Greetings all. I’m excited to share a recording from the live discussion I held earlier today with Mayor of Scranton Paige Cognetti, who gave us an update on her spirited race to flip PA-08 in Northeastern Pennsylvania. This was Paige’s third time joining us, and as you will see if you haven’t met the mayor yet she is one of our very best and most compelling candidates of the cycle.
As you may recall Mayor Cognetti made her mark as a corruption fighter in Scranton. I asked the Mayor about seeing how prominent the issue has become in this election since we first met her a year ago. Here is what she said:
It's something that folks have noticed, right? If we didn't think even a year ago that corruption wasn't on people's minds… it's always been the core tenant of our mission. If you look at my ad from 2019 on our Paige for Scranton YouTube, it's Paige Against the Machine, “Government should work as hard as the people it serves.” That's almost, verbatim, the ad that we ran when we launched this July on television here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Because it's the same message. The system is rigged, is rigged against us. It is corporations and people like my opponent who go to Washington to enrich themselves while in office, make as much money as they can while they're in that seat. It is wrong. It is why we have health care that is falling apart. It is why people cannot afford their pharmaceuticals. It's why people can't afford food. My opponent also has voted six times for this war in Iran, and we're seeing the gas prices, the diesel prices, and of course, the loss of our American service members. That is just so painful for everyone.
But the corporate capture of Congress, and people like my opponent — are so much why we are in this mess. There's a true cost to corruption. And we are fighting every single day here in Pennsylvania's 8th District to make sure that we take that anger and that energy and that advocacy to Washington in January.
Here’s a map of PA-8, a Cook R+4 district, along with the 2024 results from when her opponent Ron Rep. Bresnahan unseated a twelve year Democratic incumbent, Rep. Matt Cartwright:
You can support Paige today by making a contribution to our core Winning The House - Stake In The Ground Fund - or by giving to her campaign directly here. You can learn more about Mayor Cognetti by visiting her campaign website, where you can also sign up to volunteer.
Here are two of her most recent ads. They are very good ones:
More from our conversation:
“Working on Chris Carney's race in that 2006 cycle, I stopped by a local place called Caravia Fresh Foods because I needed something that wasn't pizza, desperately. And a very handsome young man made me a sandwich. And cut to today –– he is the father of our two beautiful children. I'm the mayor of his hometown. And we together really want to make sure that all kids have what we hope our kids have, and that we have opportunity for everybody. Everybody's got access to health care. And that we have a strong future here for America. A national security and economic security that we all want. But with what's happening right now, we do not have that. It's all in jeopardy. And we're working really hard here to flip this House seat and make sure that we're doing everything we can.”
Friends, enjoy this update from Mayor Paige Cognetti, and let’s do what we can to help bring another proven leader of good character and strong values to the halls of Congress next year. Please share this interview with others, hit like so more will see it, throw a contribution Paige’s way, and keep working hard everyone. We have a country to save, and elections like this one in Pennsylvania to win this November, together! - Simon
Mayor Paige Cognetti’s career has been guided by the vision that government should work as hard as the people it serves. Paige worked with the Pennsylvania Auditor General, uncovering corruption in both parties and working to make nursing homes safer. She joined the Scranton School Board and worked to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse, so schools would work for our kids instead of cronies.
In 2019, Scranton’s then-mayor resigned after pleading guilty to federal charges. Paige ran for mayor as an Independent, taking on the local political establishment and a culture of corruption, in a campaign that became known as “Paige Against the Machine.”
Paige stunned the NEPA political establishment when she won, thanks to her promise to clean up the corruption in City Hall. Paige was the first woman ever elected Mayor of Scranton, and was eight months pregnant when she won. Paige ran for reelection as a Democrat in 2021, winning a full term with over 71% of the vote.
As mayor, Paige has taken on special interests and fought for reform. She turned down a city car, eliminated cash payments, and cut costs, leading to budget surpluses and a credit rating that went from junk to investment grade. She has secured over $155 million in federal and state grants, and in 2022, Paige led Scranton out of a 30-year distressed financial status period.
Paige worked to make government serve the people, focusing on improving quality of life and reducing costs. She fought for more homes, more small businesses, more restaurants, and more parks. She streamlined the city’s permitting process, slashed permit fees, and cut red tape. Her efforts resulted in almost a thousand more homes, more than 250 new shops and eateries, and over 10,000 building permits in three years. She focused on local infrastructure, removed blighted structures, held absentee landlords accountable, and replaced thousands of street signs across the city.
Paige has been a steadfast advocate for public safety and funding our brave men and women in law enforcement. She spent more than $4 million on police technology and training, increased the police force with five new officers this year, and added police and fire vehicles to Scranton’s fleet.
Paige decided to run for Congress because another politician broke our trust. Congressman Bresnahan’s time in office has been defined by an abuse of trust. As NEPA faces an uncertain economic future and rising costs, Congressman Bresnahan has been capitalizing on his own votes, trading stocks over 600 times after campaigning on banning congressional stock trading. Bresnahan promised to never take away healthcare for his constituents, calling it a “red line,” but voted earlier this year to rip away healthcare from over 25,000 people in NEPA. Bresnahan promised he’d clean up the swamp, but he’s quickly proven he’s all about the grift.
Paige’s reason for serving in public office is to bring reform, transparency, and government accountability to NEPA, a place sadly known for public corruption. She’s ready to take that fight to the place that needs it most: a Washington controlled by special interests and self-serving politicians who put the people last.
Paige lives in Scranton with her husband Ryan, and their two daughters.
