Our 2026 Democratic slate.
From Congress to the Pennsylvania Senate to the State House, these four candidates share a commitment to public education, affordable healthcare, working families, and the rule of law. Learn a little about each of them, then click through to their campaigns to donate, volunteer, or sign up for updates. Every one of these races is winnable, and every one of them matters.
Pennsylvania State Senate, 16th District
Facing incumbent Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R)
Mark is a U.S. Army Reserve veteran and businessman who has served as the elected Lehigh County Controller since 2020, running the county’s independent audit function. He previously served as a South Whitehall Township Commissioner and founded a business software company, and holds an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. As Controller, he says his healthcare audits saved Lehigh County about $9 million over three years.
Republicans hold the Pennsylvania State Senate, and the 16th – stretching from Lehigh County into upper Bucks – is one of the clearest Democratic pickup opportunities in 2026. Coleman is a freshman senator who won his GOP primary by just 24 votes. Flipping this seat is a realistic path to unified Democratic control in Harrisburg alongside Governor Shapiro, which means real progress on education funding, reproductive rights, and utility affordability.
U.S. House of Representatives, Pennsylvania’s 1st District
Facing incumbent Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R)
Bob is a lifelong Bucks County resident, born and raised in Bristol Borough, and spent 26 years teaching high school social studies – two decades of that as department chair at Bucks County Technical High School, where he founded the “Beyond the Books” veterans-in-classrooms program. He was elected to the Falls Township Board of Supervisors in 2003 and to the Bucks County Board of Commissioners in 2019, flipping the board to Democratic control for the first time in nearly four decades. He served as Chair of the Commissioners in 2022 and 2025.
PA-1 is one of the most-watched U.S. House races in the country. Kamala Harris carried the district in 2024 while Fitzpatrick won reelection with a larger margin, making this a rare Harris-Republican seat and a top Democratic pickup target – the DCCC has added Bob’s campaign to its “Red to Blue” program. With a razor-thin House majority in play, flipping PA-1 could be decisive for control of the chamber. Bob is the strongest challenger Fitzpatrick has faced, and the first to arrive already having won a countywide race in Bucks.
Pennsylvania State House, 145th District
Facing incumbent Rep. Craig Staats (R)
Les lives in Nockamixon Township, where he serves as an Inspector of Elections, and works as a Level 3 Customer Care Specialist at Best Buy after two decades in the technical services industry. He is running for state office for the first time.
Pennsylvania Democrats hold the state House by a single seat, and every district factors into which party controls the chamber – and with it the state budget, public education funding, reproductive rights, and voting rights. The 145th covers upper Bucks County including Quakertown, Milford, Springfield, and West Rockhill, and it takes in neighborhoods that are part of the Pennridge Democrats footprint. Les is running a district-focused campaign built on affordability, healthcare, and fully funding public schools, and a win here would be a real step toward locking in that Democratic majority.
Pennsylvania State House, 143rd District
Facing incumbent Rep. Shelby Labs (R)
Tim is a Bucks County native raised in a union household on a farm in Chalfont. He enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard at 17 and served six years while attending college full-time, earning a History degree from Temple and a Master of Public Administration from West Chester University. First elected to Dublin Borough Council at 19 in 2019 – then the youngest elected official in Bucks County – he was sworn in as Council President in 2024. Professionally he works as an Environmental Legislative Manager for a statewide nonprofit, doing policy work in Harrisburg.
The 143rd covers Perkasie, Sellersville, Dublin, Silverdale, and the townships around them. The Pennsylvania House is currently held by Democrats by a single seat. Flipping this district would help lock in a Democratic majority that determines whether Pennsylvania advances a $15 minimum wage, protects public school funding, moves reproductive rights onto the ballot, and passes clean-energy legislation.
Every campaign needs volunteers, donors, and voters who tell their neighbors what’s at stake. The best way to plug in is to visit the campaigns above directly – or reach out to the Pennridge Democrats to get connected locally.
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