Scott Perry

By Sam Janesch, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)

PHILADELPHIA — A major national Democratic super PAC said Thursday it will spend $20 million on ads across four Pennsylvania congressional districts that could help determine whether the party wins control of the U.S. House later this year.

The House Majority PAC’s investment — about $6 million more than the political action committee poured into Pennsylvania races in the Republican-dominated 2024 election — could become a significant boost for Democratic candidates facing well-funded Republican incumbents.

An equivalent GOP organization also said Thursday it plans to spend heavily in the same areas, with $13.5 million worth of anticipated ads to defend its recent gains in Pennsylvania.

The Democratic PAC’s announcement is one of the first signs that the national party intends to commit resources to unseating five-term U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, the last Republican representing a Philadelphia-area district.

Democrats have long had their eye on winning the Bucks County-based district, though many political observers say the Republican has a better chance of holding onto it compared with the GOP incumbents in the other three competitive districts in Pennsylvania.

For the first time since 2020, the PAC is backing efforts to unseat Fitzpatrick, part of an almost $12.9 million ad buy in the Philadelphia media market.

That media market extends to the Lehigh Valley, where the money will also go toward opposing first-term U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R., Lehigh), widely considered the most vulnerable incumbent in Congress this election.

In Harrisburg, the PAC has committed to spend almost $3.5 million against U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R., York).

In the Wilkes-Barre market, where another freshman, U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr. (R., Lackawanna), is trying to hold onto his seat, the PAC is pushing roughly $3.7 million.

The PAC is aligned with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.), who is poised to become the first Black speaker if Democrats take the House this fall.

The spending in Pennsylvania is planned for the fall and is part of a larger commitment from the PAC to spend $272 million to help Democratic House candidates across the country. Democrats need a net gain of only three seats to win the majority for the second half of President Donald Trump’s term.

Mike Smith, the PAC’s president, said in a statement that the financial commitments show that Democrats are “on offense heading into November.”

“While Democrats are expanding the map nationwide, House Republicans are losing ground after failing to lower costs, making health care more expensive, and dragging us into another costly and unpopular foreign war,” Smith said. “Democrats will take back the House in November, and elect Hakeem Jeffries as the next Speaker.”

Republicans’ PAC

The committee’s GOP counterpart, the Congressional Leadership Fund, is aligned with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and said it plans to spend $153.1 million on television and digital ads. The $7.6 million planned for the Philadelphia media market and roughly $3 million each for the Harrisburg and Wilkes-Barre markets are also all more than the PAC’s initial investments in 2024.

Chris Winkelman, president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, said in a statement that the group is “committed to defending our own while aggressively supporting” new candidates.

“This initial reserve reflects the reality that this cycle, again, will be fought on a narrow map,” Winkelman said. “Republicans hold the terrain, and it’s a tall order for Democrats to break through our strong, battle-tested incumbents.”

Candidates’ fundraising

The announcements came after new campaign finance filings last week revealed Democratic challengers in two competitive districts have built up war chests that rival the incumbents’.

Janelle Stelson, a former local television anchor whom Perry narrowly defeated two years ago, raised almost $2.2 million in recent months. That was nearly twice as much as Perry, and it left Stelson with $3.2 million in her campaign, compared with the Republican’s $2.3 million. Stelson has a primary challenger, Democratic Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas.

Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, running against Bresnahan in a district that covers the northeastern corner of the state, also outraised the GOP incumbent in the last quarter — almost $1.5 million to his $1.2 million — while closing in on his total balance of $2.2 million.

Mackenzie, the Lehigh Valley Republican who defeated a three-term incumbent Democrat in 2024, is set to enter the general election campaign with a hefty financial advantage.