Another veteran has sights set on Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District as former U.S. Navy Pilot Paul Fermo announced his candidacy Thursday morning.
While the election is not until 2022, candidates are already lining up to try to unseat Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. Fermo is the second Democrat to announce his intention to fight for the Democratic nomination to run for the seat in the district that includes all of Bucks County and a tiny portion on Montgomery County.
As a father, Navy veteran, & small business leader, I know firsthand the challenges we all face. I’m running for Congress because #PA01 is desperate for principled leaders with character to meet this moment, and I’m ready to do my part. I hope you’ll join me. pic.twitter.com/mngJBwxYvn
— Paul Fermo for Congress (@paulfermopa) October 21, 2021
Ashley Ehasz, a former Army pilot and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who now lives in Bensalem, announced her bid Oct. 12. The race, no matter who is the Democratic candidate come November 2022, will be hotly contested as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has already targeted the seat as a primary focus to flip next year.
Fermo, of Yardley, is a naval aviator who flew the F/A-18C “Hornet” and F/A-18E/F “Super Hornet” aircraft, which launched from U.S. aircraft carriers on combat missions during multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In his announcement, Fermo said it was that training that will allow him to stay mission-focused as one of Pennsylvania’s representatives in Congress.
“As a former Navy Fighter Pilot, I know first-hand how critical it is to stay oriented on the job. When you are moving at more than 500 knots in every direction, staying oriented to your surroundings and to the broader mission to winning the battle, or even winning the war,” Fermo said. “Too many American politicians have lost their orientation.
“We have lost sight of the principles and values that make us show e are as Americans.”
Fermo, who does not currently hold elected office, does have an extensive political and military background.
Fermo served in senior strategic roles in the Pentagon as a member of the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he advised the Department of Defense’s leaders on tactical aviation and maritime war-fighting requirements.
“Battle lines have been drawn by blind Party loyalty, instead go that’s best for the American people,” said Fermo, “and it’s costing us.”
To that end, Fermo said he will focus on supporting families, small business and schools.
“Hardworking Pennsylvanians are being bankrupted by medical emergencies, our schools don’t have the resources to support our kids and seniors are struggling to make ends meet,” Fermo said. “Workers are struggling to live on minimum wage, and small businesses are struggling to survive. And I know firsthand as a veteran, as a father and as a leader of a small business, the challenges that we all face every day, because I face them, too.
“When I turn on the news, I see a Congress that is more interested in bickering than coming together to fix these urgent problems here in Bucks and Montgomery counties.”
Fermo, a child of undocumented Italian immigrants, earned an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT and a Master’s Degree with distinction from the National Defense University in National Security Studies and Resource Allocation. Fermo also holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida.
“We need good, principled leaders with character to meet this moment, right now,” Fermo said. “I can tell you from experience that landing a fighter jet on a aircraft carrier in rough seas is hard, but from what I see, just making ends meet for seniors and working families in Bucks County is getting just as hard.”
Fermo and his wife, Debbie, also a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, have three children.
“America is worth fighting for. Our family’s deep ties to Bucks and Montgomery Counties are orate fighting for,” Fermo said. “I am ready to stand up and put this government back to work for the people.”
There were 474,627 total voters in Bucks County as of Oct. 4. Of that number, 202,751 are Democrats and 192,369 are Republicans. An additional 55,511 registered voters have no affiliation and 23,996 are Independent.
Fermo said he is looking forward to earning those votes and is excited to talk to voters about his background.
“I know from experience the challenges that other Bucks County families have to face every day, and as a father of a child with Type-1 Diabetes, I understand firsthand the challenges of our health care system,” he said. “As someone who served our country in combat as a naval aviator for 20 years, I know what it means to put my country ahead of myself, and now as a small business executive, I’m the only person in this race who understands what it means to deal with small business challenges, particularly during a pandemic”.
Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican from Middletown, was first elected in 2016 and plans to seek re-election.
Fermo said Fitzpatrick has “failed to meet this basic standard” we should expect from our representatives.
“He is a political opportunist who represents the worst of Washington,” Fermo said. “He speaks up only when it is politically convenient and remains silent in the moments we need him most.
“Southeastern Pennsylvania deserves principled leaders who will stand up for them no matter the situation before them which is why I am running.”
Ehasz and Fermo are the first of two Democrats seeking their party nomination. The winner will ultimately have to overcome Fitzpatrick’s name recognition, ability to fundraise and his brand of bipartisan politics that have served him well here.
Ehasz, like Fermo, enters the campaign with a strong military history, but is largely unknown to district voters. She flew an AH-64D Apache Longbow while enlisted, and piloted missions in the Middle East with the 1-501st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion stationed in Fort Bliss, Texas.
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