The vulnerable House Republican trying to withstand the anger directed at his party

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GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick was weaving through the crowd of a fall street festival when he was confronted by a man enraged by the skyrocketing costs he’s experiencing.

Dave Woods, a contractor and registered Democrat, held up red signs with big white letters in Fitzpatrick’s face to show how his heating oil and diesel fuel costs have shot up in the last year. But Fitzpatrick walked away to head to his speech.

“Where’s Mr. Fitzpatrick to get in the photo shot here?” Woods told CNN after the exchange. “I’m against the party that caused this.”

Farther down the street, Ted Wassmer, a registered Republican who has supported the congressman in the past, was weighing his vote in the November election. Wassmer’s woodworking business has been hit hard by the Trump administration’s tariffs and rising inflation. A combat veteran who has never supported President Donald Trump, Wassmer called the Iran war an “absolute joke.”

“It’s a clown show in DC right now,” Wassmer said. “I may vote against Republicans having dominance of the Congress, that may be my decision to get the administration in check. And I’m not very happy with Democrats either. I kind of think the left and the right are running rampant right now, so I have to kind of really look at it.”

Fitzpatrick is one of the only Republicans in Congress fighting for reelection in a district Kamala Harris won in 2024 — and Democrats see this as their best chance in a decade to win the seat.

Following the congressman on a recent day of campaigning offered an inside look at how the vulnerable Republican is trying to hold onto his battleground district in the suburbs of Philadelphia despite a toxic political environment for his party. Woods was not the only frustrated voter to come up to the congressman with complaints. But Fitzpatrick believes he can keep his seat by distancing himself from his own party and attempting to find common ground.

“If they’re angry at Pete Hegseth, take it out on Pete Hegseth. If they’re angry at Donald Trump or Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, take it out on them at the ballot box, but don’t take it out on people that are not them that have never espoused their views,” Fitzpatrick told CNN in a wide-ranging interview.

Describing himself as politically homeless in the two-party system, Fitzpatrick says he would register as an independent if Pennsylvania opens its primaries to independent voters and lowers the threshold for independent candidates to get on the ballot.

“I’m a registered Republican from when I was 18, but I did that because of Ronald Reagan. That party no longer exists,” Fitzpatrick said.

But Democrats plan to use his party affiliation against him . Nationally, Democrats have become increasingly confident they will win the House, hoping that voter concerns over the status quo will lead to losses for Republicans. A new CNN poll found Trump’s approval rating stands at a record low, and voters express broad dissatisfaction with the economy and the state of the country nearly two years into unified GOP control of the federal government.

Fitzpatrick’s Democratic challenger, Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, hopes to tap into voter frustration and reluctance to support the Republican ticket to flip the district and bring his party one step closer to reclaiming the House majority.

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“He’s changed. He’s not the same guy he was when we sent him there. You know, he’s a guy that was supposed to fight against corruption as a former FBI agent, and this is the most corrupt administration in American history. And he’s not doing anything about it,” Harvie told CNN. “He hasn’t stood up for the people here, and plus we’ve got the mood of this country and the pain that people are feeling is different than anything that’s happened before.”

Fitzpatrick has withstood national headwinds before, including the blue wave of 2018 when Democrats flipped the House. Democrats believe, however, that his attempts to distance himself from his party now might not be enough to overcome the palpable anger of many of his constituents, and are investing millions in this race for the first time in six years as a result. Democrats have spent over $10 million in advertisements since September, according to AdImpact. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has also invested heavily in the race and has appeared with Harvie on the campaign trail.

Democrats knew going into the final stretch that Bucks County voters have a history of making their decisions late in the game, which is in part why national Democratic groups started ramping up their spending in the district in the final weeks, according to a Democratic strategist working on House races.

To defend against the influx of Democratic cash, the Republican fundraising apparatus has parachuted in, including $100,000 from super PAC MAGA Inc., according to Federal Election Commission filings, and $4.9 million from the Republican outside campaign arm earlier this month for advertisements. In a sign of how difficult the race has become, Fitzpatrick spent $5 million of his own war chest between July and September.

“They take their shots when the climate is such that they think that, you know, that it’s a wise investment for them,” Fitzpatrick said of Democrats. “So, they think.”

The two candidates have not faced off directly to debate, even though both have made offers. Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent, has claimed Harvie has been the subject of an FBI investigation, while Harvie says he never was and argues Fitzpatrick is trying to recycle old claims.

But all of the mudslinging on television and posturing online hasn’t necessarily translated to real life. On Saturday, when the two candidates had a chance encounter as they both waited to speak at an event in Bristol, they ignored each other.

Four swing districts in Pennsylvania could be key to winning control of the House in November.

On paper, Fitzpatrick’s seat should be the easiest for Democrats to flip given his left-leaning district, but the congressman’s voting record and endorsement list make it difficult for Democrats to easily put him in a box, and Democrats privately concede this is their hardest race in the state, according to multiple Democratic operatives and sources.

Fitzpatrick was one of two House Republicans to vote against Trump’s signature package of tax and federal spending cuts in July, dubbed the “big beautiful bill,” even though he was a decisive vote for an earlier version of the legislation that passed the House in May. He has voted to rein in Trump’s war with Iran, but only after it passed the 60-day clock on the use of military force without congressional authorization.

He recently signed on to a new effort to force a vote on releasing more of the Jeffrey Epstein files. He did not back an initial effort to force a vote to compel the Justice Department to release millions of pages of files, but he did vote in favor of that earlier Epstein files push when it came to the floor. And on multiple occasions, he has helped Democrats bring their legislation to the floor. Fitzpatrick has signed on to more discharge petitions — a maneuver to circumvent House GOP leadership to bring bills to the floor — than any other Republican this Congress.

He was early to sound the alarm that Republicans did not have a plan to address the affordability crisis, and he worked with Democrats in the House to try to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired at the end of 2025. He is a fierce advocate for Ukraine and vowed to end Trump’s unpopular $1.8 billion compensation fund that critics said would be used to pay out the president’s allies. He’s the only Republican running for federal office to receive an endorsement from the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the country. In 2024, Fitzpatrick voted for former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley for president, snubbing Trump.

Former Sen. Joe Manchin, who dropped his Democratic party affiliation to become an independent, told CNN that he endorsed Fitzpatrick because of their strong working relationship in Congress.

“I don’t look at the party, I look at the person, and I got to be honest with you, Brian is just the right person to be serving. I don’t even know the other gentleman. I’m sure he’s an upstanding person. I never go out and campaign against anybody. I just know when you’ve got a good one, you ought to keep him,” Manchin told CNN. “The Democrats will be able to work with Brian as well as they will anybody else if it’s good for our country.”

Harvie has looked to poke holes in Fitzpatrick’s voting record and argued that his votes against his party either are inconsistent or don’t change the outcome. He has questioned why Fitzpatrick is receiving money from the Republican Party if he claims to be an independent voice. And while Fitzpatrick meets with various groups throughout the district, Harvie has questioned why the congressman hasn’t held a formal town hall in years.

“I don’t really know the last time he’s cast a vote that matters against the president,” Harvie argued. “The president and (House Majority Leader) Mike Johnson have been putting millions of dollars into his campaign to boost him up because they’re afraid he’s going to lose. So, if he’s really that independent, why doesn’t he give that money back?”

Both candidates have their work cut out for them in the final two weeks before Election Day. Even with the onslaught of ads and campaign events, there are still voters in the district who say they haven’t made up their minds.

But some of Fitzpatrick’s supporters are having a particularly hard time given their broader frustrations with Trump and the Republican Party.

Retired Air Force member Nathaniel Gagum is a registered Republican who has voted for Fitzpatrick in the past but says he has been horrified by some of the administration’s military actions and its treatment of veterans. Gagum, who referred to Trump as a “draft dodger,” is furious that Trump fired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown . He says the Iran war should never have happened, and he could not believe Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined plans for a public livestream of a firing squad execution. (Trump later called off the plan for the livestream after public outcry.)

“I’m upset,” Gagum, who said he is still undecided, told CNN. Referring to Fitzpatrick, he said , “I’m questioning a lot because of some of the things I see in Congress and how you vote with Congress, and how you side with Trump, and you side with things that goes against our interests, my interests, my veterans.”

Becky Berg, a nurse and a registered Libertarian, has voted for Fitzpatrick in previous elections. But she told CNN her costs have gotten more expensive in the last two years, and she is worried about the rights of her LGBTQ+ friends and family who she says have been targeted by some of the Trump administration’s policies.

“Honestly, I’m just thinking about getting Republicans out of office for the most part. I will, before I vote, I will look into the candidates and try and be as informed as I can be. But I am not a fan of Trump and a lot of the policies he has been pushing. So, I’m kind of just looking at changing the current regime,” Berg told CNN.

In a potential warning sign for Democrats hoping for staying power beyond a potential wave this cycle, a number of Pennsylvania voters who said they were going to support Harvie said their support was more reactionary to the current environment than about Harvie himself.

“I think the biggest thing is it’s less about pro-Bob Harvie and more anti-Fitzpatrick. I just don’t think that he does everything that he’s claimed that he’s wanted to do, and I think it’s time for somebody else to be given a shot,” Julia Corrado, a social media manager, told CNN of her intended vote for Harvie.

If Fitzpatrick is able to overcome the environment, it will be because of voters like Joe, a 70-year-old retired EPA worker, who went up to Fitzpatrick on Saturday to shake his hand and share that he can separate his frustration with Trump (whom he called a “slime ball”) from the congressman.

“I’m a realist. I look at each individual,” he said.

Some Pennsylvanians have felt so let down by their leaders that they have given up on the electoral process and plan either not to vote or to write in their own candidate.

Jason Green, a restaurant owner of 20 years, sat in his empty cheesesteak shop in Langhorne during what should have been the middle of a weekend dinnertime rush.

“It’s at the point where it’s almost not worth being in business,” Green said.

Green, a registered independent, voted for Trump in 2024 after initially supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He told CNN he challenged both Fitzpatrick and Harvie to donate the money they were raising for their campaigns to the local community, but said both declined. He plans to write in a different name on the ballot as a result.

“I’ve checked out,” Green said. “They’re both idiots in my eyes. Simple as that. I’m done.”

About an hour away on the opposite side of the district, John Barchard, 43, was resolved in his decision to not participate in the midterm election.

Barchard, who works in marketing, has never been registered with either party and has voted for both Democrats and Republicans. He voted for Harris in 2024; in 2020, he supported former Joe Biden; and he’s supported Fitzpatrick in the past. But now, his frustration with both parties has reached a boiling point because he says neither has done enough to address the needs of the working class. He views Republicans as having capitulated to Trump and criticizes Democrats for not fighting hard enough.

“It’s not a ‘what’s the point?’ It’s, ‘I don’t want blood on my hands anymore’ because every time we vote one way, it doesn’t balance out the other, in my opinion. And there needs to be more options,” Barchard told CNN. “The system is not working for anybody.”

But somehow, Barchard says he still has hope.

“For some dumb reason, as a millennial, I still love this country and I still think it works. I think the experiment is great and it’s taken a wrong turn,” he said.

Tierney L. Cross/彭博社/盖蒂图片社

共和党众议员布莱恩·菲茨帕特里克正在秋季街头节庆活动的人群中穿行时，遇到了一位因生活成本飙升而愤怒不已的男子。

戴夫·伍兹是一名承包商，也是一名注册民主党人。他举着红色标语牌，上面用白色大字写着，对着菲茨帕特里克的脸，展示他家的取暖油和柴油费用在过去一年里是如何飙升的。但菲茨帕特里克却径直走开，去参加他的演讲。

“菲茨帕特里克先生怎么没出现在这张照片里？”伍兹在争执后告诉CNN，“我反对引发这场争执的政党。”

街的另一头，注册共和党人泰德·瓦斯默（Ted Wassmer）正在权衡11月大选的投票意向。瓦斯默过去曾支持过这位国会议员。他的木工生意受到了特朗普政府关税和通货膨胀的沉重打击。作为一名从未支持过特朗普总统的退伍老兵，瓦斯默称伊朗战争“简直是个笑话”。

“华盛顿现在简直就是一场闹剧，”瓦斯默说。“我可能会投票反对共和党掌控国会，这可能是我为了制衡政府而做出的决定。我对民主党也不是很满意。我觉得现在左右两派都太嚣张了，所以我必须认真考虑一下。”

菲茨帕特里克是国会中为数不多的在卡马拉·哈里斯于 2024 年赢得的选区竞选连任的共和党人之一——民主党人认为这是他们十年来赢得该席位的最佳机会。

最近一天跟随这位国会议员进行竞选活动，让我们得以深入了解这位处境艰难的共和党人如何在费城郊区这个对共和党而言充满敌意的政治环境中，努力保住自己的席位。伍兹并非唯一一位向这位国会议员抱怨的选民。但菲茨帕特里克相信，只要他与本党保持距离，并努力寻求共识，就能保住自己的席位。

“如果他们对皮特·赫格塞斯感到愤怒，那就对皮特·赫格塞斯发泄。如果他们对唐纳德·特朗普、乔·拜登或卡马拉·哈里斯感到愤怒，那就通过投票来表达对他们的不满，但不要把怒气发泄到那些与他们观点不同的人身上，那些从未表达过他们观点的人身上，”菲茨帕特里克在接受CNN的广泛采访时说道。

菲茨帕特里克自称在两党制下政治上无家可归，他说，如果宾夕法尼亚州向独立选民开放初选，并降低独立候选人进入选票的门槛，他将登记为独立候选人。

“我从18岁起就注册成为共和党人，但这都是因为罗纳德·里根。那个党现在已经不存在了，”菲茨帕特里克说。

但民主党人计划利用他的党派背景来攻击他。在全国范围内，民主党人越来越有信心赢得众议院的控制权，他们希望选民对现状的不满会导致共和党人失利。CNN最新民调显示，特朗普的支持率跌至历史新低，选民普遍对经济和国家现状感到不满，而此时共和党已经全面掌控联邦政府近两年了。

菲茨帕特里克的民主党挑战者，巴克斯县专员鲍勃·哈维，希望利用选民的沮丧情绪和不愿支持共和党候选人的心理，赢得该选区，并使他的政党离重新夺回众议院多数席位更近一步。

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“他变了。他不再是我们派他来时的那个人了。你知道，他曾是联邦调查局特工，本应打击腐败，而这届政府是美国历史上最腐败的政府。但他却什么都没做，”哈维告诉CNN。“他没有为这里的人民挺身而出，而且现在这个国家的氛围和人们感受到的痛苦与以往任何时候都不同。”

菲茨帕特里克此前曾多次顶住全国范围内的逆风，包括2018年民主党赢得众议院控制权的“蓝色浪潮”。然而，民主党人认为，他现在试图与本党保持距离的努力可能不足以平息许多选民的强烈不满，因此，他们六​​年来首次在这场竞选中投入数百万美元。据AdImpact统计，自去年9月以来，民主党已在广告上花费超过1000万美元。民主党籍州长乔什·夏皮罗也对这场竞选投入巨资，并与哈维一同出现在竞选活动中。

据一位参与众议院竞选的民主党策略师称，民主党人在竞选的最后阶段就知道，巴克斯县的选民历来喜欢在选举后期才做出决定，这在一定程度上也是为什么全国民主党团体在最后几周开始加大在该选区的投入。

为了抵御民主党资金的涌入，共和党的筹款机器也紧急出动，其中包括超级政治行动委员会“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA Inc.）提供的10万美元（据联邦选举委员会文件显示），以及本月初共和党外部竞选机构提供的490万美元广告费。这场选战的激烈程度可见一斑，菲茨帕特里克在7月至9月间动用了500万美元的个人竞选资金。

“他们会在他们认为有利可图的时候出手攻击，”菲茨帕特里克谈到民主党人时说。“他们是这么想的。”

尽管两位候选人都已发出辩论邀请，但至今尚未进行直接辩论。前联邦调查局特工菲茨帕特里克声称哈维曾是联邦调查局调查的对象，而哈维则否认此事，并指责菲茨帕特里克是在老调重弹。

但电视上的互相攻击和网络上的作秀并不一定能转化为现实生活中的互动。周六，两位候选人在布里斯托尔的一个活动上偶遇，当时他们都在等待发言，但他们却互相无视。

宾夕法尼亚州的四个摇摆选区可能对11月赢得众议院控制权至关重要。

从表面上看，鉴于菲茨帕特里克所在的选区偏左，他的席位应该是民主党最容易翻盘的，但这位国会议员的投票记录和支持者名单让民主党很难轻易给他下定义，而且据多位民主党人士和消息人士透露，民主党私下承认这是他们在该州面临的最艰难的竞选。

菲茨帕特里克是7月份投票反对特朗普标志性减税和联邦支出削减方案（被称为“宏伟法案”）的两名众议院共和党议员之一，尽管他曾在5月份众议院通过的早期版本法案中投下决定性的一票。他曾投票支持限制特朗普对伊朗的战争，但那是在未经国会授权使用武力的60天期限过后。

他最近加入了一项新的行动，旨在推动就公开更多杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的文件进行投票。他最初并未支持一项旨在强制司法部公开数百万页文件的投票，但在之前那项关于爱泼斯坦文件的提案提交众议院表决时，他投了赞成票。此外，他还多次帮助民主党人将相关法案提交众议院表决。菲茨帕特里克签署的“解除限制请愿书”（一种绕过众议院共和党领导层将法案提交众议院表决的策略）数量超过了本届国会任何其他共和党议员。

他很早就发出警告，共和党人没有解决医疗费用危机的方案，并与众议院的民主党人合作，试图延长将于2025年底到期的《平价医疗法案》强化补贴。他是乌克兰的坚定支持者，并誓言要终止特朗普备受诟病的18亿美元补偿基金，批评人士称该基金将被用来支付总统盟友的补偿。他是唯一一位获得美国劳工联合会-产业工会联合会（AFL-CIO，美国最大的工会联合会）背书的共和党联邦公职候选人。2024年，菲茨帕特里克投票支持前联合国大使妮基·黑莉竞选总统，冷落了特朗普。

前参议员乔·曼钦（Joe Manchin）放弃了民主党党籍，成为独立人士。他告诉 CNN，他支持菲茨帕特里克（Fitzpatrick），因为他们在国会有着良好的工作关系。

“我不看党派，我只看人。说实话，布莱恩正是担任这一职务的合适人选。我甚至都不认识另一位先生。我相信他也是位正直的人。我从不公开反对任何人。我只是觉得，如果遇到好人，就应该留住他，”曼钦告诉CNN。“如果对国家有利，民主党人会像对待其他人一样与布莱恩合作。”

哈维一直试图找出菲茨帕特里克投票记录中的漏洞，并指出他反对本党的投票要么前后矛盾，要么根本无法改变选举结果。哈维质疑，如果菲茨帕特里克自称是独立人士，为何还要接受共和党的资金。此外，尽管菲茨帕特里克经常与选区内的各个团体会面，哈维还是质疑这位国会议员为何多年来都没有举行过正式的市政厅会议。

“我真不知道他上一次投反对票是什么时候了，”哈维辩解道。“总统和（众议院多数党领袖）迈克·约翰逊已经向他的竞选活动投入了数百万美元来支持他，因为他们害怕他会输。所以，如果他真的那么独立，为什么不把这些钱还回去呢？”

距离选举日还有两周，两位候选人都面临着艰巨的任务。尽管广告铺天盖地，竞选活动不断，但该选区仍有一些选民表示尚未决定投票意向。

但鉴于菲茨帕特里克的一些支持者对特朗普和共和党普遍感到失望，他们的处境尤其艰难。

退役空军成员纳撒尼尔·加古姆是一名注册共和党人，他过去曾投票支持菲茨帕特里克，但他表示，他对本届政府的一些军事行动及其对待退伍军人的方式感到震惊。加古姆称特朗普为“逃兵”，并对特朗普解雇参谋长联席会议主席C·Q·布朗将军感到愤怒。他认为伊朗战争根本就不应该发生，并且他无法相信国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯竟然计划公开直播枪决。（在公众强烈抗议后，特朗普取消了直播计划。）

“我很失望，”加古姆告诉CNN，他表示自己尚未决定。在谈到菲茨帕特里克时，他说：“我有很多疑问，因为我在国会看到的一些事情，以及你如何与国会一起投票，如何站在特朗普一边，如何支持那些损害我们利益、损害我的利益、损害我的退伍军人利益的事情。”

贝基·伯格是一名护士，也是一名注册的自由意志党党员，她曾在之前的选举中投票支持菲茨帕特里克。但她告诉CNN，过去两年她的医疗费用越来越高，她担心她的LGBTQ+朋友和家人的权益，她说这些人受到了特朗普政府某些政策的针对。

“说实话，我主要就是想让共和党人下台。投票前，我会了解候选人，尽可能多地掌握信息。但我并不喜欢特朗普以及他推行的很多政策。所以，我只是想换掉现在的政权，”伯格告诉CNN。

对于希望在本轮选举周期中保持政治影响力的民主党人来说，一个潜在的警告信号是，一些表示将支持哈维的宾夕法尼亚州选民表示，他们的支持更多是对当前环境的反应，而不是对哈维本人的支持。

“我认为最关键的不是支持鲍勃·哈维，而是反对菲茨帕特里克。我只是觉得他并没有做到他声称想做的一切，我认为是时候给其他人一个机会了。”社交媒体经理朱莉娅·科拉多在接受CNN采访时谈到她打算投票给哈维的原因时说道。

如果菲茨帕特里克能够克服环境方面的困难，那将是因为像乔这样的选民。乔是一位70岁的退休环保署工作人员，他周六走到菲茨帕特里克面前与他握手，并表示他可以将自己对特朗普（他称之为“卑鄙小人”）的不满与这位国会议员分开来看。

“我是个现实主义者。我会具体问题具体分析，”他说。

一些宾夕法尼亚州居民对他们的领导人感到非常失望，以至于他们放弃了选举进程，计划要么不投票，要么填写自己支持的候选人。

拥有 20 年餐饮经验的杰森·格林 (Jason Green) 坐在他位于兰霍恩 (Langhorne) 的空荡荡的芝士牛排店里，而此时本应是周末晚餐高峰期。

格林说：“现在的情况是，做生意几乎已经没有意义了。”

格林是一名注册独立选民，他最初支持小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪，但在2024年投票给了特朗普。他告诉CNN，他曾要求菲茨帕特里克和哈维将他们为竞选筹集的资金捐给当地社区，但两人都拒绝了。因此，他计划在选票上填写另一个名字。

“我已经放弃了，”格林说。“在我看来，他们俩都是白痴。就这么简单。我受够了。”

大约一个小时车程之外，在选区的另一边，43岁的约翰·巴查德已经下定决心不参加中期选举。

巴查德从事市场营销工作，从未注册加入任何政党，也曾投票给民主党和共和党候选人。2024年，他投票给了哈里斯；2020年，他支持了前总统乔·拜登；过去他也曾支持过菲茨帕特里克。但现在，他对两党都感到极度失望，因为他认为两党都没有为解决工薪阶层的需求做出足够的努力。他认为共和党已经向特朗普屈服，并批评民主党没有尽力争取。

“这不是‘这有什么意义？’的问题，而是‘我不想再手上沾满鲜血’的问题，因为在我看来，每次我们投出一种票，都无法抵消另一种票的影响。我们需要更多选择，”巴查德告诉CNN。“这个制度对任何人都没有好处。”

但巴查德说，不知为何，他仍然抱有希望。

“不知为何，作为一个千禧一代，我仍然热爱这个国家，仍然认为它运转良好。我认为这个实验很棒，只是走错了方向，”他说。