Rep. Fitzpatrick voted against Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill.’ How does his vote complicate Bucks County’s midterm race?

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President Donald Trump’s spending and tax bill successfully made its way through the Republican-controlled House with just two GOP defectors.

Trump’s “big beautiful” bill could cost 11.8 million Americans their healthcare coverage. Democrats plan to use the figure as a big hammer to flip vulnerable GOP seats in the midterms.

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick’s, R-Bucks County, position is precarious, at best. He’s one of just three GOP members in the 119th Congress who serves a district former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024.

Fitzpatrick is also facing stiff competition in the upcoming election from Democratic Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie. There’s just one problem for the Democratic apparatus:

His “no” vote on the bill will be a headache.

In a statement, Harvie emphasized that Fitzpatrick cast a “yes” vote for the bill in May in the first round of voting.

“He owns that vote, and he cannot put the genie back in the bottle,” Harvie said.

The Democrat listed the loss of health care coverage, SNAP benefits and green energy jobs as potential damage from the bill. According to an estimate by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office, more than 10,000 people in the 1st Congressional District will lose Medicaid coverage.

“If he had put our community first, Fitzpatrick could have killed this bill in its tracks in the House weeks ago,” Harvie said. “But he chose billionaires, special interests, and his party bosses over us.”

In a statement, Fitzpatrick attributed his rejection of the bill on the second vote to “the Senate’s amendments to Medicaid, in addition to several other Senate provisions.”

“The original House language was written in a way that protected our community; the Senate amendments fell short of our standard,” he said. “I believe in, and will always fight for, policies that are thoughtful, compassionate, and good for our community. It is this standard that will always guide my legislative decisions.”

Chris Pack, of the Defending America PAC, which supports Fitzpatrick, released a statement touting the representative’s “no” vote as an example of his bipartisanship and the fact that he “always votes in a way that’s best for his district.”

Meanwhile, Pack leveled insults at Fitzpatrick’s likely Democratic opponent in the midterms, saying Harvie “has spent weeks b—-ing and moaning with no solutions of his own, wrongly predicting how Fitzpatrick would vote.”

“Instead of obsessing over the most bipartisan member of Congress, maybe Harvie should explain why he’s 100% aligned with the far-left extremists in the Democrat Party who are hellbent on trying to destroy Pennsylvania and America as we know it,” he said.

If conservative activist Scott Pressler’s comments are any indication, Fitzpatrick could potentially face a tough primary from his own party if a candidate who aligns more closely with Trump’s agenda steps up.

“Yes, I am aware that Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA01) voted NO to the Big Beautiful Bill,” he said in a post on X. “Message received. CC: Bucks County.”

In another post, Pressler said he and other like-minded conservatives “are keeping a list & checking it twice of every Republican that does NOT support President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill — peacefully.”

In the 2024 Republican primary election, Fitzpatrick soundly defeated Mark Houck, an anti-abortion activist, winning more than 60% of the vote.

In the general election, Fitzpatrick bested Democratic challenger Ashley Ehasz for a second time, winning by more than 10 percentage points.