Matt Cartwright focuses on corporate price gouging in reelection race

Matt Cartwright highlights corporate price gouging in his upcoming race against Republican challenger Rob Bresnahan. 

Congressman Matt Cartwright (D-Lackawanna) is focusing on protecting struggling families in Northeastern Pennsylvania by fighting corporate price gouging in his upcoming election. 

Cartwright was first elected to the US House in 2012 and is running for reelection this November against his Republican opponent, Rob Bresnahan. 

The Keystone reported earlier this year that Bresnahan questioned the legitimacy of Cartwright’s 2022 electoral victory due to a paper ballot shortage in Luzerne County. 

Cartwright released an ad last month highlighting his work to fight corporate price gouging, which may bode well in his race against his extremely wealthy opponent. 

“It’s a hard time for so many across this country,” Cartwright said in the ad.

“People are hurting. That’s why I fought to cap insulin at 35 dollars along with out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors. I’ll fight and take on Wall Street and the greedy corporations that gouge us. I fight all of them because I work for you.” 

Earlier this year, Cartwright joined his US House colleagues and sponsored the Price Gouging Prevention Act, which targets companies that exploited the pandemic to boost their profits.

The bill, which was originally introduced by US Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), prohibits price gouging on the federal level and would empower the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorney generals to stop companies from engaging in price gouging practices.

Casey has released a series of “greedflation” and “shrinkflation” reports highlighting the costs corporate price gouging has on Pennsylvania families. 

Inflation rose 14% while corporate profits increased by 75% between 2020 and 2022, and price gouging cost the average Pennsylvania family $6,740 during that time.