NBC News reports that control of the House could come down to four battleground races in Pennsylvania, all held by Republicans, and the 8th District is one of them. There, first-term Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan faces Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti. A Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson told NBC News that "Democrats can win back the House by flipping four seats in Pennsylvania." The Associated Press, in wire copy carried by PBS News, reports that Republicans have made protecting Bresnahan a high priority and that President Trump and Vice President JD Vance both visited the district last year. CNN reports that Gov. Josh Shapiro endorsed Cognetti, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
CNN reports that the northeastern Pennsylvania district voted for Trump in all three of his presidential campaigns. Bresnahan defeated Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright in 2024 with just under 51% of the vote, CNN reports, while Trump won nearly 54% there. Fox News reports that Cartwright had represented the 8th District since the state's 2018 redistricting and that Trump endorsed Bresnahan in April 2024.
Fox News describes Bresnahan as a fifth-generation native of Luzerne County and CEO of Kuharchik Construction. CBS News reports that his single largest reported asset is his family's company, valued at between $5 million and $25 million. NBC News reports that he points to his constituent services, his membership in the Problem Solvers' Caucus and backing from the American Federation of Government Employees. Cognetti, an Oregon native who worked on Barack Obama's first presidential campaign, ran for mayor as an independent in a 2019 special election after the incumbent resigned before pleading guilty to federal corruption charges, CNN reports. She became the first woman elected mayor of Scranton and won full terms in 2021 and 2025, according to CNN.
Stock trading runs through the coverage. CNN reports that Bresnahan campaigned on banning congressional stock trading, then announced a blind trust and introduced a ban bill in May 2025. NBC News reports that a week before he voted for the 2025 Republican bill that cut Medicaid, he sold up to $130,000 in stock in four companies that manage nearly half of all Medicaid enrollees. Bresnahan told NBC News that he "never instructed my financial advisors on what to buy, sell, or hold." CBS News reports that his disclosed trades rank him seventh in Congress, citing a trade tracker. NPR reports that Cognetti's eight-point anti-corruption plan includes a ban on congressional stock trades, a ban on former lawmakers becoming lobbyists and term limits for members of Congress and Supreme Court justices. NPR also reports that Republican operatives have made corruption allegations against Cognetti, and that her campaign denies wrongdoing.
Data centers have become a second front. The Associated Press reports that Cognetti's new TV ad on the issue cost about $200,000 for its initial two-week run, and that Bresnahan's bill to limit corporate lawsuits over local data center zoning denials has not moved out of committee. CBS News reports that Bresnahan is now running his own ad on the bill while holding investments in companies tied to the data center industry, and that Cognetti's latest disclosure shows no individual stocks. On money, Roll Call reports that Bresnahan was among the battleground Republicans outraised by their challengers in the second quarter. Semafor reports that an Aug. 12 ad from Bresnahan and the National Republican Congressional Committee featured a photo of Cognetti with a drag performer at the city's Pride event.
Cognetti spoke to the camera in a 30-second campaign TV ad.
“Big Tech needs to pay their own way. Not hide behind NDAs. No tax breaks. Don't raise our electric bills, don't poison our water. And hire local, union labor”
Cognetti spoke in an interview with NBC News after the May primary.
“Part of his platform was on banning congressional stock trading, and he immediately became one of the most active stock traders in Congress”
Cognetti spoke in an interview with CNN.
“We would be mistaken if we took Democratic victory in 2026 as a mandate to go into some sort of impeachment process”
Cognetti spoke in an interview with CNN about her 2019 mayoral campaign.
“When you have corruption, Democrats need to make sure that they are calling it out as they see it”
Cognetti spoke in an interview with CNN about what she would do if elected to Congress.
“We certainly need to rescind the cuts from HR 1, but that doesn’t mean that Medicare and Medicaid are perfect.”
Bresnahan issued a statement in June accompanying the introduction of his Local Control Protection Act.
“We should never let billion-dollar corporations supersede the voices of those who live in the community”
Bresnahan spoke in an interview with NBC News after the May primary.
“They can’t assault me on my actual voting record, so they’ve resorted to character assassination.”
Bresnahan was asked by NBC News whether he would like Trump to campaign for him.
“So regardless of who is in power in the state Legislature or in the presidency, the member of Congress needs to work with everyone, and we’re certainly going to continue to work with the president”
Bresnahan was asked by NBC News about Shapiro's endorsements in Pennsylvania's battleground House races.
“The governor is well entitled to endorse whoever he thinks is right for his fit, but we’re still going to work together, and I’m going to work with this team, because at the end of the day, the people of northeastern Pennsylvania deserve representation at the federal level that aligns with their ideological beliefs.”
Bresnahan gave a statement to NBC News for a report on his stock trades.
“A genuine and workable reform would give Members, many of whom had successful careers before entering public service, a clear pathway to move individual holdings into widely accepted and diversified investment products”
Platforms are on the candidates' own sites, linked above.