📖 Today’s #PoliticsPA Guide. Governors go to the White House to present a deal to curb energy prices. Fitzpatrick is stuck in a system he hates. The Allentown GOP senator stands by the profanity he used to describe Philadelphia. How 1 drink dominated the PA agricultural program.
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📅MLK Day. PoliticsPA will be offline on Monday for MLK Day, but we will be back in full force on Tuesday.
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Sports PA
🏀 Sixes (22-17) | Friday vs. Cleveland | Pon vs. Indiana
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🎙️ PoliticsPA hosts the PA-03 Congress Forum. “PoliticsPA will host the first-ever congressional forum in Philadelphia in partnership with the Center City Residents Association (CCRA) and sister news site PhillyDaily on Monday, February 9, as candidates for the 3rd Congressional District discuss the issues of the day at 7 p.m. at Trinity Church in Rittenhouse Square.”
🔊 What we hear. “Residents across Pennsylvania have devoted their time, money and energy to support [Fetterman’s] campaign just to elect a Democrat who votes against our interests time and time again. We need new leadership.” – Nick Gaviodirector of communications for the Mid-Atlantic Working Families Party and former Fetterman staffer
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The most essential story
1. Governors go to the White House to present a deal to curb energy prices
“U.S. governors are observing the rapid expansion of data center construction, including in Pennsylvania Josh Shapirowill visit the White House on Friday to sign an agreement with the Trump administration aimed at curbing rising electricity costs, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The deal includes two-year price caps on future auctions on PJM’s network covering 67 million people in mid-Atlantic and inland states and forces recent data center operators such as Amazon and Google to shoulder a larger share of network expansion costs. | Reuters
Elsewhere
Efforts are growing for Primary Senator John Fetterman. “Sen. John Fetterman, R-Pennsylvania, won’t run for re-election until 2028, but that’s not stopping his once-progressive allies from accelerating their efforts to challenge him in the primary.” | NBC News
The Cook Political Report shifts 18 chambers toward Democrats. “Citing President Trump’s unpopular polling numbers and Democrats’ winning streak in the recent special election, the nonpartisan election hurdler predicts that Democrats have ‘more than enough opportunity’ to win a House majority this fall, according to analyst Erin Covey.” | Hill
The Federal Secretary of Agriculture is asking PA farmers who are struggling to be patient. “During a visit to the Pennsylvania Farm Show on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins sought to reassure farmers facing a litany of challenges.” | Penn Capital Star
Country
2. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick is stuck in a system he hates
“Brian Fitzpatricka moderate Republican from Bucks County, was considered the most bipartisan member of the House of Representatives — in other words, the member of Congress most likely to cross the aisle and seek common ground with the other side.
But bipartisanship, Fitzpatrick tells me one day as we sit across the table from each other, is not his ultimate goal. No, what he really dreams of for America is impartiality – the complete elimination of political parties. And his inspiration in this endeavor is none other than the Father of our country.” | Philadelphia Magazine
Elsewhere
Fitzpatrick pushed for an extension of health care subsidies. Here’s what voters in his Bucks County swing district think. “Democrats accuse him of maintaining moderate pragmatism while voting for Trump’s policies.” | WHY
AP lawmakers hear testimony on regulation of intoxicating cannabis products. “A panel of state policymakers reached near-unanimous agreement on the need for statewide regulation of the intoxicating cannabis industry at a hearing Thursday at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex.” | WITF
AP politicians think they have found an education “miracle” in a surprising place. “Pennsylvania lawmakers are looking for an unlikely role model to improve literacy rates in the commonwealth: Mississippi.” | PennLive
Summary of re-election announcements. “Here is a list of members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly who, as of January 15, 2026, have announced their intention to seek re-election in 2026.” | PoliticsPA
Around the Republic of Poland
3. After backlash, the Allentown GOP senator stands by the profanity he used to describe Philadelphia
“Pennsylvania’s Republican state senator on Thursday doubled down on remarks denigrating Philadelphia, despite a backlash from prominent Philadelphia Democrats.
“Philadelphia wouldn’t be such a shithole” if he were district attorney Larry Krasner prosecuted more crimes, state Senator Jarrett Colemanthe Allentown Republican told Fox News on Wednesday. | Questioner from Philadelphia
Elsewhere
Bucks County Sheriff explains why he cut ties with ICE. “Sheriff Danny Ceisler tells NewsNation that ending his county’s partnership with ICE will help their relationship with the local immigrant community.’ | NewsNation
Pennsylvania lawmakers criticize brutal ICE encounters. “As protests continue across the Commonwealth over the actions of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Administration, or ICE, 18 Pennsylvania state legislators issued a statement signaling their opposition to federal policy.” | Central Square
Is ICE still in Philadelphia? Here’s how Bucks ends his alliance, here’s how local officials cooperate (or don’t) with federal agents. “Top officials throughout the Philadelphia region oppose partnership with ICE.” | Questioner from Philadelphia
The municipality of Coraopolis ends its cooperation with ICE after opposition from residents. “There has been a lot of division, in my opinion, because of the news, social media and what’s going on in the country,” said Council President Mike Harris, who voted to end the partnership. | Pittsburgh Postal Newspaper
Harrisburg officials explain ICE deal, roles: ‘People are feeling a lot of anxiety.’ “The killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent sparked outrage and protests across the country and prompted local officials to consider cooperation with federal immigration agents.” | PennLive
Editorial
4. What do you think about it?
1 item
5. How one drink dominated the PA agricultural program
“Last Saturday Randy Graham he joined a line that stretched dozens long, prepared to “wait” for a legendary treat: a Pennsylvania Farm Show milkshake.
“They must be really, really good because people come from everywhere and stand in long lines just to try a milkshake,” an Erie County resident who wouldn’t normally describe himself as a milkshake lover told PA Local. “So I have to see what all the fuss is about.”
The Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, an industry group, has been serving milkshakes at the Farm Show since 1953. Over the years, the beverage from Commonwealth dairy farmers has become almost synonymous with the indoor farmers’ market that takes its name from Harrisburg. | PA reflector
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