Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick walked through a fall street festival in his Pennsylvania district and met voters who were not in a mood to listen. One man held up red signs about heating oil and diesel fuel costs that have shot up in the last year. Fitzpatrick walked on toward his speech.
The man, Dave Woods, is a contractor and a registered Democrat. He told CNN after the exchange: “I’m against the party that caused this.”
Further down the street, Ted Wassmer, a registered Republican who has backed Fitzpatrick before, said he was weighing his vote in the November election. Wassmer said his woodworking business has been hit hard by tariffs and rising inflation. The combat veteran, who has never supported President Donald Trump, called the Iran war an “absolute joke” and said: “It’s a clown show in DC right now.”
CNN followed Fitzpatrick on a recent day of campaigning and reported that frustrated voters kept coming up to him with complaints. Fitzpatrick is one of the only Republicans in Congress fighting for re-election in a district Kamala Harris won in 2024, according to CNN, and Democrats see the seat as their best chance in a decade to win it.
Fitzpatrick believes he can hold the seat by distancing himself from his own party and finding common ground, CNN reported.
Source: CNN
