Furious campaign launched to sink swing state Republican over broken promise

A new ad campaign is targeting a vulnerable first-term Republican congressman in a Northeastern Pennsylvania swing district after he broke his promise not to vote for Medicaid cuts.

Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr. (R-Pa.) joined the rest of his party last week to vote for the Republican budget megabill, which cut over $1 trillion from the safety net program over the next decade.

As editorial board of The Times-Tribune in Scranton wrote, Bresnahan's vote went against his "repeated promises" to protect safety net programs, including a pledge he made in February that "if a bill is put in front of me that guts the benefits my neighbors rely on, I will not vote for it."

Bresnahan did ultimately vote for the bill, which may now result in nearly a half-million of his "neighbors" in the state of Pennsylvania losing coverage, according to a study published last week by the Joint Congressional Economic Committee. More than 200,000 people in Bresnahan's district—over a quarter—are Medicaid recipients.

In a new ad released Monday by the progressive group Unrig Our Economy, one of those neighbors comes back to haunt him.

"I sat in a meeting with Congressman Bresnahan," says a Scranton woman named Krysten. "We discussed some issues that I deal with myself."

The ad notes that Krysten had an ankle injury that required "six surgeries," "rehabilitation," an "ankle brace," and "medication."

"I had explained how important Medicaid is with him sitting straight across from me," Krysten says. "He stated to me that he would not make cuts to Medicaid."

"Afterwards, when the votes were done," she continues, "when I found out how he voted, I was very upset to hear that Congressman Bresnahan voted for the largest cut to Medicaid in history to give tax breaks to billionaires. This doesn't make sense at all."

Bresnahan won his seat by just 1.6 points in 2024, knocking out Democratic incumbent Rep. Matt Cartwright. The Cook Political Report lists Bresnahan as one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents in the country in the 2026 midterms.

"Congressman Bresnahan looked his own constituents in the eyes and promised to protect Medicaid, then turned around and voted to gut it so billionaires could get another tax break," said Kobie Christian, a spokesperson for Unrig Our Economy. "People like Krysten deserve healthcare and honesty, not cruel cuts and empty promises. Congressman Bresnahan should start fighting for his constituents, not the ultrarich."

Other Democratic-aligned groups are joining in the full-court press, hoping Bresnahan's betrayal of Medicaid recipients would be enough to sink his reelection chances.

In a post on X Tuesday, the House Majority PAC, which seeks to win the House majority back for Democrats, called out Bresnahan for selling his stock in the Centene Corporation, the largest Medicaid provider in the U.S., on May 15, just one week before the first version of the Republican bill passed the House. The value of the stock would tank throughout the month of June as cuts to Medicaid became increasingly inevitable.

"This congressman literally dumped stock in a Medicaid provider company right before this bill came to the floor," said Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.). "Don't be fooled—these guys know exactly what they're doing."

Bresnahan is one of many Republicans who may be in danger after voting to strip Medicaid from their constituents.

According to Newsweek, 64 GOP lawmakers represent districts where the Medicaid enrollment rate is higher than the national average. In addition to Bresnahan, four others—Nick Begich (R-Alaska), Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), and Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) won their districts by five points or less and are particularly vulnerable.

The GOP bill is historically unpopular, with polls from Quinnipiac University, The Washington Post,Pew Research, and Fox News all showing roughly 2-to-1 opposition. Meanwhile, just 10% of Americans say they support cuts to Medicaid spending compared to nearly half who say the government should spend more money on the program, according to Quinnipiac.

According to reporting from Politico Sunday, Republicans are now in panic mode about how this vote could affect their chances.

"What we know from past elections is that messing with people's healthcare coverage is very problematic for politicians," said Republican pollster Whit Ayres. "It has, in the past, yielded some very, very negative views about the people who supported it."