Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
A race for a key swing district in Northeastern Pennsylvania has caught the eye of a major Democratic super PAC that plans to spend around $50 million on advertising targeting Republican-held seats, according to the New York Times.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to Republican territory and planting a flag,\u201d Bradley Beychok, the president of American Bridge, a Democratic super PAC, said in an interview with the Times.<\/a> \u201cThese Republicans<\/a> are in a world of hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n American Bridge is targeting 14 House races, the report said, with a television, radio, streaming, digital, and direct mail advertising blitz focused on economic issues like the cost of living and tariffs.<\/p>\n That includes the 8th Congressional District, which includes Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a freshman Republican who narrowly flipped the seat in 2024, will face a challenge in November from Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti. <\/a><\/p>\n Cognetti, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination, has attacked Bresnahan over stock trades he\u2019s made since taking office and over cuts to healthcare.<\/p>\n Bresnahan voted for President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut Medicaid <\/a>to help pay for tax cuts, but he was one of a handful of Republicans to vote to restore Affordable Care Act subsidies that lapsed earlier this year. <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cRob ran for Congress on a promise to ban stock trades,\u201d Cognetti said in an ad launching her campaign<\/a>. \u201cThis year, he\u2019s already made 600 trades \u2014 600.\u201d <\/p>\n Bresnahan made up 79% of Pennsylvania\u2019s delegation\u2019s stock activity reported in 2025, according to Quiver Quantitative<\/a>. Bresnahan has faced scrutiny over his trades<\/a>, including offloading $130,000 in Medicaid provider stocks ahead of a House vote on Trump\u2019s bill, as reported by NBC News. <\/a><\/p>\n But the lawmaker has stated he does not trade his own stocks. <\/p>\n \u201cI think you need to know that the trades are being executed on my behalf. I do not have any dialogues with my financial advisers,\u201d Bresnahan said in response to a question during a June 10 telephone town hall.<\/a><\/p>\n This year\u2019s $50 million spend is the most American Bridge has spent on a midterm election, according to the New York Times, which cited Trump\u2019s falling approval ratings as the reason. <\/p>\n \u201cYour opponent\u2019s drowning,\u201d Beychok said to the paper. \u201cWe need to throw them an anvil.\u201d<\/p>\n