🌅 Good morning!
📰 Headlines. No love for Fetterman among Pennsylvania Democrats. The drive-thru voter system effectively prevents noncitizens from registering to vote. Immunity lost. Baseball can break, melt your heart.
🎶 Your morning, pick me up. Drown me out. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Weather in Pennsylvania
🌤️ Sandy Lake | Shrinking clouds, 44
☀️ Green Castle | Mostly clear, 52
☀️ Hamburg | Mostly clear, 49
Sports PA
⚾ Phillies (8-13) | Atlanta 2-4 | Monday at the Chicago Cubs
⚾ Pirates (13-9) | Tampa Bay 6-3 | Tuesday in Texas
🏀 Sixers (0-1) | Boston 91-123 | Tuesday in Boston
🏒 Leaflets (1-0) | Pittsburgh 3-2 | Monday in Pittsburgh
🏒 Penguins (0-1) | Philadelphia 2-3 | Pon vs. Philadelphia
⚽ Union (1-1-6) | D.C. United 0-0 | Wednesday vs. Toronto
🔈 What we hear. Representative Madeleine Dean announced her support for Bob Brooks for the PA-07 seat.
💬 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 crucial story
1. No love for Fetterman among Pennsylvania Democrats
“I want to feel how frail Senator John Fetterman position belongs to Pennsylvania Democrats? Not a single Democrat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ delegation will say Fetterman should run for re-election as a Democrat.
Fetterman won’t run for re-election until 2028. However, Fetterman’s tendency to vote for President Donald Trump His cabinet selections, public criticism of other Democrats and constant appearances on Fox News have led to speculation that the incumbent president may switch parties or leave the Democratic Party.” | Punchbowl News
Elsewhere
Support for Trump is dwindling, Pennsylvania voters are divided over Fetterman. “President Donald Trump’s support among Pennsylvanians continues to decline, and a majority of voters in a new poll expressed confidence in voting by mail as the primary approaches.” | PennLive
The Democrat in a key race defended guns after a mass shooting and insulted Kaepernick. “Bob Brooks, a firefighter who appeals to the white working class, has engaged in right-wing content. His supporters are supporting him in the race for the Pennsylvania House. ” | Washington Post Office
What the candidate’s senior Facebook posts tell us about this moment for Democrats. “This morning we published a story about Bob Brooks, the burly goateed firefighter and labor leader who is trying to unseat a newly minted Republican congressman in northeastern Pennsylvania. His race is key to Democrats in their quest to take back the House of Representatives. ” | Washington Post Office
Dems Primary School 2028 will also be available to Hopefuls partners. “More than a dozen Democrats with White House ambitions aren’t the only ones preparing for the 2028 campaign: Political foes now see spouses as fair game, so partners of potential candidates are preparing for the vitriol — in very different ways.” | Axles
Country
2. Pennsylvania’s drive-through voter system effectively prevents non-citizens from registering to vote
“An audit of more than 200,000 transactions in Pennsylvania’s drive-thru voter registration process found only one instance where officials allowed a non-U.S. citizen to submit an application,” the state states. Auditor General Timothy DeFoor said Friday.
A single incident occurred because a PennDOT employee omitted an individual’s immigration status when entering information into the state’s driver’s license and inspection system. If no immigration information is provided, the system automatically classifies the person as a U.S. citizen and gives him or her the opportunity to register to vote, he said at a press conference.” | Penn Capital Star
Elsewhere
ChatGPT and Claude will be a force in the elections. Nobody knows what to do with it. “Chatbots have already changed the way voters get information. Political operatives simply don’t know what they can do to change what chatbots say. ” | known
Political spending in the Lehigh Valley congressional race totaled $3.2 million. “Two years after Lehigh Valley spent $30 million on a battleground congressional race, candidates in this year’s midterm elections are already on track to break that record.” | LehighValley News
PA Civil Rights Agency head resigns as Gov. Shapiro launches investigation into agency spending. “Chad Dion Lassiter, 53, who has headed the Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations since 2018, submitted a letter of resignation to Shapiro earlier this month and plans to leave the office by June 30, according to a copy of the letter obtained by this news organization.” | Questioner from Philadelphia
AP Third Congressional District Democratic Debate. “During the Third Congressional District debate hosted by G-Town Radio and Center in the Park, Chris Rabb, Ala Stanford, Sharif Street and Shaun Griffith presented competing visions on health care, housing, public safety, voting rights and what it takes to succeed Dwight Evans.” | G-Town Beat
Around the Republic of Poland
3. Loss of immunity
“How Pennsylvania’s dwindling school vaccination rates and enforcement failures are putting thousands of children at risk.
A six-month investigation in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found that school officials allowed thousands of children into schools without all required vaccines, even though they had no special exemptions that allowed them to forgo vaccinations for religious or philosophical reasons – a violation of state vaccine laws. | Pittsburgh Postal Newspaper
Elsewhere
Pennie coverage is dwindling amid rising health care premiums. “Approximately 45,000 Pennsylvanians canceled coverage through Pennie between the close of open enrollment on January 31 and April 9. This represents a nearly 50% increase in cancellations per Pennie compared to the same period in 2025.” | Axios Philadelphia
County government group pushes for funding during AP budget impasse. “Rep. Brian Rasel has proposed a bill that would ensure local governments and organizations that provide services to the state continue to receive state funds amid the impasse.” | Penn Capital Star
The rush to build data centers is causing confusion in AP communities, management said. “Question marks appeared repeatedly Friday during a hearing in Tioga County hosted by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. After one presentation by a Mid-Atlantic power grid manager and another by the Data Center Coalition, center board member Sen. Judy Schwank said it sounded like two different stories about how much data centers are driving demand.” | Central Square
Editorial
4. What do you think about it?
- Chris Rabb in the Democratic primary for AP’s 3rd congressional district | Questioner from Philadelphia
- Good start, Harrisburg. Now finish your budget | Grandstand overview
- Manipulating the truth in the president’s house is not restoration – it is revision | Michael Coard
- Stacy Garrity is underfunded and undersupported | Adriana E. Ramírez
- When families speak out, Pennsylvania listens: How one meeting changed services for people with disabilities | Gary Blumenthal
1 item
5. A youthful Pirate fan hands out the ball and receives a heartbreaking hug in return
“Baseball can break your heart, but it can also melt it. We got proof of that last Sunday in Pittsburgh. ” | MLB.com
Thank you for starting your week with us.
Is it dusty in here? See you on Monday.
