Democrats Bob Harvie, Lucia Simonelli Seek Primary Win

By Peter Hall | Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has represented Bucks and part of Montgomery counties for nearly a decade. 

But, the Democratic Party hopes to flip his First Congressional District seat this year by backing Bob Harvie, who in 2019 tipped Bucks County’s three-person board of commissioners to a Democratic majority for the first time ever.

Harvie, vice-chair of the commissioners, also served as a Falls Township supervisor for nearly two decades, including a dozen as chair. He said his record of bipartisan problem solving to improve access to human services, law enforcement training and sustainability are what voters want to see in Washington D.C.

“We’ve done it unanimously, because ultimately, people want the government that works,” Harvie told the Capital-Star last week. “They’re tired of the bickering, they’re tired of the finger pointing. They just want a government that’s going to work for them and make their lives better.”

But, Harvie must win the party’s nomination in the May 19 primary.

He faces Lucia Simonelli, a former congressional science advisor, who is running without the party’s support. She is hoping for the go-ahead from voters to challenge Fitzpatrick in November. 

The excitement and community involvement behind her progressive campaign and her clarity of message are what set her apart from both Harvie and Fitzpatrick, Simonelli told the Capital-Star.

“It’s less about, ‘we need to fundraise to match the amount that’s in his campaign coffers,’” she said. “It’s that ‘we need to out-excite people.’”

Including all of Bucks County and a slice of Montgomery County along their shared border, the 1st District ranges from the Philadelphia suburbs in the south to rural communities and rolling farms in the north. 

It has traditionally been a conservative stronghold, but has shifted blue in recent elections, along with the other Philly suburbs. Democrats gained a net 607 voter registrations in Bucks and more than 5,600 in Montgomery this year, reversing a trend of increasing GOP registrations since 2020.

Former Rep. Patrick Murphy was the last Democrat to serve Bucks County in Congress. He defeated Fitzpatrick’s older brother Mike Fitzpatrick, also a Republican, in 2006. Murphy served two terms before losing to the elder Fitzpatrick in 2010. 

The district is one of 44 Republican-held seats across the country and one of four in Pennsylvania that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has targeted as crucial to winning a majority in the U.S. House in this year’s midterm elections. 

In a statement, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said Harvie is the strongest candidate to take on Brian Fitzpatrick and stand up to the Trump administration.

“Bob Harvie is a proud son of Bucks County who has an undeniable record of showing up and serving the community that raised him,” she said. 

Simonelli and others have objected to the DCCC’s endorsements in those races, noting that seven candidates began the campaign. Only she and Harvie remain after the period for filing and challenging nominating petitions closed. 

“We did it organically with people being really excited to have another option,” she said.

Simonelli said her father immigrated to the United States in the 1980s and made his home in Montgomery County, where her mother’s family has lived for more than 50 years. She grew up as the child of working class parents who faced financial hardship and lacked access to health care.

“Early days were a bit of a struggle, but I think the opportunities of Montgomery County, like SEPTA, like public parks, like public education, were really foundational to my journey,” she said.

After earning a doctorate in mathematics, she joined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to teach math around the world, including in Iran. That’s where she was in 2018 when the first Trump administration withdrew from the agreement to limit the nation’s nuclear program in return for relief from sanctions.

Acting on a decision to devote her life to halting climate change, Simonelli went to work as a science advisor on climate and energy policy for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island). There she said she learned about the legislative process, including corporate lobbying and nonprofits that work to counter their influence. She now works for a nonprofit on climate change. 

“I have the ability to connect the dots of … the realities of working class families here and the decisions made in Washington, and even the events around the world, and that is the job and the scope of a congressperson,” Simonelli said.

Even if Democrats win control of the House, Simonelli said much of the new majority’s work will be damage control during the last two years of the Trump administration. She said she would work to restore the Affordable Care Act subsidies cut in the current Congress’ budget reconciliation bill. The reductions caused health care premiums to skyrocket, causing many to lose health insurance coverage.

Beyond restoring the subsidies, Simonelli said universal health care should be the Democrats’ North Star. She said she would support legislation to allow states to use federal Health and Human Services funding for state-based universal health care. 

Simonelli said she would also employ her experience in climate and energy issues to work on policy for AI data centers and minimize the impact they have on communities through their need for water and power. Simonelli said she would support a pause in development to allow local governments to adopt ordinances regulating data centers.

“This is really a question of equity, because I’m seeing that more well resourced municipalities can push back in a way that perhaps historically, frontline communities don’t have the capacity for,” she said.

As the child of an immigrant, Simonelli said she is vocal about abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying the agency is built on a foundation of racism and makes the nation less safe. 

“We definitely need to reform our immigration process, but I think it’s more about resourcing things like our asylum process and rethinking how we are acting at the borders,” she said.

Simonelli also said the U.S. must be more intentional about connecting climate change with the impacts it has on everyday life, such as the effect of extreme weather on the price of food. Likewise, the nation’s foreign policy, particularly the war against Iran, has become a part of a number kitchen-table issues facing families as the cost of gas spikes and America’s world standing declines. 

“I don’t think we can have a future of peace if we can’t be honest about our present, so foreign policy … is very close to my heart,” she said. 

Harvie was born in Bucks County and grew up in Bristol, near the border with Philadelphia. After earning a degree in history and a master’s degree in education, he taught at Bucks County Technical High School, where he served as chairman of the social studies department.

That showed him the extent of the challenges many families in the community face. 

“Going back to the kids I saw in my classroom … some of them came in wearing the same clothes every day because that was all they had. So, there is real pain,” he said.

He said his experience as a public servant in the district stands out above that of Fitzpatrick’s previous career as an FBI agent. 

“I’m running on my record too, which is a record of serving the people who I represent,” Harvie said, adding that Fitzpatrick shares responsibility for the Trump administration’s policies. He noted Fitzpatrick voted for the budget bill, which Harvie said harmed his constituents.

Harvie is also critical of Fitzpatrick’s “radio silence” on President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which he said have local business owners wondering whether they can stay in business. Fitzpatrick has expressed opposition to broad tariffs that increase costs for consumers but has faced criticism from Democrats for voting to protect tariffs from congressional challenges.

Harvie said his experience as a commissioner, a township supervisor and a teacher taught him that public service is about delivering for people and not about scoring political points. He said he’s proud of the work he and Democratic Chairwoman Diane Ellis Marseglia have accomplished with their Republican counterpart, Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo.

“If you’re not taking action to help people make their lives better, then you shouldn’t be in the job. It’s that simple,” Harvie said, adding that the board has worked on housing affordability and responses to emergencies, such as $27 million in grant money the county distributed to local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have a record of bipartisan success. I have a record of serving the people who I represent, whether they voted for me or not, and I think that’s what scares them,” he said. 

Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com.