At town hall meeting, Harvie rules out taking AIPAC contributions, vows to strengthen EPA

More than 100 people packed the Middletown Township Municipal Building on Thursday for a town hall for Bob Harvie Jr., a Democrat running for Congress.

Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner, thanked them for coming to his event instead of Governor Josh Shapiro’s (D) reelection launch rally in Philadelphia. 

Harvie grew up in Bristol in an Irish-Catholic family that venerated President John F. Kennedy. His first campaign was helping an uncle run for mayor of that borough, knocking doors when he was twelve years old. 

A woman at Thursday’s event asked Harvie how he intended to appeal to younger voters, many of whom ignore politics. Harvie said that he’ll use social media and discuss issues they care about. But he declined to detail his campaign tactics as that might alert his likely general election opponent, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01).

However, his strategy seemed apparent during the nearly two-hour campaign event: Tie Fitzpatrick to President Donald Trump. 

“I was raised to believe in the American Dream,” Harvie said. “I wonder how many young people believe there is an American Dream. They’ve been sold, sold down the river, for what I don’t know. They’re worried about their healthcare, about Social Security. Now we have a generation that doesn’t believe in that dream; that’s a serious concern. Now we have a president who certainly doesn’t ask what he can do for this country. His question is, ‘What are you going to do for me?’ And we have a congressman who says [to Trump, do] whatever you want. So we need to make a change in this nation. We need people who are going to stand up, who are going to lead.

“I’m doing my best to win this race because we need a new direction,” he continued. “We need to start building trust in our government and our belief that there is still a dream for the next generation.”

America’s present younger generation is the first that has fewer opportunities than their parents, he said. 

“We haven’t handed thema lot to work with, and it’s getting worse thanks to a budget bill that passed with the help of our congressman,” Harvie said, referring to a tax and spending package whose final version Fitzpatrick actually voted against earlier this year. “It doesn’t have the supports that people need to give them opportunities.”

The commissioner promised to try to win back the working-class voters that the Democrats have lost by being someone “who understands, who cares.”

A woman demanded to know whether Harvie would take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and he told her he would not. Records show that Fitzpatrick has accepted donations from AIPAC, which is nonpartisan.

Another woman was concerned about increased antisemitism and said a Hanukkah event in Doylestown needed police protection, which was “terrifying.” 

“How will you help the Jewish community feel safe?” she asked. And, she said, Qatar is the largest funder of higher education institutions in the U.S. and that country also funds terrorists.

Harvie admitted it was “troubling to say the least.” And he told a story about his teaching days when he taught the histories of various religions. 

“I have much respect for everybody,” he said, noting he had students from every background and religion. “I treated everyone the same way and I am going to keep doing that.” He said he and Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a fellow Democrat who now chairs the Bucks County Board of Commissioners, started a diversity program in the county when they took office. 

“This administration clearly is focused on hate and prospers on hate,” Harvie said. “We have to do better and we have to stand up every single time [for] every religion, every orientation, every background.”

Keith Jenkins was concerned because he read that Social Security would run out of money by 2030. He said a solution might be an income cap for recipients. 

“They’re stealing from our future to pay for the present,” said Harvie. “If you have someone who’s a millionaire…, to say they should pay the same Social Security tax as somebody who didn’t finish high school doesn’t quite sit well. For younger people, I think that’s the issue: fairness.”

Many people voted for Trump because they thought “he was going to right the wrongs,” said Harvie. “Just like our ‘problem solver’ congressman. I don’t know what problems he’s solved.”

Another man was concerned about the data center planned for the former U.S. Steel site in Falls Township that will consume as much water and electricity as “a small city.”

The intake for the township water is located downstream from that site “as well as the largest landfill in the country,” he said. “We know what the current administration has done to the [Environmental Protection Agency]. Will you commit to strengthening the EPA?”

“Absolutely,” said Harvie. 

The commissioner noted that he’s talked to his counterpart in Loudon County, Virginia, home to the most data centers in the country, about how they protected their residents. He also touted his record as an environmentalist while serving as a county commissioner, adding electric vehicles and charging stations. He promised to work with the state Department of Environmental Protection on the Falls Township data center issues.

Another man asked Harvie why he fired state Senator Frank Farry (R-Langhorne) from the community college board, asking him if that was political. Harvie denied that it was.

A Bensalem woman wondered if he thought Trump would cancel the midterm elections.

Harvie called that a “Twilight Zone” question. 

“Our elections are less safe today because of Donald Trump,” he said. 

The Department of Homeland Security eliminated the section that protected elections from foreign interference, he said. And the state and county have election software but it isn’t their job to fend off a foreign attack. The county emergency department has less Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, he said. 

“There’s never been a more inept administration in the history of this country than the one that’s there now,” said Harvie. “And shame on every senator who voted for the budget. And shame on this congressman that refuses to hold him accountable.”

However, Fitzpatrick, co-chair of the House Problem Solvers Caucus, was found to be the most bipartisan member of Congress by The Hill in 2025. Fitzpatrick was one of two Republican congress members who voted against Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, saying he objected to the Senate’s Medicaid cuts. On Thursday, the same day as the town hall, Fitzpatrick voted to override Trump’s vetoes on two bills. Also, Thursday, Fitzpatrick voted to pass a bill to extend Covid-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

“FBI corruption subject Bob Harvie is clearly projecting his own insecurities as a far-left extremist who has never met a tax increase or a woke policy he didn’t like,” said Chris Pack, a spokesperson for Defending America PAC, which supports Fitzpatrick. “The truth is that Brian Fitzpatrick has repeatedly been ranked the most bipartisan member of Congress by the nonpartisan Lugar Center because he consistently votes in the best interests of his district.” 

The Republican National Congressional Committee was equally blunt.

“Corrupt Bob Harvie, the subject of an FBI investigation, is so weak that he can’t stand up to his party to forcefully condemn antisemitism. Thankfully, Jewish Pennsylvanians already have a strong champion in Brian Fitzpatrick and won’t have to worry about Harvie being their Member of Congress,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Reilly Richardson said.

Thursday marked the fifth town hall Harvie held since he began his campaign last April. 

Although previous Democratic challengers have failed to oust Fitzpatrick, who was first elected in 2016, Harvie believes that he is the candidate who will succeed.

“I have never lost an election,” said Harvie. “I’m not running to lose. I’m running to win. I’m running to win, and I’m going to do what it takes to win.”

He noted that he’s won countywide twice. 

Editor’s note: This article was updated to include a comment from the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Linda Stein is a Philadelphia-area journalist.