Incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick defeats Mark Houck in Bucks County House race

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican, staved off a challenge from the right to win his party’s nomination to retain his suburban district.

Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent who has represented Bucks County in the U.S. House since 2017, beat antiabortion activist Mark Houck Tuesday in the GOP primary for the 1st Congressional District. The Associated Press declared Fitzpatrick the winner at 8:13 p.m.

Framing himself as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress, Fitzpatrick has joined Democrats in key votes on gun control and infrastructure since President Joe Biden took office. But he also voted to impeach Biden’s Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

Fitzpatrick ran a low-key campaign that avoided national and local media, declining to say whether he would attend former President Donald Trump’s fundraiser in Bucks County just over a week before the primary.

“Once again, our community has spoken with an overwhelming voice in support of unity, collaboration, moderation and bipartisanship,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement posted to his campaign website Tuesday night. “Our community is not far-left or far-right, we are centrist and pragmatic.”

Fitzpatrick now faces a rematch against Democrat Ashley Ehasz, a former military helicopter pilot.

Ehasz lost to Fitzpatrick by nearly 10 points in 2022. She launched a new campaign last year signaling she would, once again, focus her campaign around abortion, gun control, and climate change.

“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,” Rep. Suzan DelBene (D., Wash.), chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement Tuesday.

Houck had sought to capitalize on frustrations among local Republicans that Fitzpatrick is not conservative enough. He rose to prominence when he was charged, and later acquitted, for shoving a Planned Parenthood escort in 2021.

But Houck ran into barriers among voters who liked his policy positions but worried his hard-line stances, especially on abortion, would damage his ability to win in a general election.

Even some voters who were lukewarm on Fitzpatrick voted for him, citing concerns about Houck’s ability to compete in a general election contest in the swing district.

“We have to keep the majority to make changes,” said Leigh Sherwood, a 64-year-old retiree who voted at Central Bucks South High School.

Fitzpatrick’s moderation was key to his appeal for Christine Caposcale, a 60-year-old teacher from Chalfont who turned out specifically to vote for the incumbent congressman.

“I think he’s trying to take the middle of the road,” Capocasale said, contrasting Fitzpatrick against both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. “I like his non-extremism.”

Fitzpatrick’s stances earned him respect from some Democratic voters like Jerry Salome of the Montgomery Township.

”He’s moderate — I don’t feel as negative about him as I do Trump,” Salomone said of Fitzpatrick. “I don’t object to him, but I’ll vote against him in November,” he added with a laugh.

Staff writers Maddie Hanna and Jesse Bunch contributed to this article.