😀 Monday, Monday. Let’s make it a great week.
Weather in Pennsylvania
☀️Ebensburg | Sunny, 74
🌤️Palmyra | Gradual Purification, 75
☀️ New Milford | Mostly shining, 69
Sports PA
⚾ Phillies (28-13) | Miami 6-7 | Monday-Thursday vs. NY Mets
⚾ Pirates (18-23) | Chicago Cubs 4-5 | Monday-Wednesday vs. Milwaukee
⚽ Union (3-5-3) | Orlando City 2-3 | Wednesday – New York City FC
👂 What we hear. “NWe know what the future will bring, but if you follow your own path with your head up, calm eyes and an open heart, you will achieve a lot – if you believe in yourself and the power of your own, unique path.” – Governor Josh Shapiro at the IUP commencement
🎸 Everyday Bruce. “I will see you in my dreams When all our years are over. I will see you in my dreams. We will meet, we will live and we will laugh again” – See you in my dreams
🗞️ Pennsylvania. The ultimate swing state. Where can you find the latest information on political events in the Keystone State? Sign up for the PoliticsPA Guide. We’ll deliver all the latest headlines in an easy-to-read format every weekday at 8am. And it’s free. Add your name to the list and sign up now.
The best story
1. Biden has problems with the AP – even with his base
“After months of repeated visits to Pennsylvania and millions of dollars spent on political ads, President Joe Biden did not gain popularity in the critical swing state.
Instead, he is deadlocked with the former president Donald Trump.
Trump leads Biden 47% to 44% among registered voters in a two-way race, according to a up-to-date Philadelphia Inquirer/New York Times/Siena College poll. That’s within the poll’s margin of error, and when you include outside candidates, the gap is similar, but Biden doesn’t even get to 40%. (Questioner from Philadelphia)
Related
Biden campaign plan to win Pennsylvania on the margin. “The president’s campaign is committing more resources to counties he will almost certainly lose, sooner than ever before. “Democrats say there is logic to it.” (known)
Biden gives 17 billion reasons why Pennsylvanians should support him this fall. “A senior White House adviser heads to Pittsburgh on Tuesday to highlight a massive infusion of federal dollars as President Joe Biden increasingly tells voters he deserves another four years in office.” (Pittsburgh Postal Newspaper)
Democrats’ ad campaign tries to chip away at Trump’s support among rural voters in 3 key states. “A group of Democrats is launching a new $140 million advertising campaign aimed at siphoning Donald Trump’s support from one of his most loyal voting blocs: rural voters. American Bridge 21st Century advertising will begin Monday in the northern battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. (AP)
The longtime Democratic senator opposes “greedflation” by big companies, but donor tapes tell a different story. “Longtime Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey has made ‘greed’ and rising store prices a key campaign platform in 2024, but donor data reviewed by Fox News Digital shows he has benefited from the big box stores he complained about during the campaign.” . (Fox News)
Fetterman’s vocal support for Israel is causing a headache for Casey in the Pennsylvania Senate race. “Republicans are using Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-PA) overt support for Israel to portray their Pennsylvania colleague, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), as weak on the Gaza war as he seeks a fourth term in the Senate.” (Washington Examiner)
Country
2. Shapiro has the support of more than a third of Trump voters. This could help him in 2028
“Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro remains very popular among Pennsylvanians – including more than a third of the former president Donald Trump supporters – how President Joe Biden according to a new poll from The Inquirer, The New York Times and Siena College.
The poll shows that about 57% of Pennsylvanians strongly or somewhat support Shapiro’s leadership. When broken down by party, 77% of Democrats, 42% of Republicans and 39% of independent voters have a favorable opinion of the job Shapiro is doing in his first term as governor of the battleground state.” (Questioner from Philadelphia)
Related
Challengers Ehasz and Stelson keep abortion policy at the forefront of their U.S. House campaigns. “At first glance, Janelle Stelson and Ashley Ehasz seem to have little in common: Stelson is a former anchor at WGAL; Ehasz is a US Army veteran and Apache helicopter pilot. But both women are running as Democrats in an effort to unseat incumbent Republican congressmen in Pennsylvania districts that until recently were considered safe GOP seats.” (Penn Capital Star)
- For Rep. Susan Wild, supporting AP families includes reproductive rights and much more. (Key)
Why political parties desperately need a comeback. “Who loves political parties? Daniel Schlozman and Sam Rosenfeld did. In “The Hollow Party,” the two academics defend the tradition of official party building in America, tracing the rise and fall of various factions and crediting partisan organizations with social cohesion. (Traffic lights)
Super Bowl tickets and a luxury resort stay among the benefits passed by PA lawmakers in 2023. “Newly filed ethics reports show top Pennsylvania lawmakers accepted nearly $30,000 in travel expenses in 2023, often from groups with vested interests before the state. This includes trips to political conferences and other events funded by campaign groups, organizations promoting alternatives to public education, and more. ”(PA reflector)
Undisclosed donors are paying for portraits of House speakers at the Pennsylvania Capitol. “Taxpayers are not willing to pay to have another portrait of Lancaster County Rep. Bryan Cutler, who served as speaker from 2020-2022, hung in the Capitol. These costs are expected to be covered by the aptly named speakers of the Portrait Fund, a nonprofit organization that does not publicly disclose its donors, leaving taxpayers unaware of who paid for the painting and what role they may have in shaping state policy.” (LNP)
Around the Republic of Poland
3. Mommy legislators see the numbers, influence grows, but barriers remain
“When her daughter was born last year, Amanda Cappelletti (Delaware) became the first person to give birth while serving in the Pennsylvania Senate. The upper house didn’t even have a formal maternity leave policy, so she and her staff had to figure out the whole situation on the fly.
According to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University (CAWP), the number of women serving in state legislatures has increased more than fivefold since 1971. The center said 2,432 women hold nearly 33% of the state’s 7,386 legislative seats. Meanwhile, the Vote Mama Foundation estimates that 23% of lawmakers are moms.” (CNHI News)
The key to a winning buy-in campaign? Spelling. “The decision to run a buy-in campaign in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is an easy one. Winning is hard.” (PoliticsPA)
Mark Rozzi, a victim of child sexual abuse, condemns the PA’s failure to act on his lawsuit on behalf of victims. “The therapist waved a stick-like object back and forth in front of State Representative Mark Rozzi’s eyes, forcing him to look left and right, while the therapist prompted the patient to recite painful memories of sexual abuse that had occurred 40 years earlier.” (Pittsburgh Postal Newspaper)
A U.S. appeals court finds a Pennsylvania city’s restriction on political lawn signs unconstitutional. “A federal appeals court panel has found that a small Pennsylvania town’s ordinance to cut down lawn signs is unconstitutional, saying its restrictions on political lawn signs violate residents’ free speech rights.” (AP)
- Judges find Camp Hill law on political lawn signs unconstitutional (PennLive)
Editorial
4. What do you mean
- America never recovered from the shocks of 2020. This makes us less free. (Will Bunch)
- The Momnibus Act would liberate doulas and improve outcomes for PA mothers. (Pittsburgh Postal Newspaper)
- Our universities have become corporate spas with steep executives. (Adriana E. Ramirez)
- We wanted a functioning Supreme Court, and now we don’t. (Keith C. Burris)
- Some government positions require more professionalism than popularity. (Grandstand overview)
- Notices of local government meetings should remain in newspapers for the public good. (LNP)
1 item
5. Punxsy Phil’s kids get names
“A special announcement came from Punxsutawney on Sunday that had nothing to do with the weather.
Reading from a scroll, Dan McGinley, vice president of The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, announced via Facebook video that Punxsutawney Phil’s children have been named: girl – Sunny; and the boy, Shadow.
“May 12 in the town of Punxy Phil is not about the weather, the spring air or the winter chill,” McGinley read. “No, today the first family of marmots grew.” (Grandstand overview)
