House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Gov. Shapiro seek to boost Democratic candidate Bob Harvie in Bucks County

The stakes were clear for Democrats at a campaign rally in Lower Makefield Saturday, where Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged Bucks County party faithful to get voters to the polls for U.S. House candidate Bob Harvie in a heated race.

With Democrats leaning into positive polling momentum for House districts nationally, including seats once thought to be out of reach, the event inside Charles Boehm Middle School’s gym was part of a national plan to energize key swing-district voters. More than 150 people were urged on by Shapiro, Jeffries, and others.

“We can pretty much win back the House in this state,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries’ visit to Pennsylvania was a key stop on what he said will be a personal 15- to 20-state voter push this month. He is positioned to become speaker of the House of Representatives if the Democrats take control of the majority.

“The commonwealth is a big swing state, and Bucks County is a big swing county,” he said.

Shapiro said he knew some residents were at the rally because of “cruel” healthcare cuts they want overturned.

“One of the reasons I’m here is because I know if Hakeem Jeffries is the speaker, they’ll fight to reverse those cuts and look out for our neighbors,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro was making his second consecutive weekend trip to Bucks, following a broader countywide rally in Middletown Township last Saturday that also included a push for Harvie.

Michelle Rumford, 57, a teacher from Levittown, came out with her mother, in part, to hear Harvie’s plans about costs. “Gas prices. Grocery prices. All prices have gone up,” she said.

Harvie, 54, a current Bucks County commissioner, lifelong resident, and former high school social studies teacher, is running for the Bucks County-based 1^st Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, 52, a popular Republican who won the district in 2024 by nearly 13 points. Still, Fitzpatrick is an outlier as the sole Republican representative currently in Philadelphia’s suburbs.

The race is one of at least four Pa. districts that Democrats are trying to seize from Republicans, who must defend their national House majority against a largely unpopular war with Iran, higher consumer prices, and rising interest rates.

Harvie asked the crowd if their lives were better since Fitzpatrick got elected, “and when Donald Trump came down his gold escalator.“

“It’s not a coincidence those two have been in office for the same time and had the impact that they’ve had on this country.”

The Trump label is not as easy to pin on Fitzpatrick as other House Republicans. An Inquirer analysis found that since 2025, Fitzpatrick has at times shown a willingness to break from his party. While he voted with the Trump administration on 70% of bills, that was the lowest rate of any Republican member.

Chris Gregory, 64, a Newtown resident, said he wants the Democrats to take back Congress to return to “functional normalcy.”

”Move things toward the center rather than extremism. Away from things like tearing down the White House," he said.

Politics wasn’t the only thing on rallygoers’ minds. There was a moment of silence for the overnight two on-duty Philadelphia police officers who were shot overnight, one fatally, and the nine victims left dead by a mass shooting in Erie, Pa.

“Today’s been a dark day across this commonwealth,” Shapiro told the crowd before turning his speech toward the election task at hand.

Though Fitzpatrick’s polling lead in the race has held up, the nonpartisan Cook Political Group on Friday changed its rating for this race to “lean” Republican, down from “likely” Republican.

Working in the Democrats’ favor is the role that pocketbook issues could play.

Bucks residents spend more time in their cars commuting to work than the state average and are well aware of higher gas prices. Before the U.S. attack on Iran, gas in the city and suburbs averaged $3.02 a gallon. That’s risen to $4.39 in Bucks, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Affordability was the theme of the afternoon, whether it was the prices of gasoline, diesel fuel, or ground beef.

“We’re fighting for an affordable America,” Jeffries said.