Republican Brian Fitzpatrick will face Democrat Scott Wallace in the 1st Congressional District general election
By Tom Waring
The Times
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick will face Democrat Scott Wallace in the 1st Congressional District general election.
Fitzpatrick defeated Dean Malik, 67 percent to 33 percent, in the Republican primary.
Wallace took 56 percent in the Democratic primary, defeating Rachel Reddick (35 percent) and Steve Bacher (8 percent).
Haley Bova, a Fitzpatrick spokeswoman, said the campaign agrees with Reddick, who ran a commercial calling Wallace a “Maryland multi-millionaire.” The ad said, “Scott Wallace isn’t one of us.” The Fitzpatrick campaign also pointed to the Cook Political Report, which suggested that Wallace was a “badly flawed” candidate.
Bova said, “Our community will send a clear message in November that Bucks and Montgomery counties are not for sale. We believe in elections, not auctions going to the highest bidder. Announcing his return to Bucks County after four decades in order to purchase a public office, Scott Wallace has identified Maryland as his first home, and has identified South Africa as his second home. Bucks County has appeared nowhere on his list until he sought to purchase a public office in our community. His mega-wealth and his extreme far-left partisan ideology, coupled with his difficulty telling the truth, make him completely out of touch with our community. He is truly not one of us.”
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In other election news, Democrat Helen Tai edged Republican Wendi Thomas by 96 votes in a special election in the 178th Legislative District. The final count was 6,359 to 6,263.
The race was held to replace Republican Rep. Scott Petri, who resigned to become executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority.
Tai and Thomas were unopposed in their primaries and will have a rematch in November.
There were two other state House special elections in Pennsylvania, both won by Republicans. Once Tai and the other two winners take office, the GOP will hold a 121–82 advantage in the House.
In the 6th Senatorial District, Republican Sen. Tommy Tomlinson and his Democratic opponent, state Rep. Tina Davis, were unopposed.
Davis is also running for re-election to her 141st district House seat. She was unopposed in the primary, as was Republican Anthony Sposato.
In the 140th district, Democratic Rep. John Galloway was unopposed in the primary and has no Republican challenger.
The general election matchups in two other Bucks districts were set before the primary.
In the 18th district, Republican Rep. Gene Digirolamo will face Democrat Jimmy Lamb.
In the 142nd district, Republican Rep. Frank Farry will face Democrat Lauren Lareau. ••
