Search
Close this search box.

It’s Official: Boockvar to Challenge Fitzpatrick

By Keegan Gibson, Managing Editor

Bucks County attorney Kathryn Boockvar, who last year sought a judgeship on the Pa. Commonwealth Court, has officially announced her bid for Congress against Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick.

In a fundraising email to supports, Boockvar cites her desire to help working families.

“I am running for Congress because so many people are having trouble supporting their families, covering their college tuition, and paying for their prescriptions, while our current Congress does nothing,” she said.

She doesn’t pull punches, either, accusing Fitzpatrick of voting with the far right.

“Congressman Fitzpatrick has spent the past year voting with the Tea Party to end Medicare, cut benefits to veterans, gut environmental protections, and deny tax breaks for the middle class, all for partisan power politics.”

The full email is below.

The district has always been among the most competitive in the state, and remains so even despite successful Republican efforts to draw it mare safely for the incumbent (the 8th shed its portions of Philadelphia in exchange for deep red voters northern Montgomery County).

It was held by Fitzpatrick in 2006, when he lost to Patrick Murphy. Murphy, in turn, lost the seat back to him in 2010.

But Fitzpatrick has gotten off to a less than perfect start in his first year back. Most notably, he missed his swearing in to attend a private event with supporters.

That said, he’ll likely be tougher to beat for Democrats this year. Despite his ‘06 loss, he has never lost Bucks County (Pat Murphy’s margin in the Philly part of the district did Fitzpatrick in). Plus, Fitzpatrick has term limited himself to just three terms (through 2016).

A spokesman said he expected Fitzpatrick would show about $250,000 raised in the fourth quarter,  bringing his total to the mid-$600K range for 2011.

And his voting record, compared to most Republicans, has been moderate. His vote-with-party score according to the Washington Post Votes Database is 81 percent – the lowest in Pa. and 6th-lowest in the country.

Boockvar was unsuccessful in her Commonwealth Court bid, losing even Bucks County (her opponent, Anne Covey, lives there as well). While Fitzpatrick won several terms as County Commissioner prior to his service in Congress, Boockvar came up short in her 2007 bid for Register of Wills.

Nonetheless, Boockvar has campaign trail experience and the benefit of being a sought-after recruit in a competitive district. She should have little trouble raising money from national Democratic groups as well as groups that support women running for office (i.e. EMILY’s List).

So far Boockvar is the only announced candidate against Fitzpatrick. Doylestown Borough Council President Det Ansinn, who ran for County Commissioner in 2011, announced earlier this month that he would stay out of the race and endorsed Boockvar. Jennifer Stefano of Americans for Prosperity took a pass on a primary challenge.

Here’s her email:

Dear Friends:

In a few minutes I’ll be making a formal announcement, but I wanted you to hear it from me first.

I am running for Congress, in the 8th District of Pennsylvania.

I am running for Congress with the same motivation as has always driven me: public service. I mean that literally– serving the people.  I am running for Congress because so many people are having trouble supporting their families, covering their college tuition, and paying for their prescriptions, while our current Congress does nothing.  Even worse, Tea Party politicians are mired in hostility, focused only on party politics and obstruction, refusing to compromise for the good of the people.

We cannot afford to sit idly by any longer, and I have decided to take a stand.  I am running for Congress, to change the culture of Washington and start getting things done for a change, and I am asking you to join me.

Please join the loud chorus of voices standing with me, sending a message to Congress that their behavior is unacceptable and it is time for a change, by offering any support you can today.

Congressman Fitzpatrick has spent the past year voting with the Tea Party to end Medicare, cut benefits to veterans, gut environmental protections, and deny tax breaks for the middle class, all for partisan power politics.

As you know, I have spent my career working to help all Pennsylvanians protect their jobs, their Social Security, and their families.  I promise you—with your help, I will take these skills, and my background working to mediate differences, to move things forward in Washington.  It is time to roll up our sleeves and work together- across the aisle and in our neighborhoods- to produce solutions to help people get back on their feet, and the economy moving forward.

But I cannot do this without your help today.  Can you please give now to show Mike Fitzpatrick and his fellow Tea Party politicians that we deserve better?

This is a very winnable race, and one that will be watched very closely for its national implications.  But it is also going to be a very expensive race.  They say that early money is like yeast—it helps to raise the dough.  Your contribution to my campaign now will have double the impact—can you contribute today and send a message to Washington that enough is enough?

The people of Pennsylvania deserve better, and America deserves better. Together, let’s take a stand and demand more.

Many thanks for all that you have done, and all you continue to do.

Best,

Kathy Boockvar

P.S. We will need your help on many levels, so please, sign up here to volunteer and stay in touch with the campaign.  We are building an incredible team, but cannot do this without the support of all of you!  Thanks again

12 Responses

  1. Boockvar and her husband are executives of the national board of the national lawyers guild, most recently the national lawyers guild in philadelphia support and defend convicted cop killer mumia abdul jabbar, who murdered officer faulkner. Boockvar also is a staunch suppoerter of planned parenthood whose origins were in race based eugenics, and now engages in sex selective abortions..mainly of female fetuses. This is not a person worthy of being a congressional representative.

  2. I think I just threw up in my mouth. You people make me sick. Look at the choices we now have in American Politics – tax and spend Dems vs. tax and spend Repubs, supporters of corporate bail outs vs. supporters of public assistance, huge defense
    budgets vs. huge social program budgets, socialists who try legislate their version of morals vs. fascists who try to legislate their version of morals. A bunch
    of Political insiders who are two sides of the same coin. You believe that you choose presidential candidates, when in reality NPR, MSNBC, Rush, and Hannity pick them. Wake up morons. Oh, btw, at least Kathy is NOT an inside the beltway politician. That’s one plus for her. Try her out for two years. If you don’t like her, vote her out, or do you believe in the principal of “better the devil you know”?

  3. Seriously? We are labeling a woman who has devoted her life to public service, working families, and abused women etc as a communist? What century are you living in. Mike Fitzpatrick has sold his soul to the Tea Party. His cynical approach to politics is an embarassment to Bucks County. Patrick Murphy, fortunately is running for PA District Attorney and will get my vote. No matter what side of the political spectrum you are on – true public service and thoughtful intelligence are deserved respect. Save the antiquated name calling and hate speech – Americans are better than that.
    Oh, and Mike F. – the Cold War was over years ago.

  4. Kathy Broockvar is very generous with the productive Taxpayer’s money. Like most Democrats, she cannot be trusted with money and appears not to have noticed that the country is headed toward a European Iceberg of fiscal bankruptcy.

    Democrats do not seem to know where money comes from. Answer for Democrats reading this. Money comes from people who work, save and invest and from profitable businesses that produce goods and provide services that are affordable. More taxes mean less affordability. Profits pay people. Democrats seem not to be able to grasp these common sense observations because they are blinded by ideology.

    Barack Obama is set to put the national debt at $16.4 trillion well above the national GDP. This is the first time this has happened since our country was at war in WWII. The dollar is being debased with every quantitative easing.

  5. Both Boockvar and her husband, Jordan Yeager of Doylestown are extreme far-left lawyers both of whom hold national level positions with the communist National Lawyers Guild. They are about as anti-American as they come. The NLG supported and defended one of its own members Lynn Stewart who was convicted of providing material support to Islamic terrorists plotting kill to American soldiers and perform terrorist jihad. Any veterans and military families will have serious issues voting for someone who leads an organization that supports and defends those that support terrorism against fellow Americans.

  6. BUNK!

    “Most notably, he missed his swearing in to attend a private event with supporters.”

    I attended this event, which was open to the public and served as a convocation for supporters he had wanted to thank.

    It wasn’t “investigated” because the D’s made it into a tempest-in-a-teapot.

    Perpetuating this tangential event demeans this website.

  7. Slimy Fitzpatrick replaced a hero and genuinely sincere human being. I wish Murphy would run again for this seat, but I will vote for her just to see Fitz out and to put and end to his embarrassing the PA 8th.

  8. This is great news for Fitz. Running against a liberal nutjob will make this go-around smooth. Paint her as the communist she is and move on. Hell, she spent the last few years working on voting rights for rapists and murderers the right to vote. Send her packing.

  9. She’s a liberal progressive pro-abortion Marxist. Member of the Communist National Lawyer’s Guild and works for the NLG’s “Advancement Project” to stop voter identification laws, thus ensuring that the nationwide voter fraud carried on by Democrat operatives like the SEIU, ACORN, etc. continues. Boockvar is as far left as they come, she is no friend of the values that the majority in Bucks County hold. She would be better suited to run for office in San Fransisco, Portland, Oregon or Chicago. She is completely out of her league here.

  10. This lady is to left of Barack Obama and relied on union money which Mike Fitzpatrick will get because that is the way of BucksCo Establishment Republicans but Mike is good on everything else. Paraphrasing Ronald Reagan “my 95% friend is not my 5% enemy.”

    And Mike is a Zionist and, in some ways paradoxically and in other ways quite expected, the believing Roman Catholic is more of a Zionist than a liberal secular Jew whose boss, Barack Obama, is leans toward the Islamic states.

    Mike Fitzpatrick has a lot of money in the bank and though disappointing on the union issues has solid support of the spectrum of Republicans in BucksCo.

    Kathy Broockvar makes Bob “98” Casey look like a conservative

Email:
  • Do you agree that ByteDance should be forced to divest TikTok?


    • Yes. It's a national security risk. (60%)
    • No. It's an app used by millions and poses no threat. (40%)
    • What's ByteDance? (0%)

    Total Voters: 30

    Loading ... Loading ...
Continue to Browser

PoliticsPA

To install tap and choose
Add to Home Screen