CHECK THE FACTS: Ads from Rob Bresnahan and His Backers Called Out for Lies by Local Paper

Local “Ad Watch” column highlights the misleading claims in the campaign and PAC ads backing Bresnahan

SCRANTON, PA – Campaign ads from Rob Bresnahan and the PACs supporting him are “misleading at best,” “ethically questionable,” and make “overstated” claims about Paige Cognetti’s record in Scranton, according to local “Ad Watch” columns in the Scranton Times-Tribune.

Ads highlighting Bresnahan’s self-interest and harmful votes have fared better. An ad calling him “one of Congress’ top stock traders” and highlighting how he offloaded Medicaid provider stock before he voted to gut the program is “mostly true.”

And Paige’s campaign ad “Safety,” in which a retired cop highlights how Paige “fixed the budget, turned down a pay raise and invested in our safety” was also verified, with the column noting that “the narrator’s statements are true.”

Read the fact checks for yourself below:

Scranton Times-Tribune: 8TH DISTRICT AD WATCH: ‘Rain tax’ claims murky, ethically questionable, in Bresnahan ad

• Key claim: Bresnahan says he and President Trump ended the federal rain tax mandate, with parallel claims that they “ended the rain tax.”

• Is it factual? The ad is misleading at best.

• Trump indeed signed an executive order on Sept. 16 that revoked the Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration order signed in 2009 by then-President Barack Obama. So, Bresnahan’s claim that the federal rain tax mandate was ended is accurate.

• What the ad left muddied is the reality that ending the mandate and ending the tax are two very different things.

• Several claims in the ad, as well as an altered sound bite from Hiller, insisting those fees ended due to Trump’s order are false.

• WBRE and WYOU pointed out that the clip used from their 6 p.m. news broadcast on Sept. 16 was “altered to produce a different message than was originally reported.”

• On his Facebook account, Hiller wrote, “Let me just say that editing a soundbite to fit a narrative is something I do not do professionally and would never teach to any of my college students. Ethics matter.” A Bresnahan spokeswoman told the stations the clip was “shortened for brevity” for the ad; However, it changed the fundamental reporting of the story.

Scranton Times-Tribune: 8TH DISTRICT AD WATCH: Cognetti’s tax increases overstated

• Key claim: “She wants higher taxes, and higher office. Because Paige Cognetti loves moving up, no matter the cost.”

• Is it factual? The ad misrepresents, in a few ways, Cognetti’s record as Scranton’s mayor when it comes to tax hikes.

• The clip in which Cognetti states that Scranton’s taxes are “really high” is undated and unsourced, making it challenging to put into context. However, it is also statistically true. For example in 2019, the year before Cognetti took office, every municipality bordering Scranton capped its earned income tax rate at 1%, the state standard. Because Scranton was still considered financially distressed under Act 47 at the time, it was legally allowed to charge a 3.4% rate. Similarly, Scranton charged the maximum allowable local services tax, $156, for anyone working inside city limits that year.

• Later that same year, Cognetti created a group to examine better ways to address the burden on taxpayers created by the tax structure.

• Property taxes indeed were raised in Scranton during the Cognetti administration, as the city climbed out of distressed status for the first time in 30 years.

• The graphic in the ad that read “Paige Cognetti: Higher Taxes Every Year” is false. Four of the six budgets passed during Cognetti’s tenure — in 2021, 2022, 2025 and 2026 — did not include municipal tax increases.

Scranton Times-Tribune: 8TH DISTRICT AD WATCH: Analyzing Bresnahan’s position on stock trades

• Key claim: “Members of Congress are getting rich trading stocks around their votes. It should be illegal. But Congressman Rob Bresnahan doesn’t think so.”

• Is it factual? It is mostly true.

• According to transaction reports he filed with the House, Bresnahan sold up to $130,000 in stocks in four companies that oversaw about half of all Medicaid managed care organizations at the time — Centene Corp., CVS Health Corp., Elevance Health Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc.

• A week later, the House took its first vote on President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” which will cut federal Medicaid spending by at least $911 billion over the following 10 years. Bresnahan voted yes on the bill, and it ultimately became law.

• Though he noted his trades were made by a third-party financial adviser without his input, Bresnahan traded around 650 stocks during his first year in office in 2025, ranking him among the most prolific traders in Congress.

Scranton Times-Tribune: 8TH DISTRICT AD WATCH: Cognetti administration’s investment in police examined

• Key claim: “(Cognetti) fixed the budget, turned down a pay raise and invested in our safety.”

• Is it factual? The narrator’s statements are true, but in some instances worthy of qualification.

• Since Cognetti took office, more than $5 million in state and federal grants were indeed allocated to projects designed to benefit the city’s police department, according to city data. A large portion of that came from a $3.5 million federal grant secured in 2023 that paid for safety and surveillance equipment that included new body and dashboard cameras, stun guns and virtual reality headsets for training.

• The city also spent $1.5 million to bolster the city’s police vehicle fleet.

• Securing state and federal grants for these projects, however, overwhelmingly comes down to collaborative efforts. While Cognetti’s administration works with Scranton’s City Council to pursue the funding, elected officials in Washington D.C. and Harrisburg must also pitch for it. The $3.5 million grant in 2023, for example, was secured federally by former 8th District U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright.

• As for Scranton’s finances, the claim that Cognetti “fixed” Scranton’s budget holds true, as well. The city exited Pennsylvania’s Act 47 municipal financial distress program after 30 years in January 2022, after her second year in office. Scranton also achieved its highest credit rating in decades during her tenure.

• In January of 2025, City Council voted 3-2 to raise the mayor’s pay from $75,000 to $95,000, a 27% increase, starting in 2026. While running for reelection as mayor in the fall of 2025, Cognetti announced she would turn down that raise if elected.

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