NEW: Brian Fitzpatrick’s Campaign Caught Using Articles Written By His Friend

Washington, D.C. – New reporting from POLITICO reveals that GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) is passing off articles written by his longtime friend and campaign staffer as seemingly independent local news coverage in his campaign ads.

The self-published articles were written by Dave Sommers, a longtime Fitzpatrick friend and ally who was a guest at Fitzpatrick’s June 2026 wedding and has received multiple payments from Fitzpatrick’s campaign. Sommers has also repeatedly appeared with Fitzpatrick at campaign and personal events, including in a photo posted to Facebook showing him wearing a “Team Fitz” tank top.

Read more below:

POLITICO: The source of Brian Fitzpatrick’s campaign ad attack fodder: A guest at his own wedding
Self-published articles from a longtime ally are showing up in the vulnerable Pennsylvania Republican’s attack ads.
By Riley Rogerson
September 30, 2026

• Facing his toughest election challenge in years, GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has blanketed southeast Pennsylvania with attacks on his Democratic opponent — many of them citing what appear to be independent local news reports.
  
• [They] all cite headlines from Patch, once a well-funded experiment in “hyperlocal” news that garnered hefty audiences in some communities but has since withered into a largely unedited volunteer operation.

• That isn’t the only reason to question the reliability of coverage referenced in the ads: Each of the articles cited carry the byline of Dave Sommers, a Levittown, Pennsylvania, man with close ties to Fitzpatrick and a checkered history with law enforcement.

• Sommers has received sporadic payments and reimbursements from Fitzpatrick’s campaign, as well as from the campaign of his late brother, Republican Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, dating back to 2010.
  
• As recently as 2022, Brian Fitzpatrick’s campaign paid Sommers $500 for “office setup services,” according to Federal Election Commission records.

• That year, Sommers was charged with stealing an election sign that expressed support for a GOP primary challenger, Alex Entin, according to a local news report.

• Sommers has been pictured with Fitzpatrick at campaign and personal events. Fitzpatrick’s Facebook page shows Sommers posing next to the lawmaker at a March 2025 St. Patrick’s Day parade.

• Sommers’ own Facebook has featured a stream of posts supporting Fitzpatrick, including one post from June where Sommers is seen sporting a tank top with the phrase “Team Fitz.”

• Sommers also attended Fitzpatrick’s June wedding, according to multiple social media posts. In one wedding photo posted to Sommers’ Facebook, he poses with former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), also a guest.

• Sommers did not respond to repeated requests for comment about his relationship to Fitzpatrick and his campaign. Spokespeople for the Fitzpatrick campaign also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

• [Sommers] drew headlines of his own after he was prosecuted for trafficking in protected turtles. Prosecutors alleged he made more than $500,000 over six years selling diamondback terrapins online, running afoul of state and federal conservation laws.
  
• Sommers was handed a six-month prison sentence in 2019, along with six months of house arrest and a $250,000 fine.

• Sommers opened a more recent chapter as a Patch contributor, posting eight articles dating back to late February. They all attack Harvie, slamming him for being “divisive,” “arrogant” and a “hack.” They feature messaging consistent with the Fitzpatrick campaign.

• Harvie in a statement called Fitzpatrick “a complete and total fraud” and said he’s growing “desperate.” “Brian Fitzpatrick is worse than the rest of the Washington swamp because he pretends to be different, but the receipts show he is corrupt to the core,” he said.

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