Bucks County is ready to be the center of the political universe (again)

In the mid-20th century, NASA astronauts like John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin trained for the groundbreaking Mercury and Apollo missions at a Bucks County naval air development hub’s centrifuge, which spun at 173 miles per hour, mimicking space’s swirling gravitational forces.

Decades later, a boisterous crowd of Democrats gathered at that same site — the piece of space history now retrofitted into a sprawling event hall called The Fuge — embarking on their own ambitious mission: flipping the U.S. House and the Pennsylvania State Senate in the fall.

Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis chose to kick-off the party’s campaign for November’s general election with an event at the Warminster venue, located in one of the most purple counties in Pennsylvania.

And it was not lost on the Democrats in attendance, waving mini American and Pennsylvania flags and sipping drinks Tuesday night, that Bucks will be the center of the political universe for the next six months.

“The dream of going to the moon happened in this building. The dream of winning the space race happened in this building. Once again, America needs this county and this commonwealth. Once again, they need us to stand up for them,” said Democratic Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, who will be challenging longtime GOP incumbent U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the fall.

Harvie’s quest to unseat Fitzpatrick in the 1st Congressional District will be the top race in Bucks County and one of four marquee contests in Pennsylvania this fall as both parties fight for control of the U.S. House.

There are also three competitive races in Bucks that could help determine the majority in the state Senate, which has been under GOP control for more than three decades.

“The path to flipping the Senate runs right through Bucks County,” said Clerk of Courts Eileen Hartnett Albillar, a social worker and Democratic challenger to incumbent GOP State Sen. Frank Farry in the 6th Senate District.

Democrats expect Shapiro’s campaigning ahead of November, when he will be at the top of the ballot, paired with President Donald Trump’s sinking approval ratings, to help usher in massive wins for Democrats.

Shapiro’s potential presidential prospects in 2028 could hinge on whether he’s able to elevate the rest of the Democratic ticket in places like Bucks, one of the most crucial swing counties in Pennsylvania.

The county’s voters are not routinely loyal to one party or another and are willing to split their tickets between candidates like Shapiro and Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican who strays from Trump at times on various issues, including the war in Iran or ICE‘s enforcement tactics.

“It’s one of the swingiest of the swing counties” and signifies where Democrats are planning to pour resources in the coming months, Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Eugene DePasquale told reporters Tuesday night.

In 2024, Bucks helped Trump secure a victory in Pennsylvania and the presidency when he was the first Republican presidential candidate to win the county since 1988.

Trump, too, was quick to turn his eyes to Bucks County Wednesday morning, going after Fitzpatrick for not always voting in alignment with the president’s agenda.

It remains to be seen what impact Trump’s apparent hostility toward Fitzpatrick, who has maintained a loyal voter base in Bucks County by touting himself as an independent legislator, will have in November.

“He’s not a MAGA Republican, he doesn’t worship at the altar of Donald Trump,” said Christopher Nicholas, a GOP consultant who grew up in Bucks County.

Still, Harvie, the first countywide public official to challenge Fitzpatrick, has routinely tied the two Republicans together, including in his speech Tuesday when he accused Fitzpatrick of helping Trump’s agenda.

Harvie and other Democratic candidates are also expected to emphasize affordability-focused messaging as gas prices and other costs continue to rise across the country.

Democrats Tuesday were optimistic that 2026 will prompt a “blue tsunami,” as State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, the county party chair, called it.

Fred Marshall, 70, an author and Newtown resident, said this year reminds him of when former Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, the last Democrat to represent Bucks County, was running for Congress during a blue wave in the 2006 midterms amid backlash to the Iraq War.

“I felt like we were at that same tipping point where your actions can have a huge, oversized impact,” Marshall said.