U.S. House candidate Rob Bresnahan donated thousands to controversial, far-right figures

Rob Bresnahan Jr., the Republican candidate for congress in Pennsylvania’s 8th district, has contributed thousands to far-right candidates and anti-abortion extremists. The contributions threaten to undercut his campaign message of moderation and nonpartisanship.

Bresnahan is a wealthy venture capitalist and the founder of the firm RPB Ventures LLC. He is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright in what is expected to be a highly competitive race.

According to FEC disclosures, Bresnahan has been a prolific political donor. One of his biggest beneficiaries was former Rep. Lou Barletta who received $2,600 from Bresnahan between 2016 and 2018.

Barletta represented Pennsylvania’s 11th congressional district from 2011 to 2019. He ran for U.S. Senate in 2018 but failed to advance past the Republican primary. Barletta previously served on the board of the Federation For American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an anti-immigration organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center recognizes as a hate group. 

In 2018, CNN reported on Barletta’s ties to numerous fringe organizations and outlets, including a 2006 interview he gave to the American Free Press, a publication that has promoted Holocaust denial and 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Bresnahan also contributed a total of $2,000 to the campaigns of Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Meuser. In 2020, Bresnahan worked as a consultant on Meuser’s campaign and was paid $20,000.

Meuser is an ally of former President Donald Trump. In 2020, Meuser was one of 120 House Republicans to sign an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the results of the 2020 election. On Jan. 6, 2021, Meuser voted against certifying the election results.

In Congress, both Barletta and Meuser supported federal abortion bans.

In 2018, Bresnahan contributed $3,000 to former state Sen. Scott Wagner’s campaign for governor. Wagner came under fire in that race for remarks he made in 2017 describing financier George Soros as a “Hungarian Jew” with a “hatred for America.” In a separate incident, Wagner quoted a post from a far-right website that compared Muslim immigrants to a “raccoon infestation.”

Wagner is firmly anti-union. While serving in the Pennsylvania legislature, he backed multiple bills aimed at limiting union power. In a 2014 speech, he compared the influence of unions to that of dictators such as Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin. Wagner later apologized for these remarks.

In 2023, Bresnahan contributed $1,150 to Carolyn Callucio, a candidate for Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Callucio was endorsed by multiple anti-abortion groups.

Callucio lost her race to Democrat Daniel McCaffery. 

A Bresnahan spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.