🍸 Good morning! Happy Cinco de Mayo
📰 PA Policy Playbook Headlines. Infighting breaks out as Democrats intervene in a disputed primary. Garrity says no to approving recreational marijuana. More and more AP voters are registering as independents, but barriers prevent lawmakers from following them. Ozempian Breath.
🎶 Your morning, pick me up. Cinco de Mayo. Pitbull
Weather in Pennsylvania
🌤️ McKees Rocks | Partly sunlit, 78
☀️ Mexico | Mostly sunlit, 80
☀️ Reading | Mostly sunlit, 83
Sports PA
⚾ Pirates (19-16) | Tuesday-Thursday in Arizona
⚾ Phillies (15-20) | Miami 1-0 | Tue. vs. sports
🏀 Sixers (0-1) | New York 98-137 | Wednesday in New York
🏒 Leaflets (0-2) | Karolina 2-3 (OT) | Thu vs. Karolina
🔈 What we hear. The Garrity for PA campaign aired the first two television ads of the campaign, titled: “Mr. Incompetent” and “Service and Leadership.” The initial ad purchase is over $500,000.
💬 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 significant story
1. Infighting erupts as Democrats intervene in disputed primary election
“The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sparked a sporadic and heated bout of public infighting among House Democrats on Monday, endorsing multiple candidates who are still in contentious primaries.
Lamont McClurecandidate in Pennsylvania’s 7th District, told Axios in a phone interview that being passed over would not affect his relationship with party leaders if he wins.
“When I become our candidate and [GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie] that’s a toast, I think the DCCC and all its members will be really content about it,” he said. | Axles
Elsewhere
Democratic Campaign Army endorsements in the House of Representatives frustrate Latino colleagues. “BOLD PAC, the campaign committee of the Congressional Latino Caucus, told Semaphore that Democrats will have to work to gain the trust of Latino voters by passing over preferred candidates in districts with significant Latino populations, including Carol Obando-Derstine of Pennsylvania.” | Traffic lights
Shapiro says he didn’t tell the Union to support the Republican candidate over the Democrat who criticized him. His best Labor allies supported the Republican anyway“Governor Josh Shapiro faces questions about whether he tried to help elect the GOP nominee rather than a member of his own party who has publicly criticized him, after an audio recording leaked this week in which he alleged that the first Democratic governor urged a top labor union to support the GOP candidate for Pennsylvania treasurer in the 2024 election.” | Questioner from Philadelphia
NRCC touts financial advantage in the medium term. “Just six months into the midterms, the NRCC argues in a new memo released Tuesday that Republicans’ financial advantage will help protect their House majority.” | Punchbowl News
Country
2. Garrity says no to approving recreational marijuana on his watch
“Probable Republican candidate for governor Stacy Garrity she said in an interview that if a legislative proposal to end the recreational marijuana ban ever came to her desk, she would veto it.
“I do not support legalizing recreational marijuana,” the state treasurer told NBC10 Philadelphia. | PoliticsPA
Elsewhere
Pennsylvania is suing the character’s artificial intelligence, claiming the Chatbot was posing as a doctor. “According to the lawsuit, the Character AI chatbot falsely represented itself as a licensed psychiatrist in Pennsylvania and provided an incorrect license number. The state accused the company of violating the Medical Practice Act, which regulates the medical profession and sets licensing requirements.” | CBS News
Shapiro joins a multi-state effort to eliminate abortion drug limits. “The friend-of-the-court agreement followed Friday’s ruling by a federal appeals court that ordered mifepristone – one of the most common methods of medication abortion – to be dispensed only in person at clinics, thereby blocking the shipment of prescriptions.” | PennLive
Six people were arrested at the Capitol during a protest over gifts to lawmakers. “As it currently stands, state lawmakers can accept any amount of cash gifts from people, including lobbyists, but must disclose any gifts over $250. Federal law and at least 47 states have stricter campaign finance laws. MarchOnHarrisburg organizers argued that simply disclosing gifts is not enough. ” | PennLive
Shapiro says regulated media system is ‘broken’. “In a letter sent to 24 electric, gas and water utilities, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told corporate CEOs that “the 20th-century utility model has been broken — we can no longer simply prioritize corporate profitability to drive infrastructure development.” | WHY
Around the Republic of Poland
3. More PA voters are registering as independents, but barriers prevent lawmakers from following them
“In February, Lehigh County Commissioner Ron Beitler made a decision that he described as “political suicide” – he left the GOP and decided not to associate with any political party.
Ultimately, he decided that becoming independent would support him better communicate with voters in his district.
“Because of these hyperpartisan silos of 24-hour cable news and social media, party affiliation became a very clear barrier, and all I cared about was removing that barrier,” he said. | PA reflector
Elsewhere
Phone bans in schools improve well-being but not test scores, study finds, under PA policy being considered statewide. “As Pennsylvania lawmakers continue to try to negotiate an agreement on a statewide cellphone policy in schools, a large study shows that cellphone bans improve students’ well-being, but do not necessarily improve their test scores.” | PennLive
Pennsylvania Democrats rebuke ‘traitor’ Fetterman as party threatens primary challenge. “The Monroe County Democratic Party over the weekend called Sen. John Fetterman a ‘traitor’ to his state and his party.” | Washington Examiner
2026 Primary Election: Pennsylvania State House (R). “Here’s a look at the candidates in the contested race for the Republican nomination for the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives.” | PoliticsPA
2026 Primary Election: Pennsylvania State House (D). “Here’s a look at the candidates in the contested races for the Democratic nomination for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.” | PoliticsPA
Editorial
4. What do you think about it?
1 item
5. “Ozempic Breath” increases sales of Hershey mints and chewing gum
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“Candy giant Hershey is gaining a sales boost from an unexpected consumer segment: users of GLP-1 weight loss drugs.
Hershey CEO Kirk Tanner in its first-quarter earnings report, the company said that while appetite suppressants are prompting customers to eat smaller portions of popular snacks, the drugs are also driving demand for breath fresheners.
According to doctors, drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, in addition to slimming the waist, sometimes cause a side effect in the form of bad breath. | CBS News
Thank you for starting your day with us.
Ozempian breathing, hmmm? See you tomorrow.
