Democrat swing candidate called Biden's border handling 'a huge misstep' after backing his approach as mayor

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A Democratic candidate is facing scrutiny over an apparent reversal on the southern border as she seeks to flip a battleground House seat this year.

Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti recently criticized former President Joe Biden's handling of the southern border, calling it "a huge misstep" and "really terrible" during a March podcast appearance.

The House hopeful, however, did not appear to publicly criticize the administration’s border policies when Biden was president.

Cognetti, who has served as the mayor of Biden’s hometown since 2020, is vying to unseat freshman Rep. Rob Bresnahan in November’s midterm elections. The Northeastern Pennsylvania contest promises to be one of the most competitive House elections this year.

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Former President Joe Biden speaks to a crowd during a fundraising event with the South Carolina Democratic Party at the Columbia Museum of Art on February 27, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina. The event marked the sixth anniversary of Biden's presidential primary win in the early voting state of South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Cognetti’s recent messaging criticizing Biden comes as some Democrats have largely pivoted toward the center on border security after the party’s messaging fell flat in 2024.

When Cognetti called for "better control at our borders" during a September 2021 interview with a local outlet, she did not appear to hold the Biden administration responsible for the problem.

In August 2023, Cognetti co-signed a letter with a handful of Pennsylvania mayors appearing to approve of the Biden administration’s approach to the border.

"You are working to bring more order to the southern border with a combination of strategies," the group wrote to Biden, adding that he had "rightfully promised" to tie border security with expanding pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants living in the United States. 

A spokesperson for Cognetti said the mayor had been consistent in urging Biden to secure the border during his presidency.

"Like a lot of Northeastern Pennsylvanians, she has seen what the scourge of Fentanyl has done to our community and has said that President Biden didn’t do enough to secure the southern border," the spokeswoman said, adding that Cognetti is "no stranger to calling out politicians from either political party when they get it wrong."

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Scranton, Pennsylvania mayor Paige Cognetti speaks at a Safer America rally. President Joe Biden visited Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to discuss his plan to reform gun control. During his speech, he touted beating the NRA. Biden is visiting cities for his Safer America plan. (Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Cognetti also advocated for a more lenient approach to immigration when Biden was president, arguing immigrants, including those who entered the U.S. illegally, "contribute greatly to our cultural and economic growth."

The 2023 letter to Biden that Cognetti signed urged the president to grant and expand legal protections to Venezuelan, Honduran, Salvadoran and Nicaraguan nationals living in the United States.

Cognetti, who became mayor in 2020, also called for mass amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants during the onset of Biden’s presidency in July 2021. She warned that failure to deliver pathways to citizenship could become a "national security issue," The Center Square reported.

"If we don’t do this now, we will start to erode in our strength and that becomes a national security issue," Cognetti told reporters.

Bresnahan said Cognetti’s support for mass amnesty would make the district less safe and accused her mayoral tenure of resulting in a Scranton crime spike in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

"Mayor Paige Cognetti’s soft-on-crime policies have already led to a spike in violence in Scranton, and her support for legalizing every illegal immigrant in the country will only make things worse, especially in her city where she downplays homicides and gang violence and wants to disarm the police," Bresnahan said.

Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., arrives for a House Republican Conference caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

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A spokesperson for Cognetti fired back that the mayor has a "proven track record" of investing in local law enforcement and said she has overseen a decrease in violent crime. 

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the swing contest as "Lean Republican."