Former U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright stood Thursday in front of a tangible result of his congressional work but said his days as a congressman are done.
“I will not be a candidate in the 2026 elections,” Cartwright said, confirming a WVIA News report Wednesday. “I worked 80-hour weeks at this job for 12 years. I’ve decided it’s time to give it a rest and give the chance to someone else.”
Standing next to his wife, attorney Marion Munley, Cartwright spoke in front of the shell of a new emergency services building under construction in Moosic, a Lackawanna County borough.
Cartwright, a Democrat, obtained $3 million in federal money to replace the borough’s current Greenwood Hose Company, which a contractor will demolish this summer after the new building opens.
Cartwright, who narrowly lost his race for a seventh two-year term in November to Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, said he gave serious thought to running again. Many supporters called, texted or emailed him messages urging him to run, he said.
“Marion tried to hide those things from me,” he joked.
Cartwright said Democrats “have a deep bench” from which to choose a new nominee to run against Bresnahan next year. He declined to name names.
He said he will eventually endorse someone as the Democratic nominee but plans to talk with potential candidates in the running about what’s involved in a congressional campaign.
He hopes the party can avoid a costly primary election fight and settle on one candidate first, he said.
Bresnahan narrowly beat Cartwright in 2024
The contest for the 8th Congressional District next year is expected to be among the hottest and most expensive in the country. The district includes all of Lackawanna, Pike and Wayne counties, most of Monroe and roughly the eastern half of Luzerne.
Cartwright lost to Bresnahan by 6,252 votes, or 1.62 percentage points, as President Donald Trump won Pennsylvania for a second time.
Cartwright praised Bresnahan’s support for Amtrak’s proposed Scranton-to-New York City passenger train but declined to comment on the Republican congressman’s overall performance so far. Cartwright made it clear he’s unhappy with President Donald Trump’s administration. He said he hopes for more stability but declined to go into further detail about his dissatisfaction.
National Republican Campaign Committee spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole fired back.
“Rep. Rob Bresnahan has accomplished more for Pennsylvania in five months in Congress than DC lobbyist Matt Cartwright accomplished in over 10 years,” O’Toole said in an email. “Rep. Bresnahan is delivering, and Cartwright is sending a message to Democrats that this race is over before it begins.”
Lombardo, Kosierowski, Flynn possible candidates
Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo has said he’s considering running. State Rep. Bridget Kosierowski has not ruled out a bid. State Sen. Marty Flynn, a rumored candidate, has not responded to messages sent to gauge his interest.
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, long a rumored candidate but facing re-election this year, texted, “I’m running for mayor of Scranton.”
Cognetti did not answer a text asking if running for mayor means she won’t run for Congress.
Cartwright proud of accomplishments
Cartwright said he “gave it my all” in 12 years in Congress, becoming the chairman of a House Appropriations Committee subcommittee.
“And that helped me bring a lot of our tax dollars back here to be put to work in our local economy,” he said. “About $100 million on my own signature.”
He credited state legislators and Moosic officials for making the emergency services building happen.
“In our office we placed a premium on working for economic development, and helping our local employers navigate the federal and state government,” he said.
Cartwright said 16 bills he wrote became law, including the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. The act allowed more veterans who trained at the base and drank its contaminated water to sue for compensation to cover the cancer and other maladies.
He cited other bills that he said saved “American taxpayers billions of dollars every year,” raised pay for federal prison guards and revived the passenger train.
“I’m proud to say that we worked very hard in my office to revitalize the Amtrak project, which is all systems go,” he said.
He promised to continue to work on that as a Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority board member. The authority is one of the project’s key sponsors. Cartwright was named to the board in January.
Amtrak economists’ “gratifying” estimate that the train will generate $84 million a year “means an awful lot of good paying jobs will be coming here, and I’m so proud to have had a hand in that,” he said.
Cartwright, who lost at least partly because voters wanted change, urged them to think twice about voting for change.
“When you think about who to vote for, I’d suggest you don’t just always go for the change candidate. Because half the time the change they offer is not for the better,” he said. “Don’t automatically vote for extremist candidates who offer simple solutions to complicated problems. If solutions were that simple those wouldn’t be problems in the first place.”
He urged voters to avoid backing “candidates who scapegoat the least of our brothers and sisters.”
“Targeting their lives isn’t what is going to fix yours. Being kind to them won’t hurt you,” he said. “Do your own research about who to vote for.”
He also weighed in on the decline of “traditional journalism.”
“The problem is, the internet has made traditional journalism unprofitable, and the money going into things like investigatory journalism has been slashed,” he said. “So, the sources that our parents and grandparents could rely on for the truth aren’t around anymore. People aren’t getting news from the Edward R. Murrows and the Walter Cronkites, journalists with principles, ethics and standards.”
Instead, he said, “people get news from the new mainstream media: political cable TV shows and the internet.”
These, he said, have “no standards and you can find support for the most ridiculous lies and conspiracy theories they try to make you believe, about anything.”
He urged voters to “do your homework” and vote for candidates “who will fight for things that really matter.”
They include healthcare, police and first responders, fair prescription prices, veterans’ care, older adult benefits, workers, civil and voting rights, justice, clean air and water, tax fairness, sensible economic policies and public education, he said.
“These are the things I fought for, and I was proud to do it, and I’m proud to say I went down swinging for these things,” he said.
