Contact: Aly Ferguson
aly@newpolitics.org; 480-363-6465
WASHINGTON D.C. (March 26, 2026) — New Politics today endorsed Paige Cognetti for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District. Cognetti is the current Mayor of Scranton and a former educator who taught English in Japan. Her record of selfless public service exemplifies the kind of leadership New Politics was founded to support.
Emily Cherniack, Founder and Executive Director of New Politics, released the following statement:
“Paige Cognetti doesn't just talk about accountability, she's built her career around it. When she ran for Mayor of Scranton as an independent taking on her own party's corruption, that wasn't a political calculation. It was a reflection of who she is. As mayor, she’s cut waste, rooted out fraud, and went to bat for working families with the same service-first spirit she's carried throughout her life. Now she's ready to take that fight to Washington, and that's exactly what the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania deserve. New Politics is proud to stand with Paige.”
Paige Cognetti is the Mayor of Scranton, PA. She first ran for Mayor as an Independent, in a campaign called “Paige Against the Machine,” for her fight to take on corruption within the local Democratic party. As mayor, Paige reformed the office – taking on special interests and battling corruption in City Hall. She turned down the city car, eliminated cash payments, and cut costs, leading to budget surpluses and rapid improvement of the city’s financial position. Paige has balanced the city’s books, brought in new businesses, created jobs and built homes. She is continuing to lower costs by taking on special interests like public utilities. Paige is running in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional district against Congressman Rob Bresnahan, whose short time in office is already defined by abusing his position – timely stock trades to pad a bank account worth tens of millions, lying about taking away healthcare, and repeated betrayals of the public trust. Paige lives in Scranton with her husband, Ryan, and their two daughters. Learn more at paigeforpa.com.
New Politics is an organization that revitalizes American democracy by recruiting, developing, and electing leaders across the ideological and political spectrum who have committed their lives to serving their communities and our country, either through military service, national service organizations like AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps, or by demonstrating strong service-based leadership in their community. New Politics support includes strategic advising and training in all aspects of a candidate’s campaign, such as fundraising, communications, organizing, hiring, and team building. New Politics has raised over $40 million to support over 475 candidates, successfully electing more than 200 of them to office, from Congress to School Board.
