Congressman Matt Cartwright is running for re-election in Pennsylvania’s 8th district, having first been elected to Congress in 2012.
Cartwright serves on the House Appropriations Committee and is chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee for Commerce, Justice, and Science, where he oversees more than $70 billion in annual federal spending on matters of economic development, law enforcement, and science and innovation. He is also the vice chairman of the Financial Services & General Government Appropriations Subcommittee. Cartwright also co-chairs of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC).
With redistricting, the 8th became a tad less Republican, with a new Partisan Voter Index of R+4, compared to the previous rating of R+5. Both Cook Political report and Sabato rate the district as a Tossup.
Cartwright will face former Rick Santorum intern Jim Bognet in November. Bognet has Trump’s endorsement Cartwright defeated Bognet in 2020 51.8% to 48.2%. In his campaign literature, Bognet says, “I am running for Congress to STOP the Biden-Cartwright agenda in its tracks and to save our country from the socialist ideology that is currently controlling Washington, D.C.”
At the start of the 116th Congress, Cartwright was one of four Democrats selected to lead the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. is responsible for developing messaging related to the agenda and positions of the Democratic Party.
HIS BACKGROUND
U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright was first sworn into Congress on January 3, 2013. In Congress, Matt is committed to working across the aisle to advocate for working families. Matt’s priorities include strengthening the middle class, creating jobs, ensuring quality health care, protecting seniors, and supporting veterans and military families. A strong believer in working with members of both political parties, Matt has introduced more bills with Democratic and Republican support than any other House Democrat since he was first elected. That is one of the reasons he was named one of the most effective House Democrats by the nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking.
Matt graduated magna cum laude with a history degree from Hamilton College in 1983. He earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1986, where he was a member of law review.
