Democratic Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti significantly outraised and outspent incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan in the third quarter of 2026 and eclipsed him in overall fundraising and spending this cycle, campaign finance filings in the 8th Congressional District race show.
Less than 20 days out from Election Day, the Bresnahan and Cognetti campaigns filed Thursday financial reports covering the period of July through September.
Cognetti reported receipts, essentially money raised, of nearly $2.49 million during that period, more than double the $963,200 in receipts Bresnahan reported bringing in over the past three full months. She’s reported total receipts this election cycle of almost $7.1 million, compared to Bresnahan’s almost $6.3 million.
Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania’s 8th congressional district Paige Cognetti is introduced during a press conference at the United Association Local Union 524 in Scranton Thursday, July 9, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG. / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
She also considerably outspent her GOP opponent, reporting total disbursements of $4.94 million during the third quarter, when campaign advertising in the Bresnahan/Cognetti midterm matchup and other races became virtually ubiquitous ahead of the election Nov. 3. Cognetti’s nearly $5 million in recent spending represents the lion’s share of the almost $6.15 million in disbursements she’s reported this cycle.
Bresnahan, who seeks reelection after winning his House seat in 2024, spent almost $2.67 million during the most recent quarter. That’s close to half of the roughly $5.47 million in total disbursements his campaign reported this election cycle, recent figures show.
U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., talks to supporters during a rally on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026 at DCS Contractin Hazleton. (John Haeger / Staff Photographer)
The two campaigns reported having roughly the same amount of cash on hand at the end of the last reporting period. Cognetti had about $950,343, while Bresnahan had about $909,095.
“I’m honored by the support we are earning across NEPA, and I’m proud to be running this race without taking a dime from corporate PACs,” Cognetti said in a statement Friday. “We’re going to keep fighting every day until November 3rd so we can shake up a broken Washington, pass real anti-corruption reforms, lower health care costs, end this reckless war in Iran, stand up to shady data center developers, and stop the irresponsible tariffs driving up our costs.”
While Bresnahan’s campaign did not provide a statement by Friday’s print deadline, campaign spokesperson Samantha Bullock said in a statement later Friday that Cognetti and the “Democrat Machine are spending millions to distort Congressman Bresnahan’s record.”
“Our nearly $1 million haul this quarter means we’ll have the resources to highlight the work he’s done and set the record straight to help him keep fighting for Northeastern Pennsylvania,” Bullock said.
Bresnahan’s campaign previously dismissed Cognetti’s claim about not accepting corporate PAC money as a “loophole-ridden sham.” It pointed this past summer to reporting by NOTUS, now The Washington Sun, that Cognetti accepted donations from “numerous political committees that themselves are awash in cash from corporate PACs, including money from defense contractor Boeing, banking giant JPMorgan Chase and insurance company UnitedHealthcare.”
That issue notwithstanding, major race forecasters, including the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, continue to list the 8th District race as a highly competitive “toss up.” And it’s a race that could play a major role in determining the balance of power in Washington as Democrats battle to regain and Republicans fight to maintain control of the House of Representatives for the last two years of the second Trump administration.
Cook shifted the 8th District race from leaning Republican to a toss up in April, and recently shifted a pair of other competitive House races in Pennsylvania in the direction of Democrats. Earlier this month, the race forecaster moved the 7th Congressional District race between incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie and Democratic challenger Bob Brooks, and the 10th Congressional District race between incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry and Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson, from toss ups to leaning Democrat.
The races also have attracted considerable outside spending and attention, with The Philadelphia Inquirer reporting this week that billionaire Republican-backer Elon Musk’s America PAC had spent at least $460,000 in recent weeks in each of the 7th, 8th and 10th Congressional districts to support the Republican incumbents. America PAC’s spending supporting Bresnahan and opposing Cognetti in the district that includes all of Lackawanna, Wayne and Pike and parts of Luzerne and Monroe counties constitutes “independent expenditures” — not direct campaign contributions that would appear in a candidate’s quarterly campaign finance filings — funding mailers, digital media and similar communications, a review of the expenditures found.
An independent expenditure is an “expenditure for a communication that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate and which is not made in coordination with any candidate or their campaign or political party,” according to the Federal Election Commission. Independent expenditures aren’t subject to amount limitations, and campaigns benefiting from them have no reporting obligation, per the FEC.
The Washington, D.C.-based news organization Roll Call reported this week that outside groups have invested more than $10 million into the 8th District race, highlighting investments of more than $3 million by Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to electing House Republicans, and $1.7 million by House Majority PAC, a super PAC working to elect House Democrats. Those investments also constitute independent expenditures.
The Cook Political Report also recently shifted Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District race between incumbent GOP U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Democratic challenger Bob Harvie from likely Republican to leaning Republican, another positive development for Democrats hoping to wrest the House from the GOP.
But it continues to list the 9th Congressional District race between incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser and Democratic challenger Rachel Wallace as solid Republican, meaning it’s not expected to be competitive or closely contested. The sprawling 9th District spans all or parts of 12 counties, including all of Susquehanna, Wyoming and Schuylkill and part of Luzerne in the northeast.
Monday is the last day for unregistered would-be voters to register to vote in the midterms.
Campaign finance information is available online at FEC.gov.