Candidate Briefing:

Matt Cartwright (PA-8)

Candidate Type: Incumbent
Lifetime LCV Score: 97
Party: Democratic

Race Status & Polling

Matt Cartwright’s race is rated a toss-up. As a sitting member of Congress, he is an incumbent candidate, meaning he’s playing defense against his challenger, Jim Bognet. This section will be updated with district-specific poll results as they are published.

Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District

Pennsylvania’s 8th congressional district is on the northeast border of the state and includes the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. The redrawn district has an R+8 partisan lean.

Climate Impacts:

Climate attitudes:

  • According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 66% of voters in PA-8 are concerned about climate change, while 71% believe it will harm future generations. Both are on par with the national average.

  • Sixty-two percent believe Congress should do more about climate change, slightly above the national average. However, only 53% believe climate change should be a “high priority” for the next president and Congress, below the national average.

  • Climate issues tend not to be discussed much among the electorate. Only 32% indicated they talk about climate change even “occasionally,” which was slightly below the national average.

Matt’s Climate Position & Record

According to the League of Conservation Voters scorecard, Rep. Cartwright takes favorable votes on climate 97% of the time, averaged across his terms in Congress. Read more about his stellar climate record at his GiveGreen profile.

The Opposition

Matt’s opponent is Jim Bognet, a Trump-endorsed, anti-climate candidate. Bognet supports the Keystone XL pipeline and all other pipeline projects, Tweeted “drill baby drill,” and opposes gasoline taxes.

Concurrent Elections

Matt Cartwright will be on the ballot alongside two critical statewide races in Pennsylvania. The positions of governor and U.S. Senate are both wide open, toss-up races, which means we have a real chance of electing climate candidates up and down the PA ballot. Both Democratic Governor Tom Wolf and Republican Senator Pat Toomey are vacating their seats, as Gov. Wolf is term-limited and Sen. Toomey has announced his retirement. This section will be updated after general election candidates have been determined in those races.

Key Dates and Resources

  • October 24: Voter registration deadline

  • November 1: Mail-in ballot application deadline

  • November 8: General election (mailed ballots must be received by this date)

Resources

Follow @CartwrightPA on Twitter to stay up to date!