Ashley Ehasz sees fundraising, DCCC attention boost in race for Congress. Why it matters
The 2024 primary in Pennsylvania is over and the rematch between four-term U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and second-time challenger Ashley Ehasz to represent the state's 1st Congressional District is set for November.
While the Army veteran helicopter pilot Ehasz lost by nearly 10 points to former FBI agent Fitzpatrick when the two last went head-to-head in 2022, an early 2024 fundraising spike and potential national attention from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) could make this year’s election more than a repeat of two years ago.
A lot can happen between now and Election Day in November, but local and state political experts say a boost in funding and support from national committees could give Ehasz the best chance for Democrats to flip the district covering Bucks County and parts of Montgomery County.
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“It’s a hard race to get people to buy into because, for one reason or another, people think that Fitzpatrick can be unbeatable, but he's not,” Connor O’Hanlon, chair of the Doylestown Democratic Committee, said last week.
Ehasz’s campaign took in about $662,647 in contributions between January and April, more than any single reporting period in her 2022 campaign.
That puts Ehasz’s current run for office raising at a total of $1.37 million, with about $563,000 spent and $802,363 cash-on-hand to start a sizeable war chest for the months ahead.
Republican political strategist Sam Chen, a principal director of the Allentown-based communications firm The Liddle Group, said Ehasz's reporting was "exceptional" considering she is a challegner.
"There are incumbents who don't raise that. That is an incredible quarter number and she certainly has momentum," Chen said.
Ehasz raised just under $1 million throughout her entire 2022 campaign and most of those contributions didn’t start arriving until months after that year’s primary — when she also ran unopposed.
In addition to breaking a personal record, Ehasz’s most recent filing ranked 8th highest for contributions for a Democrat running for U.S. House or Senate — Sen. Bob Casey taking the top spot with over $17 million in his re-election bid.
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Excluding the campaigns of Democratic incumbents, Ehasz raised more than any other candidate in her party last quarter.
“I think the numbers speak for themselves,” O’Hanlon said. “If she’s already putting up these numbers compared to two years ago, people are going to start paying attention.”
DCCC bump and a blue wave in PA's 1st Congressional District
If there was one thing Ehasz’s campaign lacked more than anything in 2022, it was support from national committees like the DCCC, O’Hanlon added.
While the DCCC voiced some support for Ehasz early in her 2022 campaign, the focus of the party turned mostly to maintaining a House majority over flipping Red seats Blue.
Candidates use their own money to buy campaign ads and yard signs, but added support from a national or statewide committee could bring in millions more to get that candidate’s message out.
Those extra funds will be especially important for Ehasz’s campaign since Fitzpatrick usually has millions in his coffers.
Right now, Fitzpatrick has raised about $4.18 million so far and has about $3.65 million cash-on-hand after spending almost $2 million before his contested GOP primary, where he easily fended off a challenge by Mark Houck.
A more than $600,000 quarter in contributions is also closer to what Fitzpatrick raises each period, which is a pace Ehasz could have trouble keeping up with on her own.
Chen added that, while he rebukes the old idea that the candidate with the most money wins the election, the candidate with the most money gets their message out to voters more easily.
“Money doesn't buy elections … but you still need money to get your message out,” Chen said. “Even if you’re just doing door-knocking, you need lawn cards, you know?”
However, the DCCC earlier this month added PA-01 in its list of 31 “vulnerable Republican Districts … key to winning a Democratic House majority.”
More: Brian Fitzpatrick easily wins GOP primary against Mark Houck; will face Ehasz again in fall
While a DCCC spokesman couldn’t specifically speak about the congressional race in Bucks County, he did confirm that the House Majority PAC — linked to New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries — has reserved about $5.7 million in ad buys in the Philadelphia area for later this year.
Those funds haven’t been earmarked for a particular race as yet, but it’s one example of how those committees could be a boon for Ehasz as she heads down the campaign trail.
What to expect in the months ahead
Fitzpatrick has billed himself as a moderate Republican over the course of his four terms, often pointing out his leadership in the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and voting across party lines to help solidify his moderate stance.
Ehasz has already begun to chip away at that persona by focusing on reproductive rights in the years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade.
“For too long, Fitzpatrick has fallen in line behind MAGA extremists when it matters most. Whether it’s our democracy or our reproductive rights that are on the line, we can’t trust him to put people ahead of his party,” Ehasz said in a statement Tuesday night.
Not long after that, the DCCC also followed suit with a statement from Chair Suzan DelBene.
“Fitzpatrick may try to pass himself off as a moderate, but when it comes to defending women's reproductive rights, he falls in line with the most extreme factions of his party,” DelBene said. “With a nationwide abortion ban on the line, it's time to replace Fitzpatrick's empty promises with a genuine advocate for women's reproductive rights.”
O’Hanlon and Chen added that comparisons between Trump and Fitzpatrick will probably be a key tactic later in the year.
Chris Ullery is the Philadelphia Hub Data Reporter for the USA Today Network. Reach him at cullery@couriertimes.com or find him on Twitter at @ulleryatinell.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: A good quarter and DCCC nod could change the race for Ashley Ehasz
