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Weather in Pennsylvania
☀️ Kittanning | Sunny, 64
☀️Small town | Sunny, 67
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Sports PA
⚾ Phillies (1-2) | NY Mets 2-7 | Wednesday vs. NY Mets
🏒 Penguins | Wednesday vs. NY Rangers
🏒 Flyers | Friday vs. Vancouver
🗣️ What we hear. Forty of the nation’s leading private colleges and universities, including Carnegie Mellon, Lehigh, Penn and Villanova, have been accused in a federal class action lawsuit of conspiring with the College Board to in effect overcharge students.
🎂 Happy birthday. Congratulations to Rep. Chris Deluzio and his wife, Zoë Bunnellon the occasion of the birth of their fourth child, a son.
📊 PoliticsPA Poll Tracker (average of the last 5 PA polls)
President: Harris +0.8% | Senate: Casey +4.6%
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The most vital story
1. Donald Trump is counting on victory for PA voters from rural areas. Is this enough?
“Rural voters are the state’s second-largest voting group after suburban voters, and although their voting power is less concentrated, they remain the core of Republican support. Geographically, the widest swathes of Pennsylvania are still Trump country, and although rural areas are losing population faster than any other place in the state, former President Donald Trump still managed to increase net vote share in these regions between 2016 and 2020.
This includes rural areas of Lancaster County, which have swung largely Republican. The county as a whole trended Democratic with gains in more populous cities and towns Vice President Kamala Harris sees this as an opportunity to limit Trump’s support.” (Questioner from Philadelphia)
Elsewhere
Inside the battle for America’s most significant battlefield state. “Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are putting more money, time and energy into Pennsylvania than anywhere else, waging a statewide ad war.” (New York Times)
Part of Harris’ strategy in Pennsylvania: fewer red counties. “Vice President Kamala Harris will not win Somerset County, Pennsylvania. He won’t even come close.” (Washington Post Office)
- GOP voter registration ‘pied piper’ expects truckers, Amish and hunters to expand PA base. (DV Journal)
Puerto Rican voters’ growing influence in Pennsylvania’s political battleground. “Among nearly half a million Puerto Ricans in Pennsylvania, a key voting bloc in the upcoming presidential election, some have switched parties, others remain undecided and many remain disconnected from the political process.” (Center for Investigative Journalism)
Analysts are looking at 2 counties that could determine the president’s outcome in Pennsylvania. “The gap between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in the upcoming election is expected to be narrow, with two counties considered the most likely to predict the outcome: Erie and Northampton.” (CNHI News)
Country
2. Keys to the House: PA-10 and the trajectory of congressional policy
“April 10, 2024 was no ordinary night on the Central Pennsylvania political scene. As a congressman Scott PerryR-Pa., sat in the quiet of his unopposed primary, with six Democrats making it to the debate stage, all vying for the candidate who could finally unseat a six-term incumbent.
It’s an uncharacteristically competitive Democratic primary and the emergence of a former news anchor Janelle Stelson as the winning candidate, he embodies the spirit of political uncertainty that is growing in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. Now Scott Perry’s critics, from party Democrats to independents and even moderate Republicans, believe the district is ready for change.” (Harvard Political Review)
Elsewhere
Perry and Stelson Trade are merely inserting themselves into the debate in a tight U.S. House of Representatives race. “In their only scheduled debate, Pennsylvania 10th Congressional District candidates Scott Perry and Janelle Stelson went head-to-head Tuesday night over the existential question – in this campaign – of who better reflects the judgment and temperament of south-central Pennsylvania voters “. (PennLive)
- ICYMI. Janelle Stelson and Scott Perry clash in Pennsylvania’s 10th District debate. (abc27)
U.S. House of Representatives Preview: 1st Congressional District. “The First Congressional District includes Bucks and Montgomery counties. Republican Brian Fitzpatrick is the incumbent and faces Democratic challenger Ashley Ehasz. (PoliticsPA)
Kenyatta Challenges DeFoor in Pennsylvania Auditor General Race. “As one of three elected state offices, the office of the auditor general has something of an intimidating bully pulpit when choosing which policies and programs to audit.” (Penn Capital Star)
Conflict between PA Senate and Treasury Secretary escalates; “What are you hiding?” “The unprecedented confrontation between Republicans who control the state Senate and Treasury Secretary Pat Brown escalated Tuesday as senators voted to bring him before them within three session days — on or before Oct. 22 — to answer questions.” (Pittsburgh Postal Newspaper)
Around the Republic of Poland
3. A county in Pennsylvania elects presidents. How is the fight between Harris and Trump going?
“According to campaign staff and volunteers for both campaigns, the battle for Erie County – historically a must-win county – demonstrates the urgency of identifying and contacting individual voters in a campaign that remains stubbornly close.
“I was bombarded with mail, phone calls and text messages,” he said Erin Miller38, a bartender and mother of six who recently moved to the state from Colorado and has not yet voted locally in the presidential election, making her a top campaign target.” (Reuters)
Elsewhere
Sara Innamorato proposes $2.2 million tax raise as Allegheny County reduces $81 million deficit. “If County Council approves this resolution, it will be the first property tax increase in over a decade. An increase of 2.2 mills would raise the county’s millage rate from 4.73 mills to 6.93 mills and – on a home assessed at $110,400 – would mean a tax increase of $182 per year.” (Pittsburgh Postal Newspaper)
Harris leads Trump in the latest AP poll as voters show greater satisfaction with the candidates. “The latest in a series of polls commissioned by the Commonwealth Foundation shows that Pennsylvania voters welcomed the news that President Joe Biden would withdraw from the 2024 race and be replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris.” (PennLive)
Moody’s Credit Upgrade for Pennsylvania Includes Spending Warning. “The bond credit rating company upgraded the Keystone State to Aa2 from Aa3 based on approximately $1.4 billion in general obligation bonds. “Analysts praised Pennsylvania’s “significant increase” in reserve funds and its ability to meet long-term obligations.” (DV Journal)
York County judge charged with 31 counts in federal Covid-19 unemployment fraud case. “A York County judge faces federal charges for orchestrating fraud against the state unemployment and federal COVID-19 relief program in 2020. Judge Steven Stambaugh, 61, is also accused of intimidating an employee of his law firm during the trial. investigation is being conducted against him.” (Shipment from York)
Editorial
4. What do you mean
1 item
5. The turf war between tennis and pickleball is intensifying
“Throughout the spectacular rise of pickleball in the U.S., American tennis has always insisted that there is no war between the two sports. According to the United States Tennis Association, more people picking up rackets can only be a good thing.
On at least one front, however, it can no longer be denied that tennis and pickleball are in direct conflict. The battle for court space has begun and tennis is quickly losing ground.” (Wall Street Journal)
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