October 17, 2024
The Inquirer Endorses Ashley Ehasz
by Hal Wright

Once again, the Philadelphia Inquirer has endorsed Ashley Ehasz for US Congress over incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick.

Ashley Ehasz is a 2010 graduate of West Point who served as a Apache helicopter pilot and commander in Iraq and Kuwait. In describing Ehasz as the unequivocal "better choice," the Inquirer cited the following:

The Inquirer had much to say about Brian Fitzpatrick's poor performance in office: "[A]s Trump bent the GOP-controlled House to his will, Fitzpatrick has come up small on major issues involving women’s rights and defending democracy."

Fitzpatrick "has been on the wrong side of history" in the past, the Inquirer said, while echoing Liz Cheney's warning that "the GOP can’t be trusted to stay in power" in 2025.

The Inquirer also took note of Fitzpatrick's near total withdrawal from public discourse in recent years. Fitzpatrick "refused to meet with The Inquirer Editorial Board, has not debated Ehasz, and has largely run a stealth campaign with limited public availability." Fitzpatrick refuses to say whether he supports Trump—he ran from a reporter who asked the question—and his disengagement makes it impossible to determine whether he would support a national abortion ban.

"A public official who can’t make their case for reelection should not be reelected," the Inquirer said.

We at Newtown Democrats are grateful to the Inquirer for putting into sharp relief the stark differences between Ashley Ehasz and Brian Fitzpatrick. It's time for new leadership in PA01.

June 14, 2024
The Right-Wing Lawmaker Behind the Moderate Image
by Hal Wright

Brian Fitzpatrick's voting record places him far to the right of his public image and most of his constituents.

It's a question Democrats have been asking for most of the eight years Brian Fitzpatrick has been in office: How do we get folks to notice what Fitzpatrick does rather than what he and his PR team say he does? On this website, we have compiled a growing list of Fitzpatrick's right-wing votes and quid-pro-quo relationships. To be clear, Fitzpatrick is not the worst of the worst. But he is certainly no friend to moderate voters seeking reproductive rights, free elections, schools safe from gun violence and bullying, better healthcare, and a fair tax code.

Several factors work to create a near perfect obfuscation around Fitzpatrick's record, starting with his brother Mike's sterling reputation and service to our community. When Brian Fitzpatrick was recruited from California to run in Mike's stead, an effort was made to confuse voters as to which Fitzpatrick was actually running. On campaign signs, Brian's first name was printed in a tiny font that could barely be seen.

Along with his congressional seat, Brian also inherited his brother's campaign team. Right away, they moved to isolate Brian from unscripted, unchoreographed interactions with the public, a habit which continues to this day. Brian Fitzpatrick's campaign and fundraising style is to meet with constituents in the context of informal meetings or private gatherings. In his newsletter and on social media, Fitzpatrick announces that these meetings took place and praises the participants, without providing any details about what was discussed. Only occasionally is there a connection between the meeting and pending legislation.

Which brings us to Fitzpatrick's legislative style: find a good-sounding bill, sign on as a co-sponsor or supporter, and hype the bill. Rarely is there any follow up as to whether the bill passed — it probably didn't — or whether it worked as Fitzpatrick claimed it would. It's all sizzle and no steak.

Fitzpatrick is a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of self-described moderate representatives from both parties with numerous problems of its own. It hasn't gotten much done. It's in turmoil after a failed attempt to pass its own bill funding the border and foreign allies. It's a product of No Labels, a group which derives its funding from hedge fund and private equity leaders, not ordinary citizens who want government to work for them. More sizzle without the steak.

The bulk of Fitzpatrick's own campaign funding comes from big-money donors and PACs, not constituents. His partners in fundraising have included Karl Rove and Kevin McCarthy, along with other right-wing figures. To whom is Fitzpatrick beholden?

For any Republican politician, a side benefit of having convinced most everyone that they are moderate includes becoming the go-to "safe" choice for liberal groups with a need to endorse members of both major parties. Thus, Fitzpatrick has benefited from endorsements by numerous groups — teachers' unions, trade unions, gun safety advocates — in spite of his Democratic challenger being demonstrably the better ally of the group.

Brian Fitzpatrick has always skirted answering important questions when the answer might belie his meticulously crafted moderate image. In those rare instances when he is cornered and asked such a question, such as whether he supports Donald Trump, Fitzpatrick runs away. No, for real. He literally runs away.

In a final ironic twist, far-right activists, who take issue with any politician not 100% aligned with MAGA in word and deed, classify Fitzpatrick as a RINO: Republican in Name Only. Their venom helps Fitzpatrick to burnish a moderate image he has not earned.

We in Newtown Democrats know it will be difficult to overcome these obstacles as we help voters see past the "purple haze" around our congressperson. We must try though; the stakes are just too high.

June 13, 2024
Fitzpatrick Joins Team MTG in Impeaching Mayorkas
by Dana Rollins

Republicans are blood-thirsty for someone to blame for an immigration problem that dates back to well before the 1930s when America went nativist and deported more than one million people of Mexican ancestry. They could have focused on why so many people are so desperate they’re willing to leave their homes and risk their lives on the perilous journey to reach the promise of America. Instead they decided to impeach a cabinet secretary who’d been on the job for less than two years. They needed a scapegoat, and Alejandro Mayorkas would do just fine.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is the one who introduced the resolution to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security for high crimes and misdemeanors (H.Res.863 118th Congress). It failed to pass on the first vote largely due to the ‘no’ votes of three Republican representatives: Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher, of Wisconsin, and Tom McClintock, of California. Don’t get the wrong idea. These are not moderate Republicans. These are the kind of Republicans who have no problem voting to protect semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity magazines. But even they couldn’t stomach this taxpayer-funded farce.

The conservative Wall Street Journal Editorial Board proclaimed: Impeaching Mayorkas Achieves Nothing. A policy dispute doesn’t qualify as a high crime and misdemeanor. Despite this, the resolution was brought to the floor a second time. It passed by a single vote. Representative Buck was quoted as saying, “You can try to put lipstick on this pig. It is still a pig.”

Where was Brian Fitzpatrick in all this? He was going-along-to-get-along, matching his vote with the likes of Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Scott Perry, and Lauren Boebert. Perhaps he felt he needed to ingratiate himself with Marjorie Taylor Greene and the rest of the extreme MAGA right. It’s a head scratcher. This hardly seems like the actions of someone who loves to tell us what an independent thinker he is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s his prerogative to join the clowns and carnival barkers who now seem to be running the House of Representatives, just don’t pretend to be anything else.

If Brian Fitzpatrick feels it’s okay to impeach someone over a policy dispute, you would hope he’d understand when he gets impeached for the same thing. After all, Fitzpatrick has voted against allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. Against extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Against expanding tax credits for renewable and clean energy efforts. Against establishing a 15 percent corporate minimum tax. Against prohibiting restrictions on access to abortion services. And against developing strategies to lower food and fuel costs. If these are Fitzpatrick’s policies, there are more than a few constituents of Pennsylvania’s 1^st District who have a legitimate dispute with that.

So, should Brian Fitzpatrick be impeached? Probably not. After all that would make us as bad as those we rail against. But the need for him to be voted out of office is indisputable.

May 21, 2024
We Condemn the NRCC Attack on Ashley Ehasz

Newtown Democrats condemns recent comments from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) about candidate for Congress Ashley Ehasz.

The smear tactics unleashed against Ms. Ehasz, implying that she might support Hamas, are nothing new in a Republican party which gave “swiftboating” its definition, and whose candidate for president attacked John McCain for being taken prisoner and called deceased veterans resting in their graves “suckers” and “losers.”

In several public statements, Ms. Ehasz has made clear her support for the right of Israel to defend itself against Hamas – a terrorist organization – while joining with the Biden administration in urging Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza. Ms. Ehasz spent years of her life as a commander and helicopter pilot in the US Army fighting terrorists. Like all combat veterans, she has put her life on the line to defend the foreign policy interests of the United States.

Only one candidate in the race to serve PA01 possesses hard-won expertise in the projection of military power abroad. For this and for many other reasons, we stand with Ashley Ehasz in her race for Congress against Brian Fitzpatrick.

October 18, 2023
Fitzpatrick Votes for Jim Jordan, Twice
by Hal Wright

PA01 Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, who calls himself a moderate and an independent, has twice voted for speaker candidate Jim Jordan. Jordan denies that Joe Biden is the legitimate POTUS, participated in January 6, ignored a congressional subpoena, and proposed defunding the FBI, Fitzpatrick's former employer.

The first vote on Tuesday sparked immediate responses in the press and on social media.

"Why does Brian Fitzpatrick lack the political courage to vote against an election-denying anti-choice extremist, while other members of the GOP are standing on the right side of justice?" asked Ashley Ehasz, who ran against Fitzpatrick in 2022 and will oppose him again in 2024.

Indivisible, a nationwide activist organization, condemned "Fitzpatrick's vote to put a disreputable and hyper-partisan lawmaker in the line of presidential succession."

Former Capitol Police officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heat attack and traumatic brain injury as a result of the insurrection, criticized Fitzpatrick and other House Republicans. "I witnessed the deadly assault on our democracy with my own eyes, which is why it absolutely disgusts me that extreme Republicans could choose an insurrectionist and election denier as their leader — someone who knew about January 6th ahead of time yet did nothing to stop it,” said Fanone.

A pro-Fitzpatrick PAC has attempted to distract from the votes for Jordan by revisiting Fitzpatrick's work to keep the government open during the recent budget crisis. But Fitzpatrick was a key player in how the House arrived at the dysfunction we are seeing today. In Kevin McCarthy's campaign to be elected speaker, Fitzpatrick lobbied vigorously on McCarthy's behalf. McCarthy rewarded Fitzpatrick for his support with help in fundraising. The laborious deal-making which landed McCarthy the speaker role after 15 votes left McCarthy vulnerable to being voted out as speaker, and that's exactly what happened.

It's unclear how Fitzpatrick intends to make the case for being moderate and independent after voting for a far-right firebrand with no ability to pass legislation and a record of attempting to disenfranchise voters, including those in his district. For now, Fitzpatrick may be less worried about support from moderates than with attacks from Mark Houck, who is challenging him from the right in the 2024 primary. Of course, a true independent interesting in getting Congress back to work would have voted for Hakeem Jeffries, and would have persuaded other self-proclaimed independents to do the same.

Bucks County needs a Congressperson who represents their interests, not those of a Republican Party beholden to Trump and the MAGA base.

June 11, 2023
Congressman Fitzpatrick: The Mouse Who Fails to Roar
By Steve Cickay

Unfortunately, as expected, our Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick has again failed to vigorously call out the outrageous criminal behavior of the former president.

When leaders fail to speak out forcefully against illegal and immoral behavior of their peers, such behavior will naturally simply continue.

Fitzpatrick has issued a mealy-mouthed statement of the “wait and see what happens” variety along with a “what-about-ism” about the recent federal indictment of our former president. This former FBI man has clearly forgotten that the rule of law concerning the handling of our nation’s most sensitive nuclear and defense secrets demands vigorous defense and outrage when violated.

But there is no surprise here. He failed to lead forcefully against Trump’s previous misdeeds (Trump University, Trump “charities,” two impeachments, sexual abuse, etc). Congressman Fitzpatrick and other Republican “moderate leaders” meekly sit again on the fence not wishing to anger the MAGA crowd whose votes they need while foolishly hoping that this convicted and indicted lawbreaker will not cross yet another line.

Open your eyes and ears voters. We do not need such timid leaders who are afraid or unwilling to speak out against such obvious wrongdoing. Congressman Fitzpatrick is sadly a mouse who is afraid to roar when our country now so urgently needs lions who can stare down the criminal character that is threatening our nation’s security and democracy today.

April 8, 2023
Ashley Ehasz Runs Again

Ashley Ehasz will once again seek to represent Bucks County in the U.S. Congress.

Ehasz was defeated by incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick in 2022. Ehasz expects that the shifting political climate here and in the United States as a whole will bring about a different outcome in 2024. Quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ehasz said, "In my heart of hearts, I believe democracy needs this seat flipped." We could not agree more.