Why the 2025 Bucks blue wave?

It was a stunner of an election that swept Bucks County Republicans out of office, costing them nine row offices, including the salient district attorney and sheriff. GOP candidates lost bids for seats in townships, boroughs, school districts, and the Court of Common Pleas.

Democrats won supervisor and council races in Bensalem, Buckingham, Doylestown Township, Lower Makefield, Lower Southampton, Middletown, Falls, Newtown, Northampton, Plumstead, Solebury, Warminster, and Upper Makefield townships. 

All was not lost, they’re saying; Republicans held the line in Bedminster, Milford, Springfield, Tinicum, Warwick, and Wrightstown, and took three of four seats on the Quakertown Community School District school board. Not unexpected in the upper regions of Bucks County, but noteworthy in locales further southeast. 

As the clock ticked into Wednesday, November 5, Republican campaign workers reported there was nothing less than a virtual explosion of emotion and plenty of double-checking by the disbelievers. The party faithful are busy trying to figure out how they were caught off guard by the losses.  

The Bucks County “blowout” coincided with Democratic victories in gubernatorial races in blue New Jersey and Virginia and a socialist’s win in the Blue Apple, New York. That was a disappointment, but not a surprise. 

Experienced and innovative candidates like Bucks District Attorney Jennifer Schorn and Sheriff Fred Harran lost to relative newcomers Joe Khan and Danny Ceisler who had Philadelphia-rooted resumes and were handpicked to run for the job.  

Much of this got lost in national politics, but this municipal election was local, local, local. This week’s elections demanded a strategy to turn out the vote and blast the incumbents’ messages and accomplishments on the home front. But the shrewd national Democrats launched the pre-election “No Kings” campaign around the country, and in Bucks County, placing the state of the union on Trump — everything from the price of eggs to arrests of Hispanic grandmas sitting on their porches.

A big focus was on Harran for his decision to sign up with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defying the county commissioners’ majority who took the anti-enforcement position of their left-leaning party. As an apparent surrogate for the commissioners, the American Civil Liberties Union took the sheriff to court, and he won right before the election. ACLU said they would appeal, though Sheriff-Elect Danny Ceisler will inevitably kill the partnership anyway. 

This week, Republicans were closeted trying to decide on the best strategy for the future — next year’s congressional election and the presidential contest three years away. 

Undoubtedly, they’re still dissecting the results to answer the question: Why, why, why the countywide loss? What effect did President Trump’s sinking favorability ratings have, or the immigration fights, the press, social media? Mail-in and early voting may be a major factor; Democrats have mastered the art, after all.

Or is it possible the Bucks County Republican Party has been weakened by the conservative MAGA Republicans within their ranks who’ve been accused of not knocking themselves out for candidates they don’t like and for targeting the more moderate Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-01) with conservative primary challengers?  

Or maybe a voice from the past could help. Brian Fitzpatrick’s brother, Mike, who battled cancer, died in January 2020, having served as a Bucks County commissioner for a dozen years and later as a four-term congressman. More than once, he said,“Republicans are better at governance. Democrats are better at politics.” 

Maybe that’s what happened on November 4, 2025.

Pat Wandling hosts Speak Your Piece weekdays at noon on WBCB 1490.