Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie has won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, NBC News projects — the first contested result in key Pennsylvania races that could decide control of the House.
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Much of the attention in Tuesday’s primaries across six states have been focused on immediate intra-party squabbles, like President Donald Trump’s successful effort to unseat a Republican rival, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and whether progressive or establishment Democrats end the night with the upper hand in safe Democratic seats.
But the results of four Democratic congressional primaries in battleground Pennsylvania will loom large in November, when Democrats need to net three seats in order to take back control of the House.
In the swing 1st District in the Philadelphia suburbs, Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie will take on Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, whom Democrats have repeatedly tried and failed to unseat — even as he represents a district Democrats win at the presidential level.
There was less fanfare in another major primary in the 8th District, where Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti ran unopposed and will take on Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan in the 8th District. But that seat will also be a critical swing race in the fall.
Uncalled battleground primaries
The most competitive battleground primary is in the Allentown-area 7th District, where a crowded field of prominent Democrats from different wings of the party are jockeying for the right to take on Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.
Bob Brooks, a firefighter union leader, has won the backing of prominent Democrats from different wings of the party — including Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. He’s also received a significant boost on the airwaves from an outside group funded primarily by unions and The Bench, a Democratic organization that’s played a significant role in elevating its preferred candidates, as well as the House Democrats’ campaign arm which launched a late ad buy coordinated with Brooks’ campaign.
Ryan Crosswell, a former Republican prosecutor and former Justice Department official, has been the top fundraiser in the race and has the endorsement of groups like VoteVets and New Politics, as well as Alex Vindman, the retired lieutenant colonel who is running for Senate in Florida.
Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, who has the backing of a handful of labor unions and a slew of local politicians, has benefitted from a seven-figure television campaign in the race’s final weeks from a shadowy group called Lead Left PAC. That group has no real footprint, and it’s not clear who is funding it. But Punchbowl News reported earlier this month that metadata for the group’s website linked to a GOP fundraising platform, leading to speculation that the group’s advertising campaign — which seeks to cut down both Brooks and Crosswell and raise up McClure — could be an example of Republicans trying to elevate their preferred general election opponent.
Former television news anchor Janelle Stelson is the frontrunner to take on Republican Rep. Scott Perry in the Harrisburg-area 10th District.
The 7th, 8th and 10th Districts have each drawn more than $11 million in advertising dollars spent and reserved this year, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
Outside the battlegrounds
Beyond Massie’s loss in Kentucky, a handful of other safe-seat primaries will almost certainly decide who will be representing deeply Republican or Democratic seats in Congress next year.
- Georgia’s 1st District: Rep. Buddy Carter is leaving this southern Georgia seat to run for Senate, and the top Republican in this deep-red district is Jim Kingston. He’s endorsed by President Donald Trump, and his father, Jack Kingston, used to represent the district
- Georgia’s 10th District: This Athens-area district is being vacated by Rep. Mike Collins’ Senate bid, and the top candidate in the Republican primary is state Rep. Houston Gaines, who also has the president’s endorsement. Film executive Ryan Milsap is also running.
- Georgia’s 11th District: Rep. Barry Loudermilk is retiring from this red seat in the Marietta area. His chief of staff, Rob Adkerson, is running with his boss’s support, but so is Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, who has the backing of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and doctor John Cowan, who has loaned his campaign $1.5 million.
- Georgia’s 13th District: Democratic Rep. David Scott had been facing multiple primary challengers before his death in April. The top candidates in this suburban Atlanta seat include: state Rep. Jasmine Clark, former Gwinnett County Board of Education member Everton Blair, dentist Dr. Heavenly Kimes and state Sen. Emanuel Jones.
- Kentucky’s 6th District: Trump-backed former state health official Ralph Alvarado is running in a primary to replace Rep. Andy Barr, who won the GOP nomination for Senate. His opponents in the Republican-leaning district include state Rep. Ryan Dotson and pharmaceutical executive Greg Plucinski, while the crowded field of Democrats includes former federal prosecutor Zach Dembo, former state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson, former Lexington Councilman David Kloiber and Erin Petrey, who works in sustainability.
- Pennsylvania’s 3rd District: The race to replace the retiring Democratic Rep. Dwight Evans is crowded and hotly contested, with a handful of prominent Democrats all vying for the seat. The major candidates include former state party chairman Sharif Street, progressive state Rep. Chris Rabb, and former federal Department of Health and Human Services Staffer Dr. Ala Stanford.