Voters inside Pennsylvania’s 8th congressional district gave six-term incumbent Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., the boot last month in favor of a young, energetic and successful businessman who says he’s ready to defend their interests in the nation’s capital.
Republican Rep.-elect Rob Bresnahan, 34, tells Fox News Digital in an interview that “kitchen table issues” helped him connect with residents of Northeastern Pennsylvania and oust Cartwright, a progressive who served more than a decade in Congress.
“When we were knocking on doors and talking to people every day for 13 months, the first thing someone said was, ‘I can’t pay my bills. I can’t pay the rent.’ I can’t pay my mortgage. I can’t pay my school property taxes. I can’t afford groceries,” Bresnahan said.
Rising food and gas prices have made the cost of living unaffordable for Pennsylvanians, he explained. And while voters have watched illegal immigrants cross the southern border and receive free food, housing and benefits, while billions in foreign aid flowed from the U.S. to other countries, they felt that foreigners were treated better by their government than Americans, said Bersnahan.
PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT REP. MATT CARTWRIGHT ADMITS RACE TO GOP CHALLENGER
Democratic Pennsylvania Representative Matt Cartwright and Pennsylvania Republican House candidate Rob Bresnahan. (Getty Images/Rob for PA)
“We look around at our neighbors and say, ‘Hey, what about us here?’ And they couldn’t help but feel like they were in second place for a long time.”
Bresnahan, 34, was a success story before he won the election House of Representatives. A fifth-generation Luzerne County resident, at just 19 years old he was entrusted as CFO of his grandfather’s construction company, which builds electrical infrastructure for municipalities and highways throughout Pennsylvania.
He spent his college years at the University of Scranton running back and forth between the office and the classroom as he worked to help the company recover from the global financial crisis. His hard work paid off, the company grew and Bresnahan became CEO after graduating in 2013.
“I was still living at home with my parents, going in and out of a dorm room and running a company with 58 employees, even though I couldn’t legally drink a Coors Light yet,” he told Citizen’s Voice in 2021. The combination was a heavy workload, but it was a sacrifice I would make again.”
But as the years passed, Bresnahan, like many Americans, felt like the country was heading in the wrong direction. The decisions from Washington DC were bad for his company, his employees and the people they serve. And so he decided to enter politics to make a difference.
“I felt like the country was not moving in the right direction with what’s happening at our southern border. We had a life that was essentially unaffordable for the average person. And I’ve always been one to roll up my sleeves and throw myself into the fire. Bresnahan said.
Rob Bresnahan, Republican candidate for Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, takes the stage during a Trump campaign rally at Riverfront Sports on October 9, 2024 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images)
His winning congressional campaign focused on securing the border, cutting taxes and government spending, creating “family-sustaining jobs” in the Keystone State and bolstering law enforcement. In April, Bresnahan received the support of the newly elected president Donald Trump.
“Rob, a successful businessman, has worked hard to create jobs and grow the economy, unlike his opponent, Matt Cartwright, who is completely dependent on Nancy Pelosi and the radical left,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
With the campaign behind him, Bresnahan says he and the other members of the incoming Republican majority in Congress are ready to launch a pro-growth agenda in January.
“Securing the border. That has to happen on the first day, January 3 at 12:01 a.m., the day after we are all sworn in,” he told Fox News Digital. “I think there will be a big script, but that is immediately a tangible victory.”
SINGLE HOUSE RACE STANDS BETWEEN REPUBLICANS AND A 1-SEAT MAJORITY
A view of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on November 4, 2024, ahead of the 2024 presidential election. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
On inflation, Bresnahan says Congress and the Trump administration can address unaffordable prices by lowering energy costs. “Just talking about Pennsylvania, 52% of homes are heated with natural gas. $45 billion a year is generated by the natural gas industry, and $76 billion in GDP comes from the fracking and natural gas industries,” he said, emphasizing that policymakers must stop “taxing natural resources.”
The rising national debt, which stands at $36 trillion, is a new burden on the economy that Bresnahan says must be addressed. “We spend more on debt servicing – just on our national debt and interest – than we spend on our national defense budget.”
The young lawmaker said there will be “tough voices” on discretionary spending when Congress meets in January. But two of the biggest contributors to federal debt and deficits will remain untouched.
“It is clear that we cannot cut Medicare. We cannot cut social security. We have to preserve that for our current generation, and we have to find ways to preserve it for our generation and the next generation. But I don’t. I believe there is a one-size-fits-all policy under any circumstance, let alone the national debt and federal government spending,” Bresnahan said.
However, he added that illegal immigrants should not benefit from programs that Americans have paid into, including Social Security and Medicare.
REPUBLICANS ARE PROJECTED TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF HOME AS TRUMP PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT THE AGENDA
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is expected to keep his job after Republicans retain their majority in the House of Representatives. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Republicans are expected to extend the 2017 tax cuts that took effect during Trump’s first term. Bresnahan says he supports these tax cuts and emphasizes that economic growth, spurred by deregulation and investments in infrastructure and American jobs, can offset any revenue losses.
“We need to get people back to work,” he said. “We must create an economic environment that is conducive to the American people and encourages them to work.”
Part of that is supporting jobs that don’t require a college degree, such as carpenters, plumbers or electricians. “These are great, family-sustaining careers with annuities from day one, health insurance for your family, and you earn while you learn.”
On foreign policy, Bresnahan said the United States must remain a global superpower and pursue “peace through strength.”
“But we must be strong like the United States,” he added. Asked about the Republican Party’s growing opposition to foreign aid, including to Ukraine, Bresnahan emphasized that he supports efforts to push back on Russian aggression — but wants to do so responsibly.
YOUNGEST HOUSE REPUBLICAN ELECT REVEALS HOW GOP HONOR BACK AMERICA’S YOUTH
“Putin is a war criminal and must be stopped,” he said. “I’m all in favor of supplying weapons, missiles and missiles – actually there’s a major manufacturing facility in my district. But what I do want to be accountable for is the raw, hard dollars that were sent. I want to see these audited to ensure they are going to the right targets.”
Echoing Trump’s belief in putting America first, Bresnahan said there is a point where “enough is enough” and Europe must match US contributions to foreign aid.
“Again, I’m looking at, you know, 25% of my bridges are structurally deficient. We have aging infrastructure levees that protect over $1 trillion of property here in the United States. You’re talking about electric distribution networks that don’t do that.” No investments have been made in it since the 1950s, with a useful lifespan of 50 years. And you know, we were without power for several days now, which could possibly last a week.Editor’s note: A snowstorm in Breshanan district had postponed this interview). Europe did not come to send trucks to help us rebuild our networks.”
“Ukraine clearly has a lot to do, but we have to take care of our own people. We need to take care of our own Americans. And I believe that Donald Trump had that narrative and that’s why he just won the election by a landslide. because it’s about us,” he added.
Bresnahan hopes to find “common sense” solutions to the complex problems facing Americans. He has pledged to work with anyone who has a good idea, Republican or Democrat, and has received support from both No Labels and the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus. Although he calls himself a “fiscal conservative,” he rejects political labels because “I don’t think confirmation bias is the right way to solve any problem.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“I believe that most challenges can be overcome through healthy and robust debate,” he added.
And what about the issues that inflame passions on both sides? Before this interview, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., made national headlines after she introduced a resolution that would ban Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., a transgender lawmaker who is biologically male, from using women’s restrooms in the capital.
Bresnahan said that while he believes biological males should not be allowed to play in women’s sports or use their facilities, the flare-up between Mace and McBride distracts from other important issues facing Americans — such as crumbling infrastructure and expensive costs of livelihood.
“I don’t want the 119th Congress to be hijacked by which bathrooms we should use if we’re elected to deliver real solutions for the real American people. And that’s why I’m going to Washington, DC.”
Emma Colton of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
