Brendan Boyle

In August 2026, Brendan Boyle described being surprised by prices while buying his daughter a lunchbox with his wife.¹ He grew up in a Philadelphia rowhome with an Irish immigrant father who worked as a SEPTA custodian and a mother who was a school crossing guard.²

The first in his family to attend college, Boyle went to Notre Dame on scholarship, earning his bachelor's degree in 1999 before a Harvard public policy master's in 2005.²³ His earlier work included consulting for the Defense Department.³ As a child, he hoped to play professional baseball, he recalled in a 2015 interview.⁴

After unsuccessful campaigns in 2004 and 2006, Boyle won his state House seat in 2008.³ He served in the Pennsylvania House from 2009 through 2014 and entered Congress in 2015.³ He is now the House Budget Committee's top Democrat and leads Democrats in the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.⁵ In September 2026, he unveiled a proposed tax credit to help fire and EMS agencies provide preventive medical and behavioral health programs.⁶

The Democratic incumbent faces Republican Jessica Arriaga in November.⁷ His current proposals include exempting school supplies from tariffs.¹ He also supports reversing Medicaid reductions and requiring higher contributions from top earners to help fund Medicare and Social Security.⁸