Editor\u2019s note: We are publishing a series of fact-checks of advertisements in the Pennsylvania 8th Congressional District race between incumbent Republican Congressman Rob Bresnahan of Dallas Twp. and Democratic challenger, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti. The election is key for both major parties\u2019 hopes of holding a House majority the next two years.<\/p>\n
The 30-second ad is paid for by Paige For PA, Cognetti\u2019s official campaign committee. The ad also was approved by Cognetti.<\/p>\n
It begins with Bob , who identifies himself as a retired police detective, standing in front of a home, his sunglasses resting on top of a ball cap. Bob narrates the entire ad, and starts by discussing the changes he says he noticed in Scranton throughout his 27 years as a cop. Scranton, he said, was a \u201ctough place on the brink of bankruptcy.\u201d He alleges that corruption was rampant before Cognetti \u201ctook on the machine,\u201d while black-and-white photos of disgraced former NEPA politicians, Scranton Mayor Bill Courtright and former Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Mark Ciavarella, a central figure in the county\u2019s Kids For Cash scandal, flash in the background.<\/p>\n
Bob praises Cognetti\u2019s work as Scranton\u2019s mayor, insisting that she \u201cstood up to Democrats in both Harrisburg and Washington\u201d to secure more money for the city\u2019s police force, saying Cognetti got the city more than $5 million in funding. He calls her \u201cdifferent\u201d and \u201cindependent,\u201d a leader who \u201cdoes the right thing, no matter what the politicians want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Key claim<\/p>\n
\u201c(Cognetti) fixed the budget, turned down a pay raise and invested in our safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is it factual?<\/p>\n
The narrator\u2019s statements are true, but in some instances worthy of qualification.<\/p>\n
Since Cognetti took office in January 2000, more than $5 million in state and federal grants were indeed allocated to projects designed to benefit the city\u2019s police department, according to city data. A large portion of that came from a $3.5 million federal grant secured in 2023<\/a> that paid for safety and survielance equipment<\/a> that included new body and dashboard cameras, stun guns and virtual reality headsets for training.<\/p>\n The city also spent $1.5 million to bolster the city\u2019s police vehicle fleet<\/a>.<\/p>\n Securing state and federal grants for these projects, however, overwhelmingly comes down to collaborative efforts. While Cognetti\u2019s administration works with Scranton\u2019s City Council to pursue the funding, elected officials in Washington D.C. and Harrisburg must also pitch for it. The $3.5 million grant in 2023, for example, was secured federally by former 8th District U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright.<\/p>\n In February, Bresnahan touted a $500,000 federal grant he secured for the city police department<\/a> to upgrade equipment and modernize technology to increase officer safety and effectiveness.<\/p>\n As for Scranton\u2019s finances, the claim that Cognetti \u201cfixed\u201d Scranton\u2019s budget holds true, as well. The city exited Pennsylvania\u2019s Act 47 municipal financial distress program<\/a> after 30 years in January 2022, after her second year in office. Scranton also achieved its highest credit rating in decades<\/a> during her tenure.<\/p>\n In January of 2025, City Council voted 3-2 to raise the mayor\u2019s pay<\/a> from $75,000 to $95,000, a 27% increase, starting in 2026. While running for reelection as mayor in the fall of 2025, Cognetti announced she would turn down that raise if elected<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: We are publishing a series of fact-checks of advertisements in the Pennsylvania 8th Congressional District race…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[836,182,139,50,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-287557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-election","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}