Anti-abortion activist Mark Houck is running for Congress in Pennsylvania, challenging centrist incumbent Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) in a Philadelphia-area swing district during the April Republican primary for the 2024 elections.
“All my policies and everything I will support comes back to the dignity of the human person, and whether that’s in the womb or outside the womb, we’re going to do what makes sense for American citizens,” Houck said in an exclusive interview with the Washington Examiner.
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Houck, 49, is a practicing Catholic and father of seven who rose to national prominence in September 2022 following a federal indictment for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or FACE Act, which prohibits anti-abortion advocates from intimidating women entering clinics to obtain the controversial procedure.
Anti-abortion advocates and conservative media highlighted Houck’s experience of a hostile raid at his house as a call to monitor the FBI better.
Although Houck was acquitted by a jury in January 2023, the ordeal inspired him to run for Congress, he said, to use his voice and experience to help protect the American people from government overreach.
“American citizens should not be fearful that they’re going to be raided as they wake up in the morning, that their children are going to be stirred from a slumber and the father be taken out of the home,” Houck said. “No citizen and Americans in America should live with that fear that this possibly could happen to them if they’re a devout Catholic or Christian, or they happen to do sidewalk counseling [at an abortion facility].”
From his experiences, Houck says he “probably has greater name recognition than the incumbent.”
Fitzpatrick was first elected in 2016 to replace his older brother, Mike Fitzpatrick, who represented the area on and off since 2005. Before his congressional run, the younger Fitzpatrick was an FBI supervisory special agent in California and a former special assistant U.S. attorney.
Fitzpatrick is among the most centrist Republicans, having been ranked the No. 1 bipartisan representative for three consecutive years in the Lugar Center’s Bipartisan Index Rating.
On the issue of abortion, Fitzpatrick received a D rating from the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and an 80% rating from the National Right to Life Committee. Fitzpatrick also received a lifetime score of 31% in the Heritage Action rating list.
In the 2022 general election, Fitzpatrick won against Democrat challenger Ashely Ehasz by nearly 10% of the vote. Primary challenger Alex Entin, who ran on a traditional conservative platform, lost against Fitzpatrick’s centrist approach by slightly over 31% of the over 90,000 registered Republicans who voted in April 2022.
Houck told the Washington Examiner that he voted for Fitzpatrick in every race since 2016, including the primaries, but not because of his record on abortion.
“Why did I vote for Brian Fitzpatrick? Was it because he was the bona fide pro-life candidate? No [but] he was the only [one] I felt that we could vote for that would defeat the Democrat and continue to push forward our hopes as a pro-life community and culture in where I live,” Houck said.
When asked about whether a hard anti-abortion stance hinders a candidate’s success, he said the issue is much more “confusing and complex” than what some analysts suggest.
“I think we have smart people in the district. I think people are very conservative, and there are those on the more moderate side, but at the same time, let’s give them a candidate that they can truly get behind,” Houck said. “I don’t think the district is as purple as they might say.”
Bucks County, one of the five that comprise the Philadelphia metropolitan area, is also a unique location because of its large Catholic population, at 52% compared to the 24% total population in the commonwealth, adding to Houck’s edge.
Although Houck is known for his anti-abortion advocacy, he said the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case gave jurisdiction over abortion back to the states and that, as the campaign stands right now, “it’s not the time where abortion really is an issue for [either himself or Fitzpatrick] when it comes to running.”
While a primary facet of Houck’s campaign is his desire to curb federal abuse of power, especially on the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, his other priorities include immigration reform and reining in spending on the war in Ukraine.
“My colleague who I’m running against is really on the fence with all of it … but I want to close the borders right now and get this under control,” Houck said, noting the opioid crisis in Philadelphia is taking a toll on his constituents.
Houck told the Washington Examiner that he worked as a youth counselor for five years at the Bucks County Juvenile Correction Facility in the late 1990s and early 2000s, where he witnessed the role that teenagers and young adults play in drug trafficking, especially heroin.
Houck earned his master’s in education in 2003 from the Catholic University of America. He founded The King’s Men, a Catholic men’s ministry, in 2006 and continues to serve as the nonprofit group’s president.
Moving toward the primary in April, Houck hopes that his tribulations with the federal government will galvanize grassroots support for his campaign.
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“I think my story and my family and who we are as people, we will bring that to Washington, D.C.,” Houck said. “I [will] bring integrity to our nation’s capital for our district. I [will] bring honesty.”
The Washington Examiner contacted Fitzpatrick’s office with a request for comment.
