Ashley Ehasz is running for Congress again, setting up a 2024 rematch with Brian Fitzpatrick

Less than six months after losing her election, Ashley Ehasz is gearing up for a rematch in Bucks County.

Ehasz, a former military helicopter pilot, who lives in Bensalem, ran against U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) last year and lost by nine points in a year when Democrats made gains elsewhere in the state.

She is running again, she told The Inquirer this week, hopeful that the experience gained from her first run and more national focus on Republican-held districts swing districts could mean a different outcome next year.

“In my heart of hearts, I believe democracy needs this seat flipped,” Ehasz said “Last year the Democrats were very much on the defensive. It was an expected red wave year and … they were protecting the front line. We’re now on the offensive.”

Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent first elected in 2016, has maintained a firm hold on the swing district and is the last Republican member of Congress from Southeastern Pennsylvania. He won by 13 points in 2020 even when President Biden won by 5 there.

”Ashley Ehasz is setting herself up for failure, running on a party platform that embraces higher costs and coddles violent criminals. Meanwhile, Brian Fitzpatrick has consistently delivered for Pennsylvania families and they are excited to reelect him next fall,” said Chris Gustafson, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

This year, Democrats have put the race on their list of 31 GOP-held seats to target.

Ehasz was raised by a single mother and grew up in a family that often struggled to afford rent and groceries. That factored into her decision to enlist in the military at age 17 and attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

She learned how to pilot Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, the only woman in her class, and later served in Kuwait, Iraq, and South Korea, commanding soldiers in combat. She got her master’s degree from the University of Oxford on the GI Bill.

“My life has been defined by extreme lack of resources, a family that has dealt with substance abuse issues, mental health issues, and then going through crucible after crucible while in the service to ultimately being a commander,” she said. “That’s the kind of leader I think we need in this seat.”

Ehasz campaigned on abortion rights, protecting the climate, and gun control, all issues she said she’ll also focus on this time around. She specifically criticized Fitzpatrick for voting against the Women’s Health Protection Act in Congress and twice opting not to impeach former President Donald Trump.

“I just reject his self-described title of being moderate,” she said.

Pennsylvania’s 1st District includes all of Bucks County, a perennial purple county often looked to as a bellwether for the state. It’s become a critical county for Republicans running statewide. And Democrats this year hope to reverse big losses.

Sen. John Fetterman won Bucks County by seven points in November. Gov. Josh Shapiro won by nearly 20 points.

It’s also a county that has shifted more Democratic at the top of the ballot while continuing to elect Republicans farther down, as nearby suburban counties have gotten bluer from top to bottom. In 2021, Republicans swept the county row office elections, reverting Democratic gains there in 2017. While turnout was high for both parties, it was supercharged for the GOP, which won most countywide races by about five points.

In 2020, while Biden won the county, tens of thousands of people voted for both Biden and Fitzpatrick.