Rebecca Prendergast, a Springfield Township entrepreneur and former Republican, is running as an independent for the Pennsylvania 145th House District seat held by Rep. Craig Staats since 2016.
The race now comes down to two candidates. Democrat Les Mavus, a Nockamixon Township resident who won 5,534 votes in the May primary while running unopposed, withdrew at the Aug. 10 deadline and endorsed Prendergast. Mavus told the Bucks County Herald their priorities were aligned and that Prendergast would be more effective at fighting large-scale data center development.
The 145th District stretches 107 square miles from Telford to Riegelsville and includes Doylestown, Buckingham and New Britain. Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats there by roughly 23,500 to 15,000, with about 8,800 voters not aligned with either major party, according to the Herald.
Staats, a Republican, is seeking a seventh term.
The Bucks County Beacon described him as having "historically voted the party line." Neither the Herald nor the Beacon reported a response from Staats' campaign regarding Prendergast's candidacy.
Who is Prendergast?
A mother of four children ages 8 to 18, Prendergast grew up in Coopersburg, where her father owned a factory. She told the Beacon she left the Republican Party after Jan. 6, 2021, saying the attack on the Capitol and the political response afterward were a turning point.
She serves on the board of Hair of the Dog, a nonprofit animal rescue, mentors young women through the Junior League of Lehigh Valley and donates as much as 3,000 pounds of produce grown from seed on her Springfield Township farm.
"Eventually you must decide whether you're going to keep saying, 'Someone should do something,' or whether you're willing to be one of the people who steps forward," Prendergast told the Beacon. "I decided to step forward."
Platform: property taxes, utility costs and data centers
Prendergast's campaign centers on three issues she says hit Upper Bucks families hardest.
On property taxes, she points to more than $1 billion in existing state relief and the Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program, which offers eligible older residents and people with disabilities rebates of up to $1,000.
On utility costs, she argues homeowners and small businesses should not subsidize infrastructure for large industrial electricity users. She backs the debate around House Bill 1834, the Ratepayer and Grid Protection Act, which passed the Pennsylvania House but died in the Senate. An analysis by Greenline Insights, commissioned by Evergreen Action, found the full data center cost-allocation package could save the average Pennsylvania household $1,820 through 2040.
Her signature proposal is the Pennsylvania Responsible AI Development Act (PaRAID), which would temporarily pause new hyper-scale AI data center approvals while the state establishes rules for electricity use, water consumption and public safety. She told the Beacon she is not proposing a ban on ordinary AI use or small-business applications.
On education, Prendergast notes the current state budget directs a $565 million increase through adequacy and tax-equity formulas for 2026-27. Three of her four children are enrolled in local schools.
What's next
Voters in the 145th District will choose between Prendergast and Staats on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.
