This former U.S. Army pilot ran for a tough seat when everyone else decided not to. She will have a difficult time ejecting “moderate” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick from his seat, but the Dobbs decision breathed new life into her campaign. She needs help in raising enough from donations to contest the district. Majority Savers takes a look at Ashley Ehasz, our nominee for Pennsylvania’s 1st district.
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Ashley Ehasz for Pennsylvania-1
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Candidate Background
As per usual with challengers, it is difficult to find information about Ashley Ehasz that is not from the candidate herself. Luckily, she has put out an introduction video that lets you get to know her a little better.
Here are a few other nuggets of information that weren’t in the introduction above.
- She managed to escape the poverty and problems of her broken home. Her parents had mental health issues, not being able to put food on the table, and substance abuse. She overcame those obstacles by going into the Army.
- She used the G.I. Bill to get an education at Oxford University for her master’s degree. She got her bachelor’s degree from West Point.
- She served as a policy writer and a project coordinator for the CARES Act at the county level. She is still a consultant for the same counties that she worked for during the pandemic. It is from this service that she launched her campaign for Congress.
Signature Issues
It is difficult to say where Ehasz would stand in Congress if she is elected. Some of her issue positions are progressive, but others are moderate. I suspect she would be pragmatic and on the more moderate side of the Democratic caucus.
Defending Democracy: She explicitly singles out 1/6 as the determining factor in deciding to run. Fitzpatrick voted against the second impeachment of TFG, which broke the façade of being “moderate”. She would support campaign finance reform and the John Lewis VRA. She would also work to get money out of politics and overturn the Citizens United decision.
Abortion and Health Care: One of the main issues she is attacking Fitzpatrick on is abortion. Needless to say, she would codify Roe into law. She also saw how substance abuse ruined her parents, so her focus will be on solving the opioid crisis. She supported the Inflation Reduction Act, especially when it allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices with Big Pharma.
Celebrating Diversity: In the Army, no one gave a damn about your background so long as you were capable of doing the task at hand. Ehasz knows that diversity is a strength of America. She would broaden anti-discrimination policies for PoC and LGBTQ people. She would also work to put teeth in the ADA, which has been left to languish in recent years.
Elections History
Recent Elections —
2020 President: Joe Biden (D) 51.8%, TFG (R-inc) 47.2%
2020 House: Brian Fitzpatrick (R-inc) 56.6%, Christina Finello (D) 43.4%
2022 Race Rating: Likely Republican
2022 PVI: EVEN
This district (which used to be the 8th district) has roughly had the same boundaries for a while now. Bucks County has been the anchor for the district, and it is usually paired with either northeastern Philadelphia or parts of Montgomery County. In recent times, the area has been home to a swing seat that usually leans in favor of the Democratic Party. Both Clinton and Biden narrowly won it.
The denizens of the district may vote Democratic for President, but they have shown a clear preference for Republican members of Congress. The only time they have sent a Democratic representative to Congress was during the late GW Bush era and early Obama era, from 2006-2010. Before then, the last time Democrat represented this area was before 1992.
2010 was a red wave election, and it brought Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick back into the seat he lost in 2006. The Fitzpatrick family has held the seat ever since, and they seemingly have become entrenched in the district. Even the 2018 blue wave election couldn’t unseat current Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (the brother of Mike Fitzpatrick). That is why it is a Likely Republican race — the Fitzpatrick brothers are good at playing as “moderates” and getting a significant crossover vote.
Political Tour of the District
This district has a few regions that are blue, and a few regions that are red. It is a finely poised district located in the white middle class suburbs of Philadelphia. Unlike the other suburbs, these denizens have yet to adopt voting for Democratic candidates down the ticket. Fitzpatrick will be a tough out.
Here’s where this race will be won in the 1st district.
- Southern Bucks County: This area includes suburbs such as Levittown, Bristol, and Bensalem. While not significantly blue, this is an area that Ehasz has to do well in if she is to oust Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. Failure to reach the Biden margins would spell disaster.
- Middle Bucks County: This region (which includes part of Montgomery County) includes the areas surrounding Doylestown and Lambertville. Once again, the area is not overwhelmingly blue, but it did favor Biden over TFG. Ehasz needs to do well here as well to have a shot.
Here’s where we need to keep the margins down, or we lose.
- Northern Bucks County: The northern part of this district is red, including the northeastern corner of Montgomery County. Ehasz will definitely contest the cities out this far, but many of the townships are not as likely to support her. Maintaining the Biden margins is the key.
- Northampton and Southampton Townships: These areas are part of southern Bucks County, and they are as red as northern Bucks County. TFG got around 55% of the vote in this area, and Fitzpatrick likely got more. Ehasz has her work cut out for her in this area of the district.
Activism — Help How You Can!
While Ashley Ehasz has raised some money, it is nowhere near enough to be competitive in the pricy Philadelphia media market. Ehasz raised $206k in Quarter 2, which isn’t enough for a modern campaign. Rep. FItzpatrick, to contrast the two, raised $492k during the same time period. It is unlikely dark money will be a factor in a longshot race unless the environment gets a lot better.
Ehasz is really hurting in the cash on hand department. She only had $147k at the end of June, which isn’t enough to launch a campaign to unseat Fitzpatrick. This is especially true when Fitzpatrick has a grand total of $1.03 MILLION dollars still to spend if the race heats up. In order to compete here, Ehasz needs more donations from anyone willing to donate to her. Let’s make this a race!
DONATE TO ASHLEY EHASZ HERE
In order to make up for her shortcomings, she will need a volunteer army to canvass the area and outwork Fitzpatrick. Ways to help include text banking, phone banking, and many other ways. If you are in the Philadelphia area, this is the closest potentially competitive race to you. Know that you help governor nominee Josh Shapiro and senate candidate John Fetterman here as well! Sign up at https://secure.ngpvan.com/ykqy_0z7Oka81MyuN_GbxQ2 in order to volunteer today!
I was surprised by how many followers Ehasz has on Twitter. I’m hoping she isn’t one of those “Twitter candidates” that builds their followers list and thinks that is enough to win. She has 10.3k followers on Twitter, which is rather high for a first time candidate. It is possible that influencers promoted her, as they did with Sharmaine Daniels recently.
Here, she is holding Fitzpatrick accountable for 1/6. That and abortion are her two key issues.
Ehasz is also on Facebook at AshleyEhasz and Instagram at ashleyehasz. She has a lot less followers on Facebook, which is strong evidence for my “Twitter influencers helped her” theory.
As it stand right now, this race should go to “moderate” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. That’s why I included Ashley Ehasz in my “longshots week”. It is quite possible for us to win if she can raise more money, but until she does so it will remain difficult for her to break through the noise. She is capable of breaking through, which is why Majority Savers is spending some time highlighting her race.
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Ashley Ehasz for Pennsylvania-1
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