Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) is one of the few House Republicans running for reelection in a district Kamala Harris won. At a fall street festival in his district, he ran into the kind of voter who could cost him the seat.
Dave Woods, a contractor and registered Democrat, confronted Fitzpatrick in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, CNN reported Saturday. Woods held red signs in the congressman’s face showing how much his heating oil and diesel costs have climbed over the past year.
Fitzpatrick walked away to give his speech.
“Where’s Mr. Fitzpatrick to get in the photo shot here?” Woods told CNN afterward. “I’m against the party that caused this.”
Woods wasn’t the only frustrated voter who approached the congressman that day, CNN reported. Some of the anger is coming from people who have backed him before.
Ted Wassmer is a registered Republican and combat veteran who has supported Fitzpatrick in the past. He said Trump’s tariffs and rising inflation have hit his woodworking business hard, and he called the Iran war an “absolute joke.”
“It’s a clown show in DC right now,” Wassmer said. “I may vote against Republicans having dominance of the Congress, that may be my decision to get the administration in check.”
Nathaniel Gagum, a retired Air Force member and registered Republican who has also voted for Fitzpatrick, said he’s undecided.
“I’m upset,” Gagum said. “I’m questioning a lot because of some of the things I see in Congress and how you vote with Congress, and how you side with Trump.”
Fitzpatrick has spent much of his career putting distance between himself and his party. He voted against Trump’s “big beautiful bill” in July, voted to rein in the Iran war and voted for Nikki Haley in the 2024 GOP primary. He told CNN he’d register as an independent if Pennsylvania changed its rules.
“I’m a registered Republican from when I was 18, but I did that because of Ronald Reagan. That party no longer exists,” he said.
He argued that voters shouldn’t punish him for others’ choices.
“If they’re angry at Pete Hegseth, take it out on Pete Hegseth. If they’re angry at Donald Trump or Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, take it out on them at the ballot box, but don’t take it out on people that are not them that have never espoused their views,” Fitzpatrick said.
His Democratic opponent, Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, isn’t buying it.
“He’s changed. He’s not the same guy he was when we sent him there,” Harvie told CNN. “He’s a guy that was supposed to fight against corruption as a former FBI agent, and this is the most corrupt administration in American history. And he’s not doing anything about it.”
Democrats have spent more than $10 million on ads in the race since September, according to AdImpact's data. Republicans have answered with $4.9 million from the party’s outside campaign arm and $100,000 from Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc. Fitzpatrick spent $5 million from his own campaign account between July and September.
