Robert Paul Bresnahan Jr. ( BREZ-nə-han; born April 22, 1990) is an American politician and businessman serving as the United States representative for Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district since 2025. He is a member of the Republican Party.
He defeated incumbent Matt Cartwright in the 2024 election. He took office on January 3, 2025.
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Early life and education
Bresnahan was born on April 22, 1990, in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Wyoming, Pennsylvania. Bresnahan graduated from Wyoming Seminary in 2008. Bresnahan later studied business at the University of Scranton and was on the golf team. He graduated from the university in 2012.
Early career
At the age of 19, Bresnahan became the chief financial officer of his grandfather's highway electrical business, Kuharchik Construction in Exeter, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the University of Scranton, Bresnahan took over as CEO in 2013.
In 2023, Bresnahan partnered Kuharchik Construction with Midwestern Electric near Chicago, Illinois.
Bresnahan is the owner of RPB Ventures, a real estate development company. The bulk of Bresnahan's real estate projects are on and around Main Street in Pittston, Pennsylvania.
Bresnahan has served on a number of voluntary boards in Northeastern Pennsylvania including as interim president of the SPCA of Luzerne County board of directors, past president of Wyoming Rotary Club, and treasurer of the TecBRIDGE board and Automated Vehicle Coalition.
He also served on the boards for Junior Achievement of NEPA, Big Brothers Big Sisters of NEPA, Luzerne County Industrial Development Authority, National Electrical Contractors Association and IBEW 163.
Currently, Bresnahan serves on the boards of the SPCA of Luzerne County, Forty Fort Cemetery Association, and Catholic Youth Center.
United States Representative
Elections
In October 2023, Bresnahan filed to run for the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district. The district includes Lackawanna County, Wayne County, and Pike County along with the majority of Luzerne County and Monroe County in Northeastern Pennsylvania. In the November 2024 general election, Bresnahan defeated incumbent Democrat Matt Cartwright.
Bresnahan is running for re-election in 2026. He will face Democratic nominee Paige Cognetti in the November 2026 general election.
Tenure
In May 2025, Bresnahan voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
In September 2025, Bresnahan co-sponsored a bill to raise the federal minimum wage based on regional cost of living.
Committee assignments
For the 119th Congress:
Committee on Agriculture
Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology
Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Subcommittee on Aviation
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management
Subcommittee on Highways and Transit (Vice Chair)
Committee on Small Business
Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access
Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development
Caucus memberships
Bresnahan's caucus memberships include:
Main Street Caucus
Problem Solvers
Republican Governance Group
Congressional Bipartisan Opportunity Youth Caucus, co-chair
Modern Ag Caucus, vice chair of nutrition
Aviation Safety Caucus
BIOTech Caucus
Bipartisan Building Trades Caucus
BOP Reform Caucus
Climate Solutions Caucus
Congressional Apprenticeship Caucus
Congressional Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus
Congressional Pre-K and Child Care Caucus
Fentanyl Prevention Caucus
Flood Resiliency Caucus
Law Enforcement Caucus
Personal life
Bresnahan married Chelsea Strub, a former news anchor and reporter at WNEP-TV, on August 16, 2025.
Bresnahan's net worth is estimated at $48 million. In April 2025, The New York Times reported that Bresnahan, who had campaigned on prohibiting stock trading by members of Congress, reported 264 stock trades, purchasing up to $1.7 million in stock since taking office in January 2025. Some of the trades involved industries overseen by a committee on which he served, and dozens of his trades were made during the 2025 stock market crash, which followed the Trump administration issuing the Liberation Day tariffs.
By August 2025, Bresnahan had engaged in 626 stock trades worth $7.24 million. The number of trades made Bresnahan the second-most active stock trader in the 119th Congress. Bresnahan said he planned to establish a blind trust in May 2025, but that the House Ethics Committee's rules made the process difficult. Bresnahan says that he does not personally trade stock, and instead his financial advisors do the trades.
In November 2025, NBC News reported that Bresnahan sold $130,000 worth of stock in Centene, Elevance Health, UnitedHealth and CVS Health on May 15. These trades happened a week before he voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included large cuts in Medicaid funding. The four companies manage about half of all Medicaid accounts. Just prior to selling the Medicaid-related stocks, he introduced legislation to ban congressional stock trading and said he was moving his holdings into a blind trust. By 2026, records showed he had stopped trading stocks.