😀 Good morning.
PA Policy Manual Headings. Trump tells Fitzpatrick: “Voting against me doesn’t work well.” Four Swing House races loom vast for both sides. Bucks County is poised to become the center of the political universe (again). 12 amazing towns in Pennsylvania to visit
🎶 Your morning, pick me up. My shot. Lin-Manuel Miranda
Weather in Pennsylvania
☁️ City of Ellwood | Mostly gloomy, 70s
🌧️ Gettysburg | Rain, 60
☂️ Kutztown | Showers, 61
Sports PA
Phillies (25-25) | Cincinnati 4-9 | Friday vs. Cleveland
Pirates (25-24) | St. Louis 7-0 | Thu at St. Louis
What we hear. CQ-Roll call lists Representative Ryan Mackenzie in PA-07 as the sixth most vulnerable member of the House entering the general election period.
Tips. PoliticsPA is Pennsylvania’s leading source of unbiased political news and analysis. Tips and press releases can be submitted [email protected].
PoliticsPA Guide was developed by Steve Ulrich. To read in your browser click here.
The most vital story
1. Trump Tells Fitzpatrick: “Voting against me doesn’t work well.”
“Speaking to reporters on Wednesday on the way to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, President Donald Trump he took the time to discredit Pennsylvania Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-01) for not fully supporting the president and his program.
Trump silenced a Fox News reporter’s question Jacqui Heinrich about the Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu offer some off-the-wall observations about the five-term congressman from Bucks County.
“But her husband keeps voting against me. Can you imagine? I don’t know what’s happening to him,” Trump told reporters. “You better ask him what’s going on with him. Her husband is married to a certain congressman. He likes to vote against Trump. You know what happens with that… it doesn’t turn out well. ” | PoliticsPA
Elsewhere
The rabbi’s election was a substantial night for Philadelphia progressives and a rebuke to the Democratic establishment. “Chris Rabb’s victory comes amid a nationwide wave of momentum among left-wing candidates leaning toward economic populism. The Working Families Party declared: ‘The machine is dead.'” | Questioner from Philadelphia
Rabb’s victory defies the machine and shows the familiar division in the Democratic Party. “The victory showed the strength of support for a progressive legislator who broke through the party machine that supported his opponent, State Sen. Sharif Street.” | Wide + Freedom
Democrats intend to close Trump’s $1.8 billion “weaponization” fund.. “The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is introducing legislation that would block a $1.8 billion fund for payments to people who say they have been the target of politically motivated persecution. Why it matters: Rep. Jamie Raskin (R-Md.) may win GOP support for the effort, and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Mo.) told reporters on Wednesday he would ‘try to kill’ the fund.” | Axles
McCormick remains quiet as Fetterman opposes Trump’s controversial $1.8 billion settlement fund as a ‘weird thing’. “Sen. John Fetterman has come out against President Donald Trump’s nearly $1.8 billion so-called ‘counter-gun’ fund, while Sen. Dave McCormick remains quiet on the controversial issue.” | (*21*)PennLive
Fetterman’s chief of staff resigns. “Cabelle St. John has served on Fetterman’s staff since he first arrived in Washington approximately three and a half years ago. She became his chief of staff in 2025.” | Axles
Country
2. Pennsylvania’s four swing house races look substantial for both sides – and in 2028, too
“Control of the House of Representatives may come down to four key battleground races in Pennsylvania.
With an increasingly constrained competitive map, both Democrats and Republicans are stressing the importance of these campaigns, which will soon bring a flood of money and investment from both sides.’ | NBC News
Elsewhere
“We’ve never been this bad.” Eastern Pennsylvania weighs higher costs. “With two swing districts, the region from Scranton to Allentown could decide control of the House, and voters express deep concern.” | New York Times
Affordability is high compared to four key competitions in Pennsylvania. “Primaries across Pennsylvania set the stage for some of the most closely watched House battlegrounds in the 2026 midterm elections, with four Republican-controlled districts emerging as critical fronts in the fight for control of the chamber.” | Washington Examiner
Midterm Showdown: What to watch as the race in District 8 intensifies. “Well before Tuesday’s primary, the proverbial punches had already been thrown in the midterm contest between U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan and Democratic Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti.” | Scranton Times Tribune
‘Paige Against The Machine’: How the Democrat Who Defied Her Party Is Now Attacking the Swing House District. “In trying to flip Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, Paige Cognetti is once again presenting herself as an alternative to self-interested politics.” | CNN
Stelson targets Perry for veterans, affordability in the first event of the campaign since her primary victory. “Democrat Janelle Stelson did not shy away from direct attacks on incumbent Republican Scott Perry in her first public appearance since Tuesday’s primary victory.” | PennLive
Around the Republic of Poland
3. Bucks County is ready to become the center of the political universe (again)
“In the mid-20th century, NASA astronauts like John Glenn, Neil ArmstrongAND Buzz Aldrin trained for the groundbreaking Mercury and Apollo missions in the Bucks County Naval Aerospace Development Center’s centrifuge, which spun at 173 miles per hour, mimicking the swirling gravitational forces of space.
Decades later, a raucous crowd of Democrats gathered in the same place – a piece of space history now transformed into a sprawling event hall called The Fuge – embarking on their own ambitious mission: to upend the U.S. House of Representatives and the Pennsylvania State Senate in the fall. | Questioner from Philadelphia
Elsewhere
Stacy Garrity and Josh Shapiro’s tranquil primary for Pennsylvania governor is over. “With the primary election over, the attention of the Pennsylvania political world now turns to the most important race in the November general election: governor.” | PA reflector
The website lays out Democrats’ plan to attack Garrity in the AP governor’s race. “If the new website is any indication of how the governor’s race is going, Republican state treasurer Stacy Garrity will need a very thick skin.” | PennLive
Two local officials removed by voters, including the longest-serving Democrat in the Pennsylvania House. “Despite low turnout, voters elected new blood to represent them in Harrisburg by huge margins in Delaware and Philadelphia counties, where incumbent Reps. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) and Keith Harris (D-Philadelphia) lost their seats.” | Questioner from Philadelphia
Original loss of Allegheny County Council Chairman Sign of the times. “Political observers say Brittany Bloam’s landslide victory in the suburban primary wasn’t just about anti-transgender mail, and a challenge to Council President Pat Catena could deliver another blow to a weakening power base.” | Public source
Attorney General Dave Sunday is appealing the decision to overturn AP’s ban on Medicaid-funded abortions. “Pennsylvania’s Republican attorney general is appealing a Commonwealth Court decision last month invalidating a ban on using Medicaid to pay for abortions.” | Penn Capital Star
Editorial
4. What do you think about it?
- Senator McCormick faces an impossible choice: loyalty to party or Pennsylvania families | Joyce M. Davis
- We exclude independent voters at our own political risk Chris Brennan
- 100 years ago they used violence to promote white supremacy. Now they are resorting to the courts Paul L. Newman
- Pennsylvania’s data center boom shouldn’t leave working families in the shadowy | Chad Quinn
- Heat waves are driving up energy bills, but Pennsylvania has a better option | Chris D’Agostino
- Powering Pennsylvania’s Future | Matt Espenshade
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5. 12 amazing towns in Pennsylvania worth visiting in 2026
“Pennsylvania is one of the most interesting and quirky states in the country. The state offers a variety of offbeat celebrations and attractions that appeal to almost everyone. Take Punxsutawney, for example. This small town attracts tens of thousands of tourists from around the world for the annual Groundhog Day celebration. And that’s just the beginning. In the town of Mars there is a statue of a flying saucer, and in Monroeville there is a shopping mall made famous by one of the most popular zombie movies of the time.” | Atlas of the World
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