Brian Fitzpatrick has held Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District — Bucks County, just north of Philadelphia — since 2017, taking over the seat from his brother Mike Fitzpatrick. He has never won with less than 56 percent of the vote. In 2024, he won by nearly 13 points in a district that Harris carried at the presidential level. He is, by virtually every metric, the most electorally durable Republican in a competitive district in the country.
Bucks County is one of the quintessential American suburban counties — historically Republican, college-educated, prosperous, with a significant professional class that has been moving toward Democrats at the presidential level for a decade while continuing to vote Republican for local and congressional offices. It’s the kind of place where voters have the luxury of splitting tickets because they pay attention to individual candidates rather than simply pulling the party lever.
The Problem Solvers Caucus
Fitzpatrick co-chairs the House Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group of about 50 members who commit to working across party lines on specific legislation. For most members, this is largely symbolic. For Fitzpatrick, it reflects a genuine governing philosophy. He voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill when most Republicans voted against it. He co-authored gun safety legislation after mass shootings. He has supported same-sex marriage protections and LGBTQ nondiscrimination measures. His actual voting record is the most bipartisan of any Republican in the chamber.
This is not politically costless — Fitzpatrick has faced primary challenges from the right, and his willingness to deviate from the Republican caucus creates friction. But he has calculated, correctly, that Bucks County’s electorate values independence more than it values party loyalty.
The Democratic Challenge
Democrats have tried to defeat Fitzpatrick several times and failed consistently, despite the district’s presidential-level lean. The challenge is that voters who split their tickets to vote for Fitzpatrick are doing so consciously — they know he’s a Republican and they’re voting for him anyway. Nationalizing the race and asking voters to oppose him because of Kevin McCarthy or Donald Trump hasn’t worked because Fitzpatrick’s actual record makes that argument harder.
A credible 2026 Democratic challenger will need to make a case specifically about Fitzpatrick’s consequential votes — the ones where his bipartisan reputation was decisive in delivering Republican votes for Republican priorities — rather than simply running against the national GOP brand.
What to Watch
Whether Democrats can recruit a Bucks County-specific candidate with genuine credibility — a former county commissioner, a popular local mayor, or a figure with deep community roots — rather than a national-profile Democrat who doesn’t connect with the district’s specific political culture. Fitzpatrick’s margin is durable but not impregnable in a wave environment with the right opponent.