Gov. Josh Shapiro made his final stump for congressional candidate Bob Harvie, urging voters to ‘save the republic’

With control of Congress hanging in the balance, Gov. Josh Shapiro visited Doylestown on Saturday to make a closing argument for electing Bob Harvie, a Democratic Bucks County commissioner looking to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in one of Pennsylvania’s four nationally watched swing districts.

Shapiro, who is running for a second term while also fighting for a Democratic trifecta in Harrisburg, told about 200 supporters outside the Bucks County Democratic Committee headquarters that they have the chance to “save the republic” from President Donald Trump.

“Stand up and make sure your voice is heard — that we are against this chaos, we are against this cruelty, and we are against this corruption in our nation,” said Shapiro, who is widely rumored to be considering a presidential run in 2028.

Harvie narrowly leads Fitzpatrick, 48% to 46%, in the 1st Congressional District race, according to a recent Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll.

The lead is within the poll’s margin of error, but has given Democrats hope that they can flip Fitzpatrick’s seat despite his substantial fundraising advantage and strong name recognition.

Harvie, a former high school social studies teacher, was greeted by chants of “Let’s go, Bob.” Supporters held signs that read “Cut prices. End the war” and “GSD” – a reference to a Shapiro catchphrase, “getting stuff done” (or the profane variant Harvie referenced early in his speech).

“When you put Democrats in charge, we get s— done, and we get it done well,” Harvie said.

While Democrats have national momentum in the final days of campaigning, Harvie urged voters not to get complacent.

“Nobody is coming to save us,” he said. “We are the cavalry.”

Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent who was first elected in 2016, has earned the support of organized labor — more than is typically expected for a Republican — while seeking to distance himself from Trump.

The president has not campaigned for Fitzpatrick, but the congressman has said he would snub Trump or Vice President JD Vance if they came to the district.

“If the president or vice president were to come in, I would not rally,” Fitzpatrick said at a recent labor rally.

Trump’s approval rating is only 35% in Fitzpatrick’s district — the lowest of the state’s four competitive congressional districts held by a Republican.

On Saturday, Trump held a “TeleRally” for Stacy Garrity, the Republican state treasurer who is challenging Shapiro, and nine Republican congressional candidates.

“All have my Complete and Total Endorsement, and will never let you down,” Trump wrote on social media.

Fitzpatrick was not included on the endorsement list.

Fitzpatrick campaign spokesperson Heather Roberts said in a text message that the scope and number of endorsements he has received is unprecedented.

“Brian is Ranked the #1 Most Independent Congressman in the entire Nation, serving as the elected leader of the Bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, and his constant mission is to bring people together, build bridges, and find common ground,” Roberts wrote.

He votes with Trump and the GOP roughly 70% of the time, the least of any House Republican.

But Eugene DePasquale, the former Pennsylvania auditor general who now chairs the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, scoffed at the notion of Fitzpatrick as an independent.

“There is is no better attempt at a Halloween costume than Fitzpatrick,” DePasquale said at the Doylestown rally, questioning whether any of Fitzpatrick’s votes had actually impacted Trump’s agenda.

Deb Wiseman, a nurse from New Britain in Bucks County who attended the rally, said she is voting for Harvie because she considered Fitzpatrick a “pseudo-moderate” who toes the Republican line “when the rubber hits the road.”

“I’m just sick of it,” Wiseman said. “Everything Trump is doing is horrible. I want to see someone stop it.”

Wiseman said many of her Republican friends are voting “straight Democrat” as a result of Trump’s second-term policies.

Roberts, with Fitzpatrick’s campaign, downplayed the significance of the rally, saying the campaign knocked on 3,000 doors Saturday.

“Rallies are one thing, but the real measure of a campaign is the strength and commitment of the coalition behind it,” she wrote. “Our supporters aren’t simply showing up for appearances; they’re rolling up their sleeves, doing the hard work, and standing shoulder to shoulder because they believe in Brian’s independent message and the broad coalition he has built.”

Unlike Trump, Shapiro has deep support in the 1st Congressional District, with two-thirds of voters saying they approve of his job performance — the highest of the state’s competitive swing districts.

Shapiro said if Democrats can take the state Senate and hold the state House and governor’s mansion, they would raise the minimum wage, protect reproductive rights, and fully fund mass transit. Bucks County has become so crucial for Democrats that Shapiro made three visits to the county in October alone.

Nationally, under Trump, gas prices have surged due to the war in Iran, Shapiro said, while Pennsylvanians have lost health insurance and food assistance “to give people at the very top a tax cut.”

“I want you to think even bigger. You’ve got the opportunity to quite literally reshape what our nation looks like and the future trajectory of this country,” Shapiro said, referring to the Harvie-Fitzpatrick race.

The 1st District race has become increasingly bitter and litigious in recent months.

Over the summer, Harvie filed a defamation lawsuit against a political action committee backing Fitzpatrick over social media posts and other materials claiming that the Democrat is “under FBI investigation” because he testified, along with other local officials, before a federal grand jury in 2022 as part of an investigation into political donations and union contracts related to the Pennsbury School District.

Harvie has said he testified as a witness and has never been under criminal investigation. But Fitzpatrick has run his own digital ad claiming Harvie was “engaged in a massive political corruption scheme” and calling on him to “release the Bob Harvie FBI Files.”

Fitzpatrick refused to debate Harvie unless he released the files. Harvie said there are no files. The debate never happened.

On Thursday, Fitzpatrick filed a lawsuit seeking to disqualify Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat, from serving on the county election board due to her support for Harvie. The county solicitor said Ellis-Marseglia would not step down.

Elsewhere in the state, recent polling shows that the Democratic congressional candidates have a slight edge over the incumbents in the 7th District, which covers the Lehigh Valley and Poconos, and the 8th District, in the northeast corner of the state. Republicans just flipped both seats in 2024.

In the Harrisburg-area 10th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Scott Perry and Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson are in a dead heat in their rematch of last cycle’s race.

Thies article has been updated with a response from Fitzpatrick’s campaign.