News & Brews May 18, 2022
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Mastriano wins GOP nomination for governor
As many polls predicted, Doug Mastriano won the GOP nomination for governor last evening. He will face Democrat Josh Shapiro, who ran unopposed in the Democrat primary. In the wake of Mastriano’s win, the Cook Political Report moved our November gubernatorial election from “Toss Up” to “Lean Democrat,” echoing concerns that Mastriano would be unable to beat Shapiro this fall.
Fetterman wins Dem Senate primary, GOP race too close to call
Surprising no one giving his significant lead in the pre-election polls, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman bested U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta to secure the Democrat nomination for U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, on the GOP side, the race remained too close to call as of this morning, with Dr. Mehmet Oz and David McCormick neck-and-neck. Despite Kathy Barnette’s surge in the polls, she is trailing the frontrunners by several percentage points.
On the Lt. Gov. front….
Josh Shapiro’s endorsed candidate, state Rep. Austin Davis, easily beat Rep. Brian Sims to take the Democrat nomination for lieutenant governor. And Rep. Carrie Lewis DelRosso (whom Commonwealth Partners had endorsed), won the nine-way Republican primary for the party’s nomination. Shapiro and Davis will now run on a single ticket in November, as will Mastriano and DelRosso.
Some notable down-ballot results
Yesterday also saw primaries for all House seats and half of the Senate seats. Here are a few notable updates from GOP races: Sen. Pat Browne, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, was trailing challenger Jarrett Coleman in a race that’s too close to call as of early this morning. Meanwhile, Rep. Stan Saylor, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, lost to challenger Wendy Fink. Other GOP incumbents who were bested by primary challengers include Rep. Keith Gillespie (York County), who lost to Joe D’Orsie; Mike Puskaric (Allegheny & Washington counties), who lost to Andrew Kuzma; and Jason Silvis (Westmoreland, Armstrong, & Indiana counties), who lost a three-way primary to Jill Cooper.
Shapiro sides against government in school funding case
So, the attorney general is supposed to uphold the laws of the commonwealth, but Josh Shapiro is taking the plaintiffs’ side in a case against the commonwealth. Shapiro has filed an amicus brief in William Penn School District v. Pennsylvania Department of Education, the landmark case challenging school funding in PA. Gee, how much did taxpayers fork out for Shapiro to abdicate his role and take sides against the government?