It’s official: Glenn Thompson announces bid for 10th term serving PA 15 in Congress
Rep. Glenn Thompson, a Howard Republican, announced Thursday he would seek a 10th term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Serving you in the House of Representatives has been the honor of a lifetime and every challenge along the way has been met with great optimism,” Thompson said in a video announcing his reelection. “I am encouraged by my faith, family, friends and the supporters who have helped make such a difference.”
Thompson will appear at Sunset West Restaurant in Pleasant Gap Saturday, Feb. 21 for a petition signing event, a spokesman said.
The longest-serving member of Pennsylvania’s House delegation, Thompson has been a reliable vote for President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda, having voted in line with it 100% of the time, according to a liberal think tank. He recently saw his bill allowing schools to serve whole milk signed into law by Trump.
Thompson has spent the last 18 years rising through the Republican ranks, and he has served as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee since 2023. He recently argued his longevity has allowed him to score what he presents as policy wins.
“If you had term limits, you’d never do anything that was transformational in Washington,” Thompson said at the state Republican committee meeting in Harrisburg last week. Some Republicans, including Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, have long argued elected officials should be subject term limits.
Thompson’s district, Pennsylvania’s 15th, is not viewed as competitive by political prognosticators. The Republican won his last race with nearly 72% of the vote, and has vastly outraised every Democrat he’s faced for the overwhelmingly rural seat. National Democrats ignored the 15th in 2024.
The Democratic political strategist James Carville famously described Pennsylvania as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, with Alabama in the middle.
“I’m Alabama, there’s no doubt about it,” Thompson told a journalist with Puck who said his district reminded her of the Carville quote.
Thompson has already pulled in $1.2 million for the 2026 race, a sum that could triple if he keeps up with recent fundraising trends. He outraised his last Democratic opponent 20-to-1 on the way to a 43-point victory in 2024, and enters this year’s race with $867,000 cash on hand, according to his most recent campaign finance report.
This year, Thompson faces a Democratic challenger in Ray Bilger, a Pleasant Gap native and former Republican who spent 40 years in the U.S. Air Force and intelligence communities. Bilger, who has the backing of at least six of the 18 county Democratic Parties in the district, is a leader of a group of activists that has spent the last year protesting outside Thompson’s Bellefonte office.
Bilger has set ambitious fundraising goals, and the Centre County Democratic chair, Margie Swoboda, is bullish he can do what no Democrat has done in the 15th: win.
“Absolutely,” she said Wednesday. Otherwise, “we wouldn’t be going full steam ahead with this candidate.”
This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 2:47 PM.
