House - Matt Cartwright - PA-8

DONATE to his 2022 campaign via his website
VOLUNTEER options
Democrat running for re-election in a northeastern Pennsylvania district, including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre
Video clips:

- “Family” (2018)

- “Representative Cartwright Floor Remarks in support of H.R. 1, For the People Act” (2021)

Since he was first elected to Congress in 2012, Matt Cartwright has been committed to working across the aisle to advocate for working families. His priorities include strengthening the middle class, creating jobs, ensuring quality health care, protecting seniors, and supporting veterans and military families. He was named one of the most effective House Democrats by the nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking in 2019.

Matt strongly supported the Affordable Care Act, and is committed to protecting people with pre-existing conditions and to lowering health care costs. He describes the middle class as being "under assault" and seeks to alter the tax system to allow the middle class to carry less of a burden. He has a strong record of working to protect the environment, with a 96% lifetime score from League of Conservation Voters. He has a rating of 100% from both Planned Parenthood and Naral Pro Choice. Matt is an original member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, established in 2013 after the Sandy Hook massacre. His NRA rating is 0%.

In late 2018, Matt was elected to the House Democratic leadership, serving as Co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee for the 116th Congress. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, he played a pivotal role in crafting three bipartisan coronavirus relief packages that continue to help workers, families, and small businesses amid this ongoing public

health and economic crisis. In 2021, he became chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science and Related Agencies, putting him in an even stronger position to support northeastern Pennsylvania’s economic recovery. A recent example is the more than $1 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to clean up abandoned mine sites, which will bring jobs and a cleaner environment to northeastern Pennsylvania.

A native of Pennsylvania, Matt graduated from University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he served as an Editor of the Law Review. He then attended the London School of Economics where he met his future wife, Marion Munley, who is also a lawyer. Matt practiced law for 25 years at a Scranton law firm where his wife also worked. He served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice.

PA-8 is one of seven districts that voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election while being held by a Democrat. Trump won with a 4.4% margin, but Matt beat his far-right opponent Republican Jim Bognet by 3.6%. Because of redistricting in 2022, FiveThirtyEight rates the new district a Republican +8 partisan lean. It will be a close race. Bognet is again Matt’s opponent.

Bognet, an ardent Trump supporter, says he was “blessed” to work for the Trump administration: “Some of the greatest honors of my life were working in the Trump administration, attending President Trump’s nomination acceptance speech at the White House in August 2020, and having President Trump’s endorsement in the 2020 election.” Bognet’s stated policy priorities have included opposing the Affordable Care Act which he calls a "disaster"; auditing the “rigged” 2020 election; and finishing the wall. Bognet has attacked Matt for supporting the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In the past Bognet advocated for cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

In his endorsement of Matt in 2020, Joe Biden, a Scranton native, said that Matt represents the values of the district. Biden said: “I know Matt Cartwright represents the values of the hardworking people of Northeastern Pennsylvania – Scranton values. He is the kind of leader and ally we need to keep in Congress if we’re going to beat this virus and build back better in a way that all Americans can share in the prosperity of a more inclusive American economy.”

Matt is doing an outstanding job representing a district where coal mining and industry have declined over past decades – a predominantly white district with many rural voters – a district that voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012, then twice for Trump. Matt has a proven record of delivering what is necessary for his district. He needs our early support to hold this seat in an important presidential swing state. The more voters who turn out for Matt in November, the more likely he will win this race, and the more likely a Democrat will win the critical U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, a race that could determine which party controls the Senate.