Race to watch: What voters need to know about Pa. state Rep. Brian Munroe and Republican challenger Dan McPhillips

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In the 2022 election, Democrats gained majority control of the Pennsylvania state House for the first time in more than a decade.

Several house seats flipped and many races remain close this election year. All 203 seats in the House are up for reelection every two years.

The 144th District includes Warminster and Warrington townships, parts of New Britain Township and Ivyland Borough. Democrat Brian Munroe flipped the seat in 2022, defeating Republican incumbent Todd Polinchock by just 515 votes.

This year, Munroe is facing Republican challenger Dan McPhillips. Neither candidate responded to interview requests for this story.

Here’s where both candidates stand on key issues.

Democrat Brian Munroe

Munroe, 50, became a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician at the age of 17. He graduated from Conestoga High School in Chester County and later joined the U.S. Navy. Munroe served aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt and received a number of medals for his service, including the Armed Forces Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

In 2001, he became a police officer in Radnor Township and worked in law enforcement in the Philly suburbs for 10 years. He served on the Warminster Township Board of Supervisors from 2016 to 2020, and was elected as the Bucks County Clerk of Courts in 2020.

During his 2022 campaign, Munroe told WHYY News he is a “fiscally conservative and socially liberal Democrat” and was running because Polinchock, the then-Republican incumbent first elected in 2018, had “abandoned the middle.”

Abortion rights was one of the biggest contrasts between the two candidates, as Polinchock voted for a constitutional amendment that would ban abortion in Pennsylvania.

In June, Munroe told WHYY News “the only thing the only thing that stopped” the amendment from passing was his election, which helped Democrats win the majority in the House for the first time in more than a decade.

In that same interview, Munroe said the closure of the Planned Parenthood in Warminster this June was “devastating” to the community, and showed how the 144th District is “the frontlines in protecting women’s rights.”

“It’s not just an abortion issue. It’s a women’s health issue,” he said. “This is a direct result of the Dobbs decision. It’s another example of the assault on women’s rights.”

Munroe said at the time he would support a constitutional amendment to “enshrine a woman’s right to choose.”

“In the event that we were to lose the majority, I think they would not hesitate to go the route of Alabama or Florida in a heartbeat,” Munroe said of Republican legislators in the state House.

In the House, Munroe serves on several committees, including commerce; consumer protection, technology and utilities (subcommittee on technology); insurance; local government (subcommittee on boroughs); professional licensure; and veteran affairs and emergency preparedness (subcommittee on military and veteran facilities).

While in the House, Munroe has co-sponsored legislation on expanding health care, social media safety for children, supporting veterans and law enforcement officers and more.

His campaign website touts his commitment to abortion rights, environmental protections and health care access.

Munroe is endorsed by Planned Parenthood, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, VoteVets, SEIU, Clean Water Action, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association and more.

Republican Dan McPhillips

McPhillips, 54, is a lifelong resident of Warminster Township.

According to his campaign website, McPhillips “learned real leaders listen” from his mom, who served as a local school board member and graduated from Temple Law School, all while raising McPhillips and his siblings on her own after McPhillips’ dad passed away when he was 10.

McPhillips graduated from Archbishop Wood High School and got his associate’s degree from Bucks County Community College. He later received his bachelor’s degree in political science from LaSalle University.

According to the Bucks County government website, McPhillips worked in management in the private sector and had “oversight of large teams and multi-million-dollar budgets.”

His career in public service started with serving on the Warminster Township Planning Commission and the zoning hearing board.

McPhillips was appointed to the Warminster Board of Supervisors to fill a vacancy in April of 2012 and was later re-elected. He served two terms as the board’s chairperson.

In 2022, McPhillips became the county’s recorder of deeds and is currently serving in that role.

He is a founding member of the Warminster Township Economic Development Committee. His campaign website touts his work as a township supervisor to increase funding for police, and his collaboration with the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office to install a 24/7 prescription medicine drop-off box at the police station to help combat the opioid crisis.

His campaign website lists public safety, jobs and the economy and education as his top priorities.

“I would work with the local departments, as well as the state police, to develop strategies to prevent crime from spreading throughout the county,” McPhillips told Patch in a recent interview. “And I would encourage the District Attorneys to prosecute criminals so we don’t end up like Philadelphia.”

McPhillips has been endorsed by the Bucks County Fraternal Order of Police, Bucks District Attorney Jen Schorn, and the county’s sheriff, Fred Harran.