As Mayor of Scranton, Paige Cognetti is driven by the belief that government should work as hard as the people it serves. During her time in office, Cognetti partnered with the Pennsylvania Auditor General to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse while working to make communities safer and local government more accountable.
In 2019, after Scranton’s former mayor resigned upon pleading guilty to federal charges, Cognetti launched a campaign centered on reform and transparency. Taking on the city’s political establishment, her grassroots effort became known as “Paige Against the Machine.”
Following her historic victory as the first woman elected mayor of Scranton, Cognetti went to work delivering results for Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA). She took on special interests, expanded opportunities for housing, small businesses, and parks, and strengthened the city’s financial standing through a budget surplus and credit rating increase. Under her leadership, Scranton secured more than $155 million in federal and state grants to support local infrastructure, public safety, and law enforcement. The city also successfully emerged from a 30-year distressed financial status period.
Now, Cognetti is taking her fight to Congress, running to represent Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District. As NEPA faces an uncertain economic future and rising costs, she is running to improve quality of life, lower costs, strengthen the local economy, and deliver transparent, accountable government that puts the people first.