News & Brews May 6, 2022

In one new television ad, Democrat Josh Shapiro just told Pennsylvania who he hopes wins the Republican nomination for governor. The Inquirer reports that the Shapiro-funded ad, which “defin[es] Mastriano as a very conservative Republican,” gives Shapiro “a double-benefit of making Mastriano look better with some very conservative Republican primary voters, while making Mastriano look worse with moderates who could decide the winner of the November general election.” Read the Inky story here, and watch the ad here.

PennLive reports that spending on television ads in the Democrat and Republican primaries for U.S. Senate has already topped $50 million, and with just under two weeks to go before the election, this amount could surpass the $65 million that was spent in the Ohio primary. This spending is only on TV ads, so it doesn’t count mail or any other spending in the races. Check out who’s spending what here.

New research from the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy concludes that when it comes returning to pre-pandemic levels of employment, Right-to-Work Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) “have performed better than Non-Right-to-Work MSAs, [or] those that compel workers to join a labor union and/or pay dues as a condition of employment.” According to Allegheny Institute President Emeritus Jake Haulk, “All told, the five faster job growth MSAs had on average a 46.7 lower percentage of unionized public sector employees than the slow growth MSAs in 2021.” Read more in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or on the Allegheny Institute’s website.

The AP reports on how the newly drawn state legislative maps are impacting the primary election. The story notes that “voters can expect a choice in the fall between a Republican and a Democrat in about half the House and in 19 Senate districts.”Meanwhile, “More than 60 state representatives and four senators face no primary or general election opposition, so they effectively have already won another term, simply by qualifying for the ballot. In 24 House and two Senate districts, the incumbent faces only a primary challenge, so even if they lose their party will keep the seat.” Read the story here.

Following reports over language in Medicaid contracts “that could compel unionization in some Pennsylvania health systems,” the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) has filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Human Services over the language, which HAP says “puts access to health care at risk for Pennsylvanians who rely on Medicaid.” Read more here.