Facts
- Two Pennsylvania House races rated toss-ups could help decide the size of the likely Democratic House majority, PBS NewsHour reported on October 29, 2026. Democrats are favored to win the House, and four of the close races are in Pennsylvania, where Trump and Republicans made significant gains in 2024, according to PBS.
- In the 8th District, Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a freshman, faces Democrat Paige Cognetti, the mayor of Scranton. Cognetti is running on affordability and a ban on corporate PAC money, and says members of Congress should not trade stocks on bills they vote on.
- PBS reported that Bresnahan’s brokerage account traded hundreds of stocks last year, including health care stocks before a vote on the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ which limited Medicaid. Bresnahan says a third party handles his trades and that he voted for stock trade limits this year. He calls Cognetti’s allies ‘full of baloney.’
- Supporter Bruce Stewart praised Bresnahan for bringing funding to Northeastern Pennsylvania. Cognetti supporters Michael O’Brien and Carlos Martinez said they oppose the Republican Party’s positions and are voting Democratic.
- In the 7th District, Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie faces Democrat Bob Brooks, a former firefighter and union president. Mackenzie points to a bipartisan housing bill passed in June that limits corporate homebuying and supports community banks, and says it will eventually lower prices.
- Mackenzie’s campaign attacks Brooks over his finances, including a debt to his former mother-in-law that he settled last month, and over an alleged false statement on a COVID-era application. Brooks says Mackenzie’s ads are untruthful. RNC Chairman Joe Gruters campaigned with Mackenzie, PBS reported.
- Brooks focuses on blue-collar issues, including diesel prices. He says filling his diesel truck cost $220 and calls for an end to the war in Iran. Mike McMaster, a UPS driver and Teamsters member, supports Brooks and said he cannot afford housing in the Allentown-Bethlehem area.
- Deb Modica, a real estate agent and farmer who supports Trump, campaigns for Mackenzie and said rising fertilizer costs have pushed up hay prices. PBS reported that gas and diesel prices in Pennsylvania are up more than $2 a gallon from a year earlier, and that the Allentown-Bethlehem area was recently ranked among the nation’s 25 worst cities for housing affordability.
- PBS cited no poll numbers, saying only that Trump’s approval ratings are low. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
Quotes
Deb Modica, a Trump supporter, said of high prices: “To fix something doesn’t happen overnight.”
Paige Cognetti, on congressional stock trading: “I will ban it.”
PBS NewsHour’s Lisa Desjardins summed up the race as coming down to “whom they will blame or not on the ballot.”
Source Read PBS NewsHour’s report here.
Image Scranton, Pennsylvania – 11501534815 by Dougtone, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
