Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said he would drop his GOP party label and register as an independent if Pennsylvania were not a closed primary state.
“I registered Republican when I was 18 because I liked Reagan, I still like Reagan,” Fitzpatrick said in an interview with Punchbowl News. “I’ve, over the years, even before I got here, have sort of rejected the two-party system. I really don’t believe in it. I think it’s so incredibly divisive.”
Since 2017, Fitzpatrick has represented the Keystone State’s 1st District, one of the most competitive swing districts in the state. Though President Donald Trump won the district’s Bucks County in 2024, the suburban Philadelphia county had been blue in almost every presidential election over the past few decades.
The four-term congressman, who is up for reelection in November, told Punchbowl News that he is not an independent because Pennsylvania has a closed primary system. When asked whether he would register as an independent if it became an open primary state, he said, “100%.”
“I want everybody to be an independent,” Fitzpatrick said.
The Pennsylvania Republican co-chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus with Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY). He voted against the final passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He voted with House Democrats and 17 other Republicans in January for a three-year extension of enhanced Obamacare subsidies. But he has also touted several of Trump’s key policies, including cracking down on the southern border.
“That’s why I’ve gravitated towards the Problem Solvers [Caucus],” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s the only two-party group in Congress. That’s where I feel the most comfortable. But I honestly view that as a means to an end of non-partisanship, where we can get to just everybody being an independent and we just formed coalitions around ideas,” Fitzpatrick said.
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Pennsylvania’s 1st District Democratic primary race will be held on May 19, with Bob Harvie, vice chairman of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners, facing off against former U.S. Senate scientific adviser Lucia Simonelli. The winner will take on Fitzpatrick on Nov. 3.
Election forecaster Sabato’s Crystal Ball lists the district as “leans Republican,” as of April 21.