Republican · Pennsylvania's 8th District · 2026
Rob Bresnahan
Bresnahan grew up helping at his family's bowling alley and electrical contracting business, playing hockey and plowing snow for neighbors.
Biography
Rob Bresnahan grew up helping at his family's bowling alley, playing hockey and plowing snow for neighbors before sunrise.1 His grandfather, Walt Kuharchik, was a union electrician who brought him into the family's electrical contracting business, where he swept floors, wired junction boxes and operated equipment.1 At 19, he became the company's chief financial officer, later taking over as chief executive.1
He also founded a property development business that renovated historic buildings in Pittston for local enterprises.1 In 2024, he defeated longtime Democratic Congressman Matt Cartwright, flipping this northeastern Pennsylvania seat.2 His first congressional term has included assignments on Agriculture, Small Business, and Transportation and Infrastructure.1
One legislative effort would connect local farmers with food banks through federal purchasing assistance: Bresnahan introduced the Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act in 2025.32 The proposal was included in the farm bill that passed the House in April 2026.2 He also voted in December 2025 for legislation restoring federal employees' collective bargaining rights after Trump moved to limit them.2
Bresnahan supports the 2025 Republican tax law, apprenticeships and technical training.2 He also broke with most House Republicans to vote for restoring enhanced health insurance premium subsidies in January 2026.2 In July, he voted for legislation restricting congressional stock purchases.4 He faces Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti in a race that could help determine control of the House.5
Record and controversies
Complaint concerning an official video
An August complaint asked the Office of Congressional Conduct to investigate whether a taxpayer funded congressional video had also been distributed as a campaign advertisement.6 Bresnahan's campaign said it was an approved official communication that a vendor and Google had mislabeled during account verification.6 NOTUS reported that the campaign account listing had been corrected; AdImpact separately acknowledged its own classification error, and the official advertising firm described an oversight in verification.6 The reporting documents a request for investigation, rather than an announced agency finding that Bresnahan broke the law.6
Congressional stock trading
Bresnahan's congressional disclosures drew scrutiny over numerous trades during his first term, including sales of health insurance stocks before his vote on legislation changing Medicaid funding.2 He said a financial adviser made the transactions; disclosures reviewed by NOTUS showed he stopped trading individual stocks in 2026.7 The timing and reported criticism do not themselves establish unlawful insider trading.