One might think that there’s no possible way a progressive could hold down a seat that Donald Trump won twice. Yet that’s the case in Pennsylvania’s 8th district, where six-term incumbent Rep. Matt Cartwright finds himself located on precarious political turf. Cartwright has been a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus since joining Congress, and he is right at the median (slightly to the right of it) when measuring ideology in the Democratic caucus. He’s the real deal!
Cartwright is a political survivor because of the following fact: he is on the House Appropriations Committee.
A senior member of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, Rep. Cartwright serves as the Ranking Member of the Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee and the second-highest Democrat on the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee. This presents an excellent opportunity for him to bring every penny of his district’s fair share of federal tax dollars to Northeastern Pennsylvania. He was ranked No. 1 in Pennsylvania two years in a row and in 2022 he was No. 10 out of 435 congressional districts in the country for securing federal project dollars for his district.
Appropriators very rarely lose, mainly because they bring home the bacon in terms of federal money for projects in the district. Yet Cartwright is being challenged by a much younger face who has substantial ties to the community as well. Rob Bresnahan, Jr. may be the toughest challenger for Cartwright yet. The question is, can Rep. Matt Cartwright hold this district for the Democratic Party?
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Matt Cartwright for Pennsylvania-8
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What’s the Big Idea?
THIS DISTRICT IS A TOSSUP, with an R+4 PVI
This district has a complicated electoral history, starting with the fact that it is a Rust Belt blue-collar district. This is the type of district that is currently trending away from Democrats, and thus counts as probably one of the most vulnerable districts we can realistically defend. Rep. Paul Kanjorski held the district for nearly 30 years, mainly on the strength of the Democratic presidential margins being so strong in the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton area.
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2010 changed the calculus of the district, as extreme xenophobe and bigot Rep. Lou Barletta upset Kanjorski in a district Obama easily carried. Map makers wanted to draw out an incumbent Blue Dog in Rep. Tim Holden by giving him a very safe and blue district after 2010 redistricting. The plan worked, and Rep. Matt Cartwright won the primary election in 2012 to represent this area in Congress.
The blue vote sink was ground zero for a rapid shift to the right in Pennsylvania in 2016. Trump won what was then the 17th district, and Rep. Cartwright had the first of many close races in his career. 2018 brought a change in number to the 8th district, and also a much more marginal district for Cartwright to defend. He has been able to do so in spite of Trump winning the district again in 2020 by a 50.9% to 48.0% margin. However, it is important to note that Cartwright’s winning margin keeps dropping with each contest. He only won 51.2% to 48.8% in 2022 over credible opposition. With Trump again likely to win this district, Cartwright has his work cut out for him.
Here’s where this race will be won in the 8th district.
- Scranton: This is the Democratic anchor of the entire district, and it is where Joe Biden grew up. The city has remained blue in spite of the trend of the rest of the district, and it is vitally important that Cartwright scrounge up every possible vote from this still-blue city to win.
- Wilkes-Barre: This city also has so far resisted the siren song of the GOP pretending to be populist. The city is a smaller version of Scranton, and it is also less Democratic. Cartwright needs to overperform Biden in this city if he wants to return to Congress next year.
- Monroe County: This more rural county is a swing county that Biden carried in 2020 after Clinton barely carried it in 2016. It is critical that once again Cartwright outperforms Biden in an area that is still hospitable to voting for Democratic candidates. Matching Biden is no longer enough in this district.
Here’s where we need to keep the margins down, or we lose.
- Wayne and Pike Counties: These more rural counties have sharply turned against Democratic candidates in the era of Trump. High turnout in these two counties will doom Cartwright, as he has no shot of winning either one of them. Hold down the margins as much as possible here.
- Areas Surrounding Wilkes-Barre/Scranton: Except for some close by suburbs, the areas surrounding both Wilkes-Barre and Scranton are now GOP leaning to heavily Republican in nature. It is up to Cartwright to figure out how to win over a couple of these former blue voters or risk them turning out for Rob Bresnahan, Jr. in November.
Who is Rep. Matt Cartwright?
Rep. Matt Cartwright was a prominent trial attorney in northeastern Pennsylvania before being elected to Congress. He was also a delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention, representing northeastern Pennsylvania. He hosted a segment on local television where he would answer questions on legal matters asked by the viewers. He was also prominent in many different charities and organizations ranging from the Boy Scouts of America to Rotary International. Once elected to Congress, he was elected freshman class president for the class of 2012. For more information on his background, read here.
- Health Care Helper. Cartwright has advocated for single payer in the past, and still advocates for expansions of the ACA, Medicare, and Medicaid. He has consistently voted to rein in the drug companies, protect the ACA from GOP attacks, and for more funding for rural hospitals. He would also vote to cap insulin prices for everyone — not just seniors.
- Education Advocate. Cartwright has consistently fought for better funded schools and is looking for ways to responsibly cancel student debt and make college more affordable. He is a proponent of more Title I funding and for Head Start funding for disadvantaged areas such as northeastern Pennsylvania.
- Opioid Crisis. Northeastern Pennsylvania has been decimated by opioids, much like other economically disadvantaged areas across the nation. Cartwright helped enact legislation to expand addiction counseling and resources. He also has led roundtables where drug companies, doctors, and federal agencies discuss reforms to opioids prescription practices.
- Climate Crisis. Cartwright supports comprehensive climate change legislation. He is constantly looking to regulate fracking (which he has to support due to the district) and to clean up abandoned mines, which are a problem in the area as coal production shut down. He has authored legislation to help schools modernize and become more energy efficient.
- Infrastructure Maven. Cartwright has fought for funds to restore passenger rail service between northeastern Pennsylvania and NYC. This could be possible thanks to the INVEST in America Act. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, he is well positioned to bring home the bacon and fund infrastructure projects in his district.
- Lower Costs for Families. Cartwright has pushed for improving supply chains as a fix to the stubbornly high prices at the grocery store and at the pump. He has also pushed for the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on price gouging on gas and oil. Finally, he proposes that the Federal Marine Commission to crack down on some shady shipping practices.
Who is Rob Bresnahan, Jr.?
Rob Bresnahan, Jr. is the owner of Kuharchik Construction, which was founded by his grandfather. He grew the business and expanded operations when taking it over, providing much needed union jobs in northeastern Pennsylvania. He has also founded RPB Ventures to give back to the communities that have supported him and his construction company over time.
He doesn’t have an issues page on his website. Even scouring everything I could find didn’t help determine his issue positions except on a couple of issues. Cartwright needs to define him immediately as his background and demeanor scream “moderate”.
- Trump Supporter. Bresnahan supports Donald Trump, even after all of the indictments and being found liable for rape. He will likely fall in line for the Trump agenda, even if he seems at first to be a decent person. Trump won this district, so it isn’t a disqualifier for voters here.
- Immigration Hardliner. Bresnahan has made the “open border” one of the centerpieces of his campaign. He would no doubt support even the worst elements of the Trump immigration plan, including the deportation of American citizens.
- Debt and Deficit Peacock. Bresnahan wants to add a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution, which would basically force huge tax increases or cause the government to shut down because of the debt load. In spite of being “concerned” about the deficit, Bresnahan rails against measures like the Inflation Reduction Act as “Biden inflation”.
- Supported by Koch Money. Americans for Prosperity, one of the many Koch brothers enterprises, has thrown its support behind Bresnahan. They said “Bresnahan is prepared to advocate for policies that make it easier to start and grow businesses in the Keystone State, including cutting unnecessary red tape, keeping taxes low, unleashing domestic energy, and ending wasteful government spending that drives up inflation.”
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Bresnahan will be a willing part of the Republican coalition in the House: Speaker @MikeJohnson “I am excited to endorse Rob Bresnahan for Congress in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District. Rob is a conservative and proven businessman who puts his community first in everything he does. He will be a tremendous partner in our Republican majority as we secure our border, cut costs for families, and deliver for the American people. I’m confident Rob is the candidate who can deliver a win in Northeast Pennsylvania to expand our majority and I look forward to fighting alongside him in Congress!”
How Can You Help?
Pennsylvania has a plethora of competitive races in 2024. The Presidential race, the Senate race, and quite a few House races are competitive to varying degrees. There are different ways of helping the Cartwright campaign out, ranging from a donation of cash, volunteering, and even just promoting him on social media. You choose the way to help out that suits you best!
Bresnahan has shown that between fundraising and self-funding he can be competitive with Rep. Matt Cartwright. The GOP challenger, between donations and self-funding, raised $696k in Q4. Cartwright is no slouch, having raised $777k himself. Bresnahan has banked $636k at the beginning of 2024, while Cartwright is sitting on a massive $2.01M war chest. Cartwright still needs help, because Trump won his district. Give him a donation today!
If you live in northeastern Pennsylvania, Cartwright could use your help via volunteering. As the weather gets warmer, canvassing and other traditional campaign activities will kick into a higher gear. Helping Cartwright will also help Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. in his critical re-election campaign as well. Not to mention it will help the Biden-Harris campaign out in a critical swing state!
Rep. Matt Cartwright is an incumbent, meaning there are his official accounts and his campaign accounts when it comes to social media. Official accounts of an incumbent tend to showcase their accomplishments, while the campaign accounts post what it takes to win the next election. There is an opportunity to promote Cartwright on multiple accounts.
Cartwright currently does NOT use Twitter (last posts are in August 2023 for his campaign account and November 2023 for his official account). I will keep checking to see if that changes as we get closer to the 2024 election, though he isn’t the first incumbent to eschew Twitter.
On his official Facebook account, Cartwright has a large 22k following him. This seems to be the main account his staff uses to communicate with his constituents and with the social media universe. He touts his record as an appropriator and the events he attends in an official capacity. He also posts some clips of his speeches. In this one, he touts his support for the Social Security 2100 Act.
Cartwright also has 10k followers for his campaign account on Facebook. This account is a little more low key, mostly celebrating holidays and campaign events. Cartwright knows that the union vote is critical in this district, and he attends as many union events as possible. Here is one such event in December 2023.
Help spread the word today by following Rep. Matt Cartwright and boosting his accomplishments and his campaign in the critical realm of social media.
This is the 9th most vulnerable district held by the Democratic Party, according to Daily Kos. The lean of this district is such that no matter the opponent, Rep. Matt Cartwright will have a tough race. If he wasn’t on the House Appropriations Committee, it is quite possible that he would have lost this seat already. He is an institution in northeastern Pennsylvania, and that fact keeps him competitive in a seat slipping away from the Democratic Party.
Rob Bresnahan, Jr. needs to be defined by the Cartwright campaign as soon as possible. He is a political neophyte, but the fact that he can raise almost as much cash as the incumbent raises alarms in terms of how competitive he can truly be. This has the makings of a hugely expensive and very nasty race as this seat could determine control of the House of Representatives.
The question is, can Rep. Matt Cartwright do it again and hold this seat for the Democratic Party?
Matt Cartwright for Pennsylvania-8
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DONATE | Volunteer | Campaign Website | Facebook | Twitter
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