Midterm challenger goes after GOP congressman’s stock buying scandals

US Rep. Rob Bresnahan has made over 600 stock trades since taking office. Democratic challenger Paige Cognetti plans to use that against him in the 2026 election. 

Democrats are poised to use US Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s stock trading record and scandals involving his personal wealth against him now that Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti officially launched her bid to unseat the freshman congressman in next year’s midterm elections. 

“Congressman Rob Bresnahan lied when he promised he would ban congressional stock trading, and he lied when he said he would protect access to health care,” Cognetti said in a statement. “What’s even worse is that Bresnahan is profiting off our pain, playing the stock market while voting to screw us over in Washington.”

In her launch video, Cognetti went on the offensive by picturing Bresnahan as a spoiled, rich kid playing with fake money at the kitchen table. 

“ Rob was handed the keys to a family fortune at 19,” Cognetti said in her campaign video. “Workers here built that company. Rob sold it to foreign private equity. Rob ran for Congress on a promise to ban stock trades. This year, he’s already made 600 trades.”   

Cognetti gained support in 2019 after taking on Scranton’s Democratic party machine by running in a special election for mayor as an independent and winning. She served the remainder her predecessor Bill Courtright’s term after he pled guilty to corruption charges and was reelected in 2021. 

Now, Democrats are poised to use Bresnahan’s short track record against him. 

Bresnahan, who has a net worth close to $50 million, became the chief financial officer of his grandfather’s construction company, Kuharchik Construction and sold the company to a private equity firm prior to running for office. 

During last year’s campaign, he promised to ban congressional stock trading, but has become one of the most prolific stock traders in Washington DC,  making over 600 trades since January. 

Prior to voting for President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which cuts Medicaid by $1 trillion and will strip healthcare away from over 21,000 constituents, Bresnahan sold stock from a Medicaid provider. 

According to the New York Times, he sold between $100,000 to $250,000 in bonds issued by the Allegheny County Hospital Development Authority. The bond sales occurred after a report noted that 10 rural Pennsylvania hospitals faced an immediate risk closure. 

A poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning pollster, found that Cognetti leads Bresnahan 45 points to 43 points, and that a little bit more than half of those polled are aware of Bresnahan’s congressional stock trading.  

Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, US Rep. Chris Deluzio and former US Rep. Matt Cartwright, who previously served in the district, endorsed Cognetti prior to her campaign announcement. 

“As Scranton’s mayor, Paige Cognetti listens, cares, and fights for the issues that matter most — good-paying jobs and safer communities,” Davis said in a statement. “That’s the kind of leadership Pennsylvania families deserve, and I am proud to endorse her campaign for Congress.”