Running for Congress is no small feat, especially without wealth, fame, or the backing of party leadership. But Rob Strickler, a resident of Buckingham Township, isn’t deterred.
Strickler, who campaigns with the slogan “Just Some Guy,” has announced his candidacy for the 2026 Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District. He hopes to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who already faces one declared Democratic opponent: Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie Jr.
The First District encompasses all of Bucks County and a portion of Montgomery County.
Strickler has a background in marketing, creative direction, and software products. He currently works as a manager at an eyewear company and is involved in a startup venture. A native of Levittown and Fairless Hills, Strickler graduated from Pennsbury High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Kutztown University.
In an interview with Delaware Valley Journal, Strickler said he’s focused on economic fairness and advancing policies that “benefit middle-income earners in this district and the country.”
One of his key proposals is eliminating federal income taxes on the first $20,000 of income for individuals and $40,000 for married couples filing jointly, amounting to a potential $2,000 or $4,000 in tax savings per household, he said.
To offset that, Strickler supports restoring tax rates on high earners to pre-2017 levels, creating a new 45 percent bracket for income over $1 million, and significantly increasing capital gains taxes. Additional tax policy details are available on his campaign website.
Strickler is sharply critical of President Donald Trump, calling his policies “appalling and outrageous,” and accuses Rep. Fitzpatrick of enabling them.
“He could have stopped the big bill that just passed with his one vote before it went to the Senate,” Strickler said. “He chose not to. He could have used that vote to negotiate a better outcome for low- and middle-income taxpayers, and he didn’t do that either. He also failed to vote to impeach Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 riot that stopped our democracy at our Capitol. Brian Fitzpatrick himself said that that was nothing short of a coup attempt.”
Strickler added that Fitzpatrick, who took an oath to defend the Constitution, and did not vote to impeach Trump for what he called an attempted coup, “does not have the courage to follow his oath.”
He also mentioned that Harvie, his Democratic primary opponent, as an establishment-backed candidate.
“The party already seems to have rallied around him—as if to say, ‘This is the candidate. Let’s not have anyone else,’” Strickler said. “That’s going to turn people off. A lot of voters are jaded and cynical about politics. Many independents and disaffected Democrats support Fitzpatrick because they feel the Democratic Party isn’t inclusive or responsive to their needs.”
Strickler said he is running as a populist outsider and believes his message is already resonating with voters.
Harvie’s campaign manager, Dan McCormick, declined to comment on Strickler’s candidacy.
Asked whether he would seek the Democratic Party’s endorsement, Strickler was noncommittal.
“Hopefully, they’ll see that I would be a good candidate to unseat Brian Fitzpatrick,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t need their endorsement. I just need to get 1,000 signatures, file the paperwork, and pay the fees on time.”
Regardless of the outcome, Strickler pledged to support the Democratic nominee in November.
“The top priority is removing Brian Fitzpatrick from office and flipping the House back to the Democrats,” he said, “in order to remove the rubber stamp of approval for Donald Trump’s policies.”