Views | Posts Filtered by Tag

Dubbed the person most likely to beat Fitzpatrick, Harvie has enjoyed quite the Dem-orchestrated glide path. Harvie announced his candidacy just a few months after the 2024 general election. Democratic leadership pressed the electability case from start to finish. On announcement day, Bucks County Dem chair Steve Santarsiero told WHYY Harvie had "a real chance to win," and fourteen months later, on the eve of the primary, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene called him "the strongest candidate to take on Brian Fitzpatrick"—a through-line that included endorsements from committeepersons and Governor Josh Shapiro.

Timed to have maximum impact on the primary, Harvie was added to the DCCC's Red to Blue program on May 4. Shapiro's endorsement followed on May 10.

Harvie himself has embraced the electability messaging. Referencing his two victories in county commissioner races, Harvie said: "How will I get Republicans to vote for me? I already have."

Harvie supporters push back against the "establishment candidate" label. But if ever there was an establishment candidate, Harvie is it. Party leaders picked their winner more than a year before voters will have the final say. And tomorrow, his name will be the only one on the "goldenrod" sample ballot provided to voters by Democratic poll greeters.

The trouble with the claim that Harvie is the best candidate to beat Brian Fitzpatrick? Lucia Simonelli, the other congressional candidate on the Democratic ballot.

In contrast to Harvie, Simonelli has spent almost no time talking about Donald Trump and Brian Fitzpatrick. Instead, she has laid out, in detail, her vision for how government can work on behalf of the citizens of PA-1:

Environmental protections and clean energy
Universal health care

Restoration of government-sponsored science

Supports for veterans, farmers, blue-collar workers, and practical education

Higher taxes on billionaires
Getting rid of ICE and starting over

Simonelli has shaped public policy as senior staffer for Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and for nonprofits. She holds a doctorate in mathematics. Simonelli is book smart, and a policy wonk. Nonetheless, she is able to articulate and defend her positions in plain language and without jargon. I find her speeches punchy and compelling.

In the April 27 candidate forum documented here, the differences in substance and style of the two candidates could not have been clearer. Yes, they share broad agreement on important issues: keeping dark money out of politics, childcare, raising the minimum wage, abortion, tax-code fairness, districting by independent commission, and the importance of trade schools, among others. But I found Simonelli's crisp, spin-free, unabashedly progressive delivery more appealing than Harvie's cautious tone, which too often seemed designed more to avoid alienating moderate voters than to clearly define his intentions. Harvie's response on healthcare, including the statement that "America is not ready for universal healthcare," was especially awkward and squishy. In several key exchanges, Harvie, the career politician, scrambled to catch up, as Simonelli rattled off positions and proposals.

Bob Harvie is a team player treading the moderate Democratic party line. He struggles to project passion and purpose. He was able to earn Republican votes in off-year elections against Trumpy opponents. Can he steal Republican votes from Brian Fitzpatrick? Given that voters perceive Fitzpatrick as low-key, moderate and independent, they may regard Harvie as the Democratic equivalent, not worth a split ticket. The more Harvie hedges on major reforms to systems like healthcare, the less space between him and Fitzpatrick he creates.

There is no doubt Lucia Simonelli can effortlessly create such space. But Simonelli is a progressive, and relatively unknown in Bucks County. Are those fatal liabilities? Conventional wisdom says yes. I'm not so sure. Simonelli's singular focus on improving the lives of those she would represent, and her fearlessness in stating the exact ways she would do so, are refreshing. With gas approaching $5 a gallon, voters may be more drawn to Simonelli's relentless positive energy than put off by her progressivism. As to name recognition, that depends largely on how much money Democrats are willing to spend on her campaign should voters topple their apple cart.

Tomorrow, Democratic voters in PA-1 will choose between a candidate their party has carefully groomed and guided to this moment, and a candidate who arrived on her own terms, armed with ideas and the confidence to defend them. Whatever happens, Lucia Simonelli has spoken powerfully from a platform she created, one the Democratic party tried hard to demolish. That in itself is an accomplishment worth celebrating.