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Is This PA Congressional Candidate Already Living the D.C. Insider Lifestyle?
Townhall.com ^ | 5 March A.D. 2026 | Amy Curtis

Posted on 03/05/2026 2:49:01 PM PST by lightman

Paige Cognetti, the current mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is running for Congress against incumbent Republican Rob Bresnahan. Like the rest of the midterm races, this seat is important and a must-win for Republicans. That's why people are questioning whether or not Cognetti really wants to represent the people of Pennsylvania in Congress, or if she's already on her way to being a D.C. insider.

Just the other day, Cognetti was caught being driven away from a meet and greet event in a car with D.C. plates, which is odd for the Mayor of Scranton, isn't it? It takes about four hours to make the drive from Scranton to the nation's capital, and that's quite the commute.

🚨NEW: Paige Cognetti, who wants to represent Pennsylvanians in Congress, was caught on camera at a meet & greet in PA being whisked away in a car with DC plates.

She's a swamp creature already! pic.twitter.com/HWWOF3WAh0 — Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 3, 2026

A native of Eugene, Oregon, Cognetti has degrees from the University of Oregon and Harvard. She also worked for Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 presidential campaign and was appointed by Obama to the Treasury Department. Cognetti moved to Scranton in 2017 and won the mayor's seat in 2019 special election. She herself admitted in a 2024 interview that "politics" brought her to Scranton. "It’s funny, politics brought me to Scranton. I moved to Washington, DC, in 2005, and ended up coming to Scranton for a political campaign, and then met my husband. It’s a long story until we get here in 2023, but politics did bring me to Scranton, and it can be a real anchor for what Scranton is known for," Cognetti said.

Scranton residents have been unhappy with Cognetti's work as mayor, with a voter writing in a letter to The Times Tribune that Cognetti is a "carpetbagger" who "doesn't reflect the region."

Here's some of what that letter said:

Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) does not need a carpetbagger representing us in Congress. Mayor Paige Cognetti may be running in PA-08, but she is not from here. She was born and raised in Oregon, educated at an Ivy League school, and now presents herself as someone who knows what’s best for Scranton and the surrounding communities. That disconnect matters.

We do things differently in NEPA. Our values are practical, community-focused and rooted in lived experience, not ideological experiments imported from the West Coast. Even many local Democrats here are not far-left socialists, because that brand of politics simply doesn’t reflect who we are.

The results speak for themselves. The progressive, West Coast–style policies Cognetti has brought to Scranton haven’t worked, and there’s no reason to believe they would suddenly work better on a larger scale in PA-08.

In late January, residents of Scranton were unhappy with Cognetti's handling of snowstorm cleanup in the city, noting she'd gone to D.C. for a fundraiser.

SNOW SCANDAL: Furious Scranton, Pennsylvania residents enraged after Democrat Mayor @PaigeGCognetti left the city during a snowstorm for a glitzy D.C. fundraiser

Residents & City Council "looking for answers" but “they have not yet received it from Mayor Paige Cognetti’s office” pic.twitter.com/25RNZvKn6y — NRCC (@NRCC) February 5, 2026

"The road conditions were really unsafe," said one Scranton resident.

"It's very frustrating," said Les Spindler, who was forced to keep shoveling his sidewalk after crews kept plowing snow onto it. "I'm not a young man anymore. I don't mind doing it once, but if I have to go multiple times, that's a problem."

WBRE28 noted they asked for a post-storm report from Cognetti's office, but hadn't received it at the time of their broadcast.

Cognetti was in D.C. for a "meet and greet" but ended up rushing back after the snowstorm hit Scranton and her absence was noted.

Meanwhile, Rep. Bresnahan is a native of Northeast Pennsylvania and a former heavy highway electrical contractor who reflects the region's working-class history and sensibilities.

We’re getting calls about terrible road conditions across Scranton.

For snow removal concerns, please contact the Mayor’s Office at (570) 348-4101.

Unfortunately, the Mayor is currently racing back from her DC fundraiser that she prioritized over running her city. ❄️<💰 pic.twitter.com/Z5SogYrrwz — Rob Bresnahan (@Rob4PA) January 29, 2026

Voters deserve to have representatives who understand and represent their districts. With Cognetti's sights set on D.C. and not Pennsylvania, voters deserve to ask and know where Cognetti's priorities lie.


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: cognetti; scranton

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1 posted on 03/05/2026 2:49:01 PM PST by lightman
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To: fatima; Fresh Wind; st.eqed; xsmommy; House Atreides; Nowhere Man; PaulZe; brityank; Physicist; ...

Pennsylvania Ping!

Please ping me with articles of interest.

FReepmail me to be added to the list.

2 posted on 03/05/2026 2:50:07 PM PST by lightman (Beat the Philly fraud machine the Amish did onest, ja? Nein, zweimal they did already!)
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To: lightman
It’s a long story until we get here in 2023, but politics did bring me to Scranton, and it can be a real anchor for what Scranton is known for," Cognetti said.


3 posted on 03/05/2026 2:52:10 PM PST by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: lightman

Being from Oregon, she could have been a big help during the snowstorm.


4 posted on 03/05/2026 3:00:34 PM PST by ComputerGuy
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To: lightman

Not clear what a car with DC plates proves. Could be a DC Uber or airport shuttle.


5 posted on 03/05/2026 3:03:43 PM PST by Bob Wills is still the king
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To: lightman

She’s much cuter than most AWFL moonbats.

Unfortunately the suburban girl next door look will make it easier to pass herself off as a “moderate”.


6 posted on 03/05/2026 3:05:44 PM PST by pburiak (You really think we can vote our way out of this? That's so cute...)
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To: pburiak

It’s amazing how much idiocy can hide behind a pretty face.


7 posted on 03/05/2026 4:10:57 PM PST by chrisser (I lost my vaccine card in a tragic boating accident. )
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To: lightman

If her last name was Cignetti, not Cognetti, I’d be willing to bet that she’s the winner. Maybe with a name like hers, she’s close enough.


8 posted on 03/05/2026 5:16:58 PM PST by FamiliarFace (I got my own way of livin' But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from. TPetty)
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To: lightman

She is a carpetbagger.


9 posted on 03/05/2026 6:01:29 PM PST by Shady (#EnoughIsEnough, and we have HAD ENOUGH!)
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To: Shady

Carpetbagger...but definitely NOT a two-bagger.

10 posted on 03/05/2026 6:44:04 PM PST by lightman (Beat the Philly fraud machine the Amish did onest, ja? Nein, zweimal they did already!)
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To: lightman

Leftwing groups have been targeting Bresnahan since his election. Multiple ads running about how Bresnahan cut Medicare and SNAP with people “implying” (not claiming) that they cannot get assistance.

Basically, a lot of money is going into this race as the commies feel that they can flip this seat.


11 posted on 03/06/2026 2:45:43 AM PST by Erik Latranyi (This is the end of the Republic....because we could not keep it.)
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To: lightman

We have a place in NEPA. I don’t know how she got voted in as Mayor only living there for a couple of years…


12 posted on 03/06/2026 4:18:56 PM PST by Shady (#EnoughIsEnough, and we have HAD ENOUGH!)
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