News & Brews October 25, 2021
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WSJ Editorial: The election for Pennsylvania’s high court
Our upcoming Supreme Court election caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board. The Ed Board looked at (paywall) the disastrous re-writing of law by the court over recent years and then concluded, “Democrats have a 5-2 majority on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and the retiring Justice is a Republican, so a Justice [Kevin] Brobson wouldn’t alter the court’s balance. But if voters in a purple state can push him over the top, it would send a signal of disapproval for judges who rewrite black-letter election law.” (Commonwealth Partners has also endorsed Judge Brobson in this race.)
PA Supreme Court race heats up
With eight days to go until Election Day, it seems the local media is also starting to pay attention to the race for Supreme Court. The Inquirer has a piece focusing on a dispute over a campaign ad simply because the ad stated facts. Separately, the Associated Press noted that spending in the race has topped $5 million.
Corman inches toward bid for governor
LancasterOnline reports that Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman “traveled to Washington, DC, last week to pitch the state’s GOP congressmen on why he should be the party’s candidate for governor in 2022.” According to sources at the meeting (who declined to go on the record), Corman told the group he will wait until after the Nov. 2 elections to make any formal announcement. Thus far, there are more than a dozen declared or likely Republican candidates. On the Democrat side, only Attorney General Josh Shapiro has tossed his hat in the ring.
Op-Ed: Michigan governor should follow PA on school choice expansion
Last week, I shared a CATO Institute podcast on how school choice expansion has succeeded in PA despite Gov. Wolf’s opposition. Now, the Commonwealth Foundation’s Marc LeBlond joined the Mackinac Center’s Ben DeGrow to pen an op-ed in The Hill urging Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to follow Wolf’s (reluctant) lead.
PA labor force shrinks, unemployment stays higher than nat’l average
In September, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point from August to hit 6.2%. This is significantly higher than the national rate of 4.8%. Meanwhile, the labor force also shrank by 16,000. The AP has more.