“In addition to facing uphill national tides against them, they also have to deal with the fact that Josh Shapiro is going to have unlimited money,” a former Trump campaign official with ties to the state said, adding: “Which means that instead of spending money on his own re-election, he’s going to be spending money targeting” Perry, Mackenzie and Bresnahan.

The former Trump campaign official said the candidate most likely to feel the most heat from Shapiro is Perry, who was closely involved with Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election and defeated Stelson in 2024 by a few thousand votes. This person said if Shapiro makes it “his mission” to defeat Perry as outside spending floods the district, it will be difficult for the congressman to prevail.

“My guess is the number one thing he talks about is getting Scott Perry so that he can call up any national donor and say, not only did I flip two freshman districts, but also the former head of the Freedom Caucus is gone,” the person said.

In a primary night address to supporters on Tuesday, Shapiro noted Pennsylvanians “have a lot of power and a lot of responsibility this year.”

“You also deserve leaders in Congress who will focus on getting stuff done for you — not going to D.C. to say yes to whatever they’re told, no matter how much it hurts Pennsylvanians,” he said, adding, “Think about what it will look like, after we flip four seats here in Pennsylvania and win all across this country in November, to have a Congress that actually fights for us.”

The districts cover the Lehigh Valley, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton through the Poconos, south-central Pennsylvania and a slice of suburban Philadelphia. The candidates have stressed bipartisanship in their messaging — and even some Republicans Shapiro is targeting have refrained from criticizing the governor.

In interviews, Harvie said one of the facts he was most proud of in his time as commissioner was the high rate of bipartisan votes he has taken. Cognetti, who ran for mayor as an independent, discussed the electorate in her city and district favoring leaders who “don’t govern in a partisan way.”

Stelson said she was “the nonpartisan voice of this area for more than 30 years” in local TV news, adding, “for me, it doesn’t matter which party, Democrat, Republican, you will represent everyone, the independents, and I want them to know I’m listening, and I’m going to be doing the work.”

On the Republican side, Bresnahan talked up his work on constituent services and membership in the Problem Solvers’ Caucus. He touted bipartisan work on his website and, in a working-class district, was particularly proud of being one of a small handful of Republicans to win the backing of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union.

“I’m one of only two Republicans in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that they’ve endorsed, because I’m willing to work across the aisle,” he said.

Republicans see Bresnahan’s work on labor issues as one of his best calling cards in what will be a difficult race. They’re hopeful that a bruising primary in the neighboring district can boost Mackenzie’s chances, while Fitzpatrick’s proven ability to win in a tough political environment will serve him well.

“I don’t think anyone’s under any illusions that it’s gonna be easy,” a national Republican strategist working on the races said. “Everyone’s very clear about the fact that we’re looking to defy history here.”

Democrats in Pennsylvania are coalescing around a midterm message focused on the economy and, more recently, corruption. In his primary night address, Shapiro mentioned “corruption” in Washington at least a dozen times. Both Stelson and Cognetti have framed themselves as corruption-fighters in their runs.

Cognetti targeted Bresnahan for a series of stock trades he made in office, including when he sold up to $130,000 in stocks in companies that manage nearly half of all Medicaid enrollees before voting to make cuts to the program. Bresnahan said financial advisers manage his portfolio and he gave them no instructions on what to buy, sell or hold.

“Part of his platform was on banning congressional stock trading, and he immediately became one of the most active stock traders in Congress,” Cognetti said. “I know from conversations throughout the district, even before we decided to run, that folks know him as the stock trader. … Folks don’t want to see their local elected officials personally profit off of their public office.

Bresnahan said he is “actually excited for the legislation, any piece of legislation that provides some kind of guidance for people that had careers before coming to Congress.”

“Personally, I don’t think that the mayor of Scranton can run on her record,” he said. “They can’t assault me on my actual voting record, so they’ve resorted to character assassination.”

On Trump’s role in the races, Republicans said most are of the mindset that it’s better to accept Trump’s help and gain the benefits of his appearance and support, since most will be tagged with any downside of an alignment with Trump regardless of if he is involved.

“President Trump and House Republicans have been successful in Pennsylvania by being laser-focused on lowering costs, improving community safety, and strengthening American manufacturing,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Reilly Richardson said in a statement, adding, “Republicans are united and ready to win this November.”

Asked if he would like to see the president campaign for him, Bresnahan said, “what’s so important is that we have a relationship with the administration and Cabinet officials.”

“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,” he said. “And should the president choose to come back to Northeastern Pennsylvania, we’re absolutely going to welcome him.

On the other hand, Democrats are excited about Shapiro’s personal involvement.

“We’re so excited to be working with him, and honored that we were his first of the cycle in terms of endorsements,” Stelson said, adding that Shapiro introduced her at her campaign launch.

Republicans though have held their fire and even praised Shapiro, as Fitzpatrick did ahead of the governor endorsing Harvie.

“I honestly haven’t given much thought into the implications of what Josh Shapiro may or may not do,” Bresnahan said, adding that he has a good relationship with Shapiro’s federal legislative affairs team. “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.”

Both sides are gearing up for the political world to zero in on these races. This fall marks the first election cycle since Trump’s 2016 bid for the presidency that Pennsylvania won’t feature a competitive Senate race or presidential contest on the ballot.

“If we protect Pennsylvania, I think that we feel we are well on our way to protecting our House majority,” the national Republican strategist added. “A lot of people are going to be looking to Pennsylvania on election night.”