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October 24th 2025 Len’s Political Note #761 Paige Gephardt Cognetti Pennsylvania 08
2026 General Election
This is a love story.
I love Paige Gebhardt Cognetti as a candidate for Congress. I don’t know how to describe that love, but it reminds me of how much I loved the first two principals I hired more than fifty years ago when I was a very young school superintendent. One was a teacher hired mid-year, a Vietnam veteran and graduate of Harvard and Stanford who made his way back to New England after two tours of duty. The other was a Queens college graduate and UMass doctoral student who had won an award by an organization of Christians and Jews at Queens College. They each proved every bit as impressive in their work as they seemed when I hired them.
I love Paige Gebhardt Cognetti for transforming her elite credential into her love for what became her blue-collar community. You would not expect her to be Scranton. She grew up in Oregon, got her BA at the University of Oregon’s Honors College then came east eventually to go to Harvard for her MBA.
I love the story that got her from Cambridge to Scranton. There are a few variations. Here is my amalgamation. Roughly 20 years ago, working to raise money for Congressional candidate Chris Kearney, traveling long distances between free housing and where she needed to work, Paige Gebhardt came to love the hills of northeastern Pennsylvania. More important, though, after campaign fare of pizza, hoagies, and fast food she saw a sign: CARAVIA – fresh foods, Paige Gebhardt craved fresh vegetables.
At the Caravia restaurant, she ordered a Tuscan sandwich and was given, by the restaurateur Ryan Cognetti (really the restaurateur’s son) some complementary chocolate. That was the start of a beautiful friendship. Years later Paige Gebhardt Cognetti told the Harvard Business School alumni magazine “a very handsome young man made me the most delicious Tuscan chicken sandwich and gave me a ton of free chocolate. And now I am married to that man.” Love at first sandwich, garnished with chocolate.
At some point she made a commitment – to the area. Nevertheless, Paige Gebhardt had a career to create. Before she got her MBA in 2014, she worked for Obama for America and then worked on President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team. Like many transition team members, she landed a job. She worked in the Treasury Department for three years, got her MBA and then went to work for Goldman-Sachs in New York.
In 2017, Paige Cognetti had been living in Scranton long enough to be elected to the City School Board. A member of the minority faction, she was critical of the no-bid school bus contract and payments to various contractors that had not been approved openly by the Board. In 2018, she became a special assistant to State Auditor Eugene de Pasquale – a thorough and highly regarded, but uncharismatic politician. Paige Cognetti was becoming a promising Pennsylvania political figure though she insists she had no thought of running for office.
In 2019, Paige Cognetti ran for mayor of Scranton. She ran as an independent to replace and complete the term of office of the previous mayor who had pled guilty to charges of corruption. She rejected any suggestion that she go through the closed caucus nomination system. She would run as an independent with an informal campaign slogan “ Paige against the machine.” Her victory was stunning to the local politicians and equally stunning to the general population and the press.
In office, she harkened back to her experience in the Treasury Department: “You don’t run Treasury along partisan lines, especially in the middle of a meltdown. You’re just trying to save the economy from the abyss. You have to have a pragmatic approach. We had a saying back then, ‘Plan beats no plan.’”
Larry Platt of the Philadelphia Citizen described her governance: “She harped on investments in infrastructure, budgetary transparency, cutting red tape for local businesses, matching education and training with local job opportunities. Nothing groundbreaking, right?” He added: “Cognetti offers a roadmap for how to effect change: Eschew the debilitating national debate. Challenge instead of pander. Let policy follow the facts. Make your voter feel like you’re on her side.”
It was no surprise that Paige Cognetti was re-elected to a full term as mayor. Nor is it a surprise that she turned her attention to Congress. She is challenging first term Bob Bresnahan who ousted six-term Democrat Matt Cartwright by 6,252 votes. Bresnahan had taken over a prosperous family electrical business in 2013, expanded into real estate, and further expanded into politics.
Help Paige Gebhardt Cognetti get those 6,252 votes back and more. She is a great candidate. Worthy of the love she has earned. DONATE to her campaign.
OTHER COMPETITIVE RACES IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEIGHBORING STATES NEW JERSEY AND OHIO.
PENNSYLVANIA
State Supreme Court Retention vote. This is a November 4, 2025 election. Three Democratic Justices are up for retention. If they win, the court remains 5-2 Democratic. If they lose, new Justices will be elected. Help each of the three win their retention election. See Len’s Political Note #754
Justice Christine Donahue DONATE NOW
Justice Kevin Dougherty DONATE NOW
Justice David Wecht DONATE NOW
These are elections in November, 2026
Pennsylvania 01. County Commissioner Bob Harvie to defeat five-term incumbent Republican Brian Fitzpatrick in this Democratic-leaning district that has been waiting for the right Democrat to run. DONATE to Bob Harvie’s campaign.
Pennsylvania 07. I will urge you to support the front runner, establish the Democratic challenger early to ensure that he or she has enough resources to defeat first term incumbent Ryan Mackenzie who has accumulated more than his fair share of scandals during that one term. Here are some of the Democratic candidates:
Former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell: $700,000 raised through September 30
Firefighter Union Head Bob Brooks: $300,000 raised through September 30 after his late entrance
Utility Company Executive Carol Obando-Derstine: $300,000 raised through September 30
County Executive Lamont McClure: $200,000 raised through June 30
To get an idea about whether or not there is a front runner, we may need to wait until the December 31 reports.
Pennsylvania 10. Former candidate and former TV anchor Janelle Stelson lost a race to incumbent Scott Perry, one of the most complicit members of congress in Trump’s coup effort to manipulate a victory out of defeat in 2020. Her narrow loss in 2024 was by 5,133 votes. Although Janelle Stelson has a primary opponent, I urge you to DONATE to her campaign. By September 30, she had raised $1.2 million. She will need more. The incumbent had raised $2.1 million. See Len’s Political Note #741.
NEW JERSEY
Governor This is another election scheduled for November 4, 2025
Congresswoman Mikie Sherill, Naval Academy grad with a JD from Georgetown, She was a helicopter pilot in the military and a moderate in Congress. DONATE NOW to her campaign. See Len’s Political Note #732
These are elections in November, 2026
New Jersey 09 Nellie Pou was elected in 2024 after being selected as the nominee days after the incumbent died and 2 ½ months before the election. She was elected by 12,575 votes in a district that Donald Trump carried. Before being elected to Congress, she spent her career working in various roles in the government of Paterson, NJ and then as a state legislator. DONATE to Nellie Pou’s Congressional campaign. She had raised $1.3 million by September 30. We have no figures from an opponent yet.
New Jersey 07. As with Pennsylvania 07, if a front runner develops among Democrats, that is where resources should go. The Democratic nominee will be seeking to defeat the two-term Republican incumbent Thomas Kean Jr who had spent a life time relying on his father’s popularity as governor to get beyond the state legislature. Even though Thomas Kean Jr was elected by more than 20,000 votes in 2024 and has raised, as of September 30, $2.5 million, he is vulnerable. A slew of Democrats are attempting to prove that proposition. Some of them are below:
Navy Vet Rebecca Bennett had raised $1.3 million by September 30
Businessman Brian Varela raised $1 million by September 30
Physician Tina Shah raised $600,000 by September 30
Former SBA official Michael Roth raised $450,000 by September 30
Climate Scientist Megan O’Rourke raised $250,000 by September 30
Former City councilor Greg Vartan raised nearly $200,000 by September 30
Criminal Justice Professor Beth Adubato had raised less than $100,000 by Sept. 30
Let’s wait a bit to see if we have a front runner. Polls would help.
OHIO
United States Senate Special Election. Sherrod Brown wants to return to the United States Senate. The 72 year old, three term Senate spokesman for workers lost 46.5 to 50.1 to 58 year old Colombian immigrant and owner of several car dealerships, Bernie Moreno. Ohio’s other incumbent Senator left office in 2024 as well. JD Vance was elected Vice President. Governor Mike DeWine appointed his Lt. Governor, Jon Husted, to replace Vance. This is a campaign to complete the two remaining years in JD Vance’s term. Sherrod Brown reported having raised $7 million by September 30. The incumbent, Jon Husted, reported having raised a bit less than $6 million on that same reporting date. The most recent poll for this race is from August, 2025 – 16 months before the election. Husted led 50-44. Sherrod Brown is not an unknown. It will be a challenge for him to win. Help him make that attempt. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #750.
Two Ohio Democratic House seats are in jeopardy. That is especially the case because Ohio must redistrict before 2026 based on state law that mandates redistricting if no minority party member in the legislature or on the redistricting commission supported the districts established for 2022. The redistricting could jeopardize more Democratic seats.
Ohio 09 Marcy Kaptur is 79 years old and seeking her 23rd term in Congress. Now a moderate Democrat, her roots were in the Roman Catholic left. Republicans thought they had redistricted her out of office in 2022, but their candidate’s lies about his military service did him in. The 2024 election was closer. She defeated a state legislator by 2,282 votes. Republicans think they have her this time with the same candidate – Derek Merrin. Help her extend her record for the longest serving member of Congress ever. DONATE. She raised $1.1 million as of September 30. Her probable opponent had raised $400,000 by that same date. See Len’s Political Note #718.
Ohio 13 Emilia Sykes is 39 years old and seeking her third term in Congress. The scioness of an African American political family, her mother and her father each served for years in the Ohio state legislature representing the City of Akron. Before being elected to Congress, Emilia Sykes was the Ohio House minority leader. Ohio 13 is now 75% white and is represented by Emilia Sykes, a skilled politician. Help her remain in Congress. DONATE. She raised $1.3 million as of September 30. Her probable opponent, former state legislator Kevin Coughlin had raised $500,000. See Len’s Political Note #728
Governor. Although there are hints that former Congressman Tim Ryan might run, former state medical director and child of poverty and divorce Dr. Amy Acton is the only Democrat in the race for this seat — open because Governor Mike DeWine is term limited. A child of poverty and divorce, Dr. Amy Acton is compared to Dr. Anthony Fauci by her admirers. Her Republican opponent is Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk’s DOGE collaborator until they had a falling out. By June 30, Amy Acton had raised $1.35 million. A Pennsylvania billionaire donated $10 million to a Ramaswamy PAC. ARamaswamy’s net worth is $1.3 billion. Unless he is reluctant to spend his own money, despite his website plea: ‘We can’t do this without you,’ he can. The most recent poll, published on October 17, suggests a close race – Ramaswamy leading 50 – 47. This is 12 ½ months before the election, but you can make a difference. DONATE to the Amy Action campaign. See Len’s Political Note #724.
