lead over Republican challenger Andrew Meehan, according to unofficial returns. Meanwhile, Finello led fellow Democrat Skylar Hurwitz, 23,515 to 6,858.

Elections workers were still counting the thousands of mail-in ballots cast in Tuesday's primaries due to concerns about the coronavirus. Final results were not expected until Tuesday afternoon at the earliest.

But, by early Wednesday afternoon, the Associated Press and New York Times had called the races for Fitzpatrick and Finello, based on votes already counted and other data.

After midnight Tuesday, Finello already was thanking her supporters.

"I want to thank the voters and Democrats of Bucks and Montgomery Counties for their confidence in our campaign and their belief in the need for change," Finello said in a written statement. "As your congresswoman, it is simple: the interests of Bucks and Montgomery Counties will always come first. The middle-and-working class people of our country will be my priority."

And, by Wednesday, Fitzpatrick said he was confident he had won as well.

"We are confident in the strong showing we saw at the polls yesterday and we couldn’t have done it without our incredible supporters and volunteers," he said in a statement. "Thank you for once again putting your faith and trust in me and our campaign. With the new mail-in voting system there are still tens of thousands of ballots to count so we will keep you posted on the final numbers once they’re all in."

Due to the large number of mail-in ballots expected, Bucks County officials have said that results in the race, and other elections, may not be final until Wednesday evening.

Fitzpatrick faced a challenge from the right in Meehan, while Democrats hope to flip a district that supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and, yet, has been represented by a Republican in Congress since 2010

Fitzpatrick, who lives in Middletown, is a former FBI agent who has been leaning on his service as he seeks a third term representing Bucks County and a sliver of eastern Montgomery County in Congress.

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He has highlighted his work fighting the opioid crisis and international terrorism and his support of term limits for members of Congress. He has singled out his support for the 9/11 Victims Fund as one of his most important accomplishments in Washington.

"Our American heroes who have been dealing with brutal health consequences as a result of saving people's lives on 9/11, to include our firefighters, our police, and our medics, must be taken care of," Fitzpatrick said when the bill was signed by President Trump.

Seeking re-election during the coronavirus outbreak, Fitzpatrick's campaign shifted to "limited and safety-conscious campaign activity" while urging supporters to help charities serving those in need during the crisis.

Meehan, a financial consultant from Holland, had assailed the two-term incumbent for his more moderate leanings.

While siding with President Donald Trump on issues like impeachment, Fitzpatrick has supported some gun-safety bills, supports same-sex marriage and civil protections based on sexual orientation and has voted against efforts to gut the Affordable Care Act (dubbed "Obamacare" by some).

The Bucks County Republican Committee endorsed Fitzpatrick and officially denounced Meehan for what it called "discriminatory statements made on social media and a record of deception unbecoming a candidate for federal office."

On the Democratic side, Finello picked up the endorsements of both the Bucks County and Montgomery County Democratic committees.

A fifth-generation Pennsylvanian, Finello was born in Bristol, raised in Warminster and now lives in Ivyland with her husband, Todd, and two daughters.

"I’m running for Congress because our district deserves a leader who will stand up to powerful interests and fight to put families first again," Finello said. "Through my work improving access to care and my personal experience caring for my own family, I’ve seen firsthand how America’s health care system is slanted in favor of big insurance and drug companies, instead of people seeking the care they deserve."

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She campaigned on improving the Affordable Care Act to lower the cost of premiums and prescriptions, making college more affordable and tackling the climate crisis

In 2018, Fitzpatrick defeated Democratic challenger Scott Wallace by a vote of 168,841 to 160,098.

The district is one of five Republican-held seats in Congress that represent districts which Democrat Hillary Clinton carried in the 2016 presidential election. As such, it has been targeted by Democrats as a possible pickup for them.

But the Democratic primary in this year's race was a bit chaotic.

In the early going, Pennsbury school board member Debbie Wachspress racked up a fundraising lead on her Democratic primary rivals and secured several key endorsements, including one from 2018 Democratic nominee Scott Wallace.

But, in February, Wachspress quit the race after claims surfaced in a lawsuit against the school board that she had used racial epithets and other offensive terms during an executive session of the school board. Wachspress refuted the claims, saying she had been recounting an incident that happened to her when she was a child and calling the claims "complete and utter distortions."

A month earlier, Judi Reiss, Bucks County's prothonotary and a former Lower Makefield supervisor, also withdrew from the race, saying she was struggling to campaign while serving in her current position.

Through it all, the incumbent Fitzpatrick has build up an overwhelming fundraising lead over all of his challengers.

In the fundraising period that ended May 13, Fitzpatrick raised more than $2.3 million and had nearly $1.7 million cash on hand.

At the May deadline, Finello had raised about $214,000, with about $82,000 on hand.