A frontline GOP congressman, Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., launched the “Democrats for Rob Coalition” last month, billed as an invitation to Democrats living in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District to vote for Republicans. The catch is that the main schtick of these “Democrats” seems to be supporting Republicans — and they have been for years.
In April, Bresnahan announced the launch of the coalition and that it would be chaired by two local politicians, former Nanticoke mayor and current City Council President Joseph Dougherty and Jessup Borough Councilman Jeff Castellani.
Bresnahan’s campaign manager, Peter Brath, claimed in the announcement that “Bresnahan has earned the support of local Democrat elected officials who know the needs and wants of Northeastern Pennsylvanians,” while his opponent, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, was busy “sucking up to far left special interest groups and out of touch elites in DC.”
The problem is that it’s not clear that either of the coalition’s chairs is a Democrat.
Dougherty, though he was elected as mayor on the Democratic Party line back in 2010, was on the record as early as 2016 as a supporter of President Donald Trump, telling Time Magazine in that year’s person of the year article that “We didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left us.”
Dougherty was elected to the city council in Nanticoke again in 2023, running on the Democratic Party line. As early as 2021, Dougherty had endorsed Republican candidates like Tarah Toohil, a former state representative now serving as a Luzerne County judge.
Castellani’s Democratic bona fides are even more questionable. In 2023, Castellani initially ran for council in the Democratic primary, coming in third, but ended up winning a seat in the general election on the Republican party line.
In response to an inquiry from Salon, the Pennsylvania Department of State said that a candidate can be nominated through write-in votes to appear on a party’s line, regardless of whether they are registered to vote with another party.
Online, Castellani praised Trump on Facebook in March 2025 in response to a Newsmax article on Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller’s public safety plan, that this was “Why Trump is the greatest president ever!” He also promoted the GOP challenger to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Tina Forte, in 2024 as well as Bresnahan’s 2024 campaign. He also reposted a graphic on Facebook attacking the Biden administration, which was captioned “Worst administration in history!” adding in his repost “This is why we voted Trump in!” In September 2024, Castellani posted an image of former Vice President Kamala Harris reading “I am NOT with her. I’m appalled at the amount of women who support her simply because she’s a woman.”
As far back as April 2019, Castellani was posting anti-Democrat pro-Trump memes, with one reading “No collusion. No obstruction. For the haters and the radical left Democrats — Game Over.” And, despite being elected on the Republican line in 2023, Castellani was still identified as a “Democrat Jessup borough Councilman” in an ad for Bresnahan.
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“Matt Cartwright made millions in office,” Castellani said in the ad.
Aside from holding one of the most competitive seats in the country, Bresnahan is best known as a prolific stock trader, making more than 600 trades since he assumed office in January 2025, for a total volume of more than $8 million.
Neither Bresnahan’s campaign, Dougherty nor Castellani responded to a request for comment from Salon.
