WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For the last two elections, Democrats regarded Brian Fitzpatrick as one of the U.S. Congress’s most vulnerable Republicans, but both times they failed to unseat him, even when his suburban Philadelphia district voted for Democratic President Joe Biden.
He is again on their target list for the Nov. 8, 2022, midterm elections – which will determine whether Biden’s Democrats keep control of Congress – but Democratic officials say finding a suitable candidate could be a challenge because the borders of the district are in flux and could be for months.
“That’s a significant concern,” said John Cordisco, chairman of the Democratic Party in Bucks County, which lies within the district. “When you are challenging a multiple-term incumbent, if you don’t have immediate name recognition — it becomes very problematic.”
The reason for the uncertainty is redistricting https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-politics-redistricting/how-the-battle-over-redistricting-in-2021-could-decide-control-of-the-u-s-congress-idUSKBN2AI1CX, the once-a-decade process by which House of Representatives districts are redrawn based on shifts in the U.S. population https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-us-census-data-will-show-which-states-gain-or-lose-house-seats-2021-04-26. The process always unsettles congressional elections, but this year the coronavirus pandemic has added to the turbulence by delaying the delivery of the census data needed to draw the districts until September.
“This…
