Shapiro-backed Democrats win House primaries in Pennsylvania swing districts the party hopes to flip

WARMINSTER, Pa. (AP) — Democrats in Pennsylvania backed by Gov. Josh Shapiro won their primaries Tuesday to shape a congressional slate in which they hope to flip the state’s four swing districts and, ultimately, capture a U.S. House majority.

Janelle Stelson, Bob Harvie and Bob Brooks won the party’s nomination in three swing districts where Democrats had a contested primary for the right to take on Republican seat-holders in November.

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro arrives to speak at an election night watch party in Warminster, Pa., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks at an election night watch party in Warminster, Pa., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

People attend Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's election night watch party in Warminster, Pa., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

People attend Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s election night watch party in Warminster, Pa., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks at an election night watch party in Warminster, Pa., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Munroe, D-Bucks, speaks at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's election night watch party in Warminster, Pa., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Munroe, D-Bucks, speaks at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s election night watch party in Warminster, Pa., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, accompanied by his wife Lori Shapiro, walks from his polling place in Rydal, Pa., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

FILE - Pennsylvania state Treasurer Stacy Garrity listens to a question during a news conference in Treasury Department offices, April 23, 2026, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy, File)

FILE – Pennsylvania state Treasurer Stacy Garrity listens to a question during a news conference in Treasury Department offices, April 23, 2026, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy, File)

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks with members of the media outside his polling place in Rydal, Pa., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

FILE - Lamont McClure, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, poses for a photograph in Bethlehem, Pa., May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE – Lamont McClure, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, poses for a photograph in Bethlehem, Pa., May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - Carol Obando-Derstine, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, poses for a photograph in Bethlehem, Pa., May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE – Carol Obando-Derstine, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, poses for a photograph in Bethlehem, Pa., May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - Bob Brooks, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, poses for a photograph in Bethlehem, Pa., May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE – Bob Brooks, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, poses for a photograph in Bethlehem, Pa., May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - Ryan Crosswell, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, poses for a photograph in Bethlehem, Pa., May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE – Ryan Crosswell, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, poses for a photograph in Bethlehem, Pa., May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks to the crowd at a Clinton County Democratic Party event at the Avenue 209 coffee shop, April 11, 2026, in Lock Haven, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy, File)

FILE – Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks to the crowd at a Clinton County Democratic Party event at the Avenue 209 coffee shop, April 11, 2026, in Lock Haven, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy, File)

All were endorsed by Shapiro, the Democratic governor who is putting his clout on the line in trying to help flip the House seats and also deliver Democratic control of the state Legislature to advance his own agenda.

Speaking to a primary night crowd, Shapiro — considered a potential White House contender in 2028 — spent a considerable amount of his speech attacking President Donald Trump and a Republican Congress that he said is weak, serves Trump’s will and gives Trump a free pass on wrongdoing and corruption.

“The only way we can expect to change this is to win in November and bring some accountability back to our nation’s capital,” Shapiro told the crowd in an event space that was once a centrifuge where the U.S. Navy tested G-forces on astronauts.

Shapiro and Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity will face each other in November after winning their uncontested primaries. Shapiro will go into the fall as a heavy favorite to win.

The governor also urged the crowd to help the party’s candidates win control of the Legislature for the first time in more than three decades.

“Give me a Democratic majority in the Senate and we will fully fund mass transit, we will build more housing, and we will codify abortion rights into state law,” Shapiro said.

For Shapiro, the election year is more than an opportunity to win a second term: It’s a chance show his battleground-state political strength should he decide to run for president in 2028.

The U.S. House campaigns will put Pennsylvania on the front lines of Democratic efforts to retake control of Congress and block the last two years of Trump’s agenda.

Shapiro and national Democrats promoted their chosen candidates over progressive rivals, the latest example of a fissure that has divided the party as it grasps for a path back to power in Washington.

Three of the four swing districts had contested Democratic primaries, in addition to a wide-open contest in Philadelphia that will almost surely anoint the next seatholder. Those three swing districts are held by Republican U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mackenzie and Scott Perry.

Shapiro and the House Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, teamed up to endorse the same candidate in each of the three contested primaries.

Washington U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, the chair of the DCCC, said the party wanted “top tier” candidates who were the strongest to take on Republican incumbents.

Two of those — Stelson and Harvie — faced opponents on the left, while Brooks was in a four-way primary contest.

Stelson, a former local television anchor and personality, beat Justin Douglas, a progressive minister and a Dauphin County commissioner.

In Fitzpatrick’s district in suburban Philadelphia, Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner, defeated Lucia Simonelli, a first-time candidate and climate activist.

Brooks will challenge Mackenzie in an Allentown-area seat. He beat former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, former Northampton County executive Lamont McClure and former legislative aide Carol Obando-Derstine.

In the fourth swing district, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti was unopposed for the Democratic nomination to take on GOP U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who also was unopposed in the primary.

In 2018, the last midterm election cycle under Trump, Pennsylvania Democrats flipped four Republican-held congressional seats. In 2024, Perry and Mackenzie’s margins of victory were among the slimmest in that year’s House races — smaller than the margin by which Trump won those districts in the presidential election.

Fitzpatrick won more comfortably, but he is just one of three House Republicans elected in districts that also backed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Fitzpatrick and Perry are perennial targets of Democrats, and have survived repeatedly. However, Mackenzie is a freshman in his first reelection test.

Without Trump on the ballot, Democrats hoped they could capitalize on weaker Republican turnout. Shapiro won the same districts in 2022, and he’s on the top of the party’s ticket this year.

In Philadelphia, state Rep. Chris Rabb won the Democratic primary for a seat in Congress. Since no Republican sought that party’s nomination, Rabb is a shoo-in to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Dwight Evans.

Rabb was endorsed by progressive stalwarts U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and online streamer Hasan Piker and drew financial backing from the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Rabb bested Sharif Street, a state senator, former state party chairman and son of the city’s former two-term mayor, John F. Street, and Dr. Ala Stanford, a pediatric surgeon.

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MOUNTAINAIR, N.M. (AP) — Three people are dead and more than a dozen first responders were quarantined and being treated Wednesday for exposure to an unidentified substance after being called to a suspected drug overdose at a rural New Mexico home, authorities said.

New Mexico State Police said three of the four people who were found unresponsive inside the home east of Albuquerque died. The fourth was being treated at a hospital in Albuquerque.

During the response, authorities said, 18 first responders were exposed to the substance and began experiencing symptoms including nausea and dizziness. All of the first responders were transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where they were being monitored.

Two of the first responders were listed in serious condition, said Officer Wilson Silver with New Mexico State Police.

Albuquerque Fire Rescue Hazmat teams were assisting at the scene in Mountainair, a rural community east of Albuquerque, in efforts to identify the substance involved.

“At this time, investigators believe the substance may be transmitted through contact and do not believe it to be airborne,” Silver said.

While the investigation was ongoing, Mountainair Mayor Peter Nieto said in a social media post that all indications were pointing toward narcotics as a possible factor. He added that there was no threat to the public and that a perimeter had been set up around the home.

Residents, however, took to social media to voice their frustrations about drug use in the community and elsewhere.

The mayor said the town’s law enforcement officers and first responders work every day to protect the community and respond to difficult situations.

“But the reality is that addiction and substance abuse are issues affecting communities all across our state and nation,” Nieto said. “There is no simple or immediate solution. Lasting change requires family support, accountability, education, and most importantly, individuals who are willing to accept help.”

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