Republican challenger Rob Bresnahan is claiming victory in his bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright in their 8th Congressional District contest.
According to unofficial vote totals available at 1:50 a.m., Bresnahan led Cartwright by 192,265 to 184,595 votes.
"I am humbled and honored by the trust the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania have placed in me to serve as their voice in the House of Representatives," Bresnahan said. "I sincerely thank Congressman Matt Cartwright for his many years of service. While we may not always agree on how to best serve, I know he has always acted in what he believes is the best interest of Northeastern Pennsylvania."
Efforts to reach a Cartwright spokesperson were not immediately successful early Wednesday.
Cartwright, 63, who is a lawyer by training and lives in Moosic, was first elected in 2012. Bresnahan, 34, lives in Dallas Township in Luzerne County.
The 8th District, home to about 765,000 people, covers all of Lackawanna, Wayne and Pike counties; roughly the eastern half of Luzerne County, including Wilkes-Barre, Pittston and Hazleton; and all of Monroe County, except for Polk and Eldred townships and part of Ross Township.
Cartwright gives reflective speech
Addressing supporters at the Waldorf Park Social Club in Scranton at 10:30 p.m., Cartwright still had a lead over Bresnahan and expected the race might not be called Tuesday night, due to earlier voting problems in Luzerne County.
"The last time I looked, we had a lead of about 14,000 votes, but that tends to shrink, so this will be a nail-biter," he said.
Still, Cartwright struck a reflective tone.
"I wanted to come here before you left, and say a few words to you, a few words of thanks," Cartwright said.
"I look around this room, and I see leaders. I see people who care about fighting for ordinary Americans, regular working people who always have the deck stacked against them," he added.
"It's always been the same fight, a little, little person against the big power, the well- heeled and the well-connected. It's always been the same fight, and it is we, the Democrats, who understand how to wage that fight."
In remarks to reporters shortly afterward, Cartwright said he's been fighting Republican challengers for the past eight years.
"I wouldn't say we've had an easy go of it," he said.
Cartwright had won over the years, though by shrinking margins – by 23,000 votes over former Wall Street banker John Chrin in 2018, then by 12,000 votes in 2020 and 7,000 votes in 2022 against political consultant Jim Bognet.
In 2022, redistricting rewrote the 8th to be more Republican. Since then, the Democratic voter registration edge has shrunk even further – from 9 to 5 percentage points.
"Ever since 2016 all of a sudden, national Republicans got the idea that I was a Democrat improperly squatting in a rightfully Republican district, and they've been coming after me tooth and nail, hammer and tong for the last three cycles," Cartwright said. "We're used to these squeakers of elections. That's just kind of the what comes with the territory."
Bresnahan: 'We are in this fight'
Around the same time, Bresnahan was in a decidedly upbeat mood speaking to his supporters at Sabatini's Bar & Bottleshop in Exeter.
"I'm gonna vote for northeastern Pennsylvania every single day, because you're gonna find me in places like this, in and around the community,” Bresnahan said.
"We are in this fight. I don't know when the verdict is going to come in, but it is going to be razor-thin," he said.
"The updates that I can give you are out of Lackawanna County, and we are overperforming our projections by about 2% which is really good," Bresnahan said.
In the end, it appeared that Bresnahan overperformed throughout the district, and his apparent victory was anything but thin.
"I am eager to get to work for our district, and I give my word that as their congressman, there will be no R or D next to my name — only N-E-P-A," Bresnahan said. "We will bring back opportunities, stand up for our values, and fight for a brighter future for our communities."
