U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Luzerne County on Monday to raise money for Republican congressional candidate Rob Bresnahan.
Johnson appeared at the home of plastic surgeon Dr. Francis Collini in Dallas Township for a breakfast fundraiser. The media wasn’t allowed inside, which is not uncommon for campaign fundraisers.
Bresnahan wants to win the 8th Congressional District seat by unseating U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, the six-term Democratic congressman.
"The road to growing the House majority runs through Pennsylvania, and with strong candidates like Rob Bresnahan, I am confident we will win here in November," Johnson said in a statement issued by Bresnahan's campaign afterward. "Rob understands hard work and has dedicated his career to creating jobs in his community. It was an honor to join Rob today and support his efforts as I look forward to working with him in Congress."
In a telephone call Monday afternoon hours after the event, Bresnahan called having Johnson here on his behalf "a surreal experience."
"This race is a top three priority for House Republicans across the United States," Bresnahan said. "I'm incredibly humbled that Mike Johnson sees the validity of our campaign."
Bresnahan said Johnson is "really excited to have a pragmatic, common sense, conservative running."
"I mean, I've never considered myself as a fringe candidate. I'm fiscally extremely conservative. I'm socially more moderate, I'm hard line on immigration, and I'm very pro-energy and I look at situations and issues individually," he said.
Johnson's visit follows by about six weeks a visit by current House Republican Leader Steve Scalise, who campaigned in April for Bresnahan in Kingston and raised money for him later that day in Wilkes-Barre.
"I want to pinch myself sometimes," Bresnahan said. "It's just been a very humbling experience, I never would have dreamed in a million years that I would have the support of such prominent individuals believing in my race."
Bresnahan's campaign declined to say how many people attended or how much he raised.
Cartwright's campaign issued a statement in response to Johnson's visit.
“Mike Johnson wants to cut Medicare and Social Security by $3 trillion. He wants to raise the retirement age again. My opponent is thrilled to have him here and that tells you a lot,” Cartwright said in the statement.
Bresnahan denied wanting to raise the Social Security retirement age and said he wants "to preserve Social Security and Medicare."
"And I want to preserve it for the next generation, my generation and the future generation," he said. "So I fundamentally disagree with any assertion that I will be looking to cut Medicare, Social Security in any form."
It was the second day of local fundraising for the speaker. On Sunday, Johnson appeared at the Beaumont Inn in Monroe Township, Wyoming County, at a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser. Meuser, who is seeking a fourth term, confirmed Johnson's appearance at his fundraiser. He declined to say how many people attended or how much he raised.
"We had a good-sized group and it was very successful," Meuser said via text Monday.
Meuser faces a rematch against Democrat Amanda Waldman, whom he defeated two years ago.
Johnson became the latest top House Republican leader to visit the region to promote a congressional candidate. Besides Scalise, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy campaigned for Jim Bognet in 2022. McCarthy was House Republican leader at the time.
In 2002, Republican House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert campaigned for Lou Barletta in Scranton during Barletta’s first campaign for Congress against U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski. The same year, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, then House Democratic whip, campaigned in Moosic for U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski. She later became speaker.
