News & Brews August 18, 2022
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Poll: Huge leads for Fetterman, Shapiro
A new poll commissioned by Pittsburgh Works Together and conducted by Public Opinion Strategies shows Democrat John Fetterman leading Republican Mehmet Oz 51%-33%in the race for U.S. Senate and Democrat Josh Shapiro leading Republican Doug Mastriano 50%-35% in the race for governor. The survey of 600 registered voters also showed 75% believe Pennsylvania’s economy is “fair” or “poor” while only 25% believe it’s “excellent” or “good.” Read more here.
Lawmakers set to receive pay raise
LancasterOnline reported that “state lawmakers are almost guaranteed to score their largest automatic pay raise in history later this year, an increase that will push their base salary above $100,000 for the first time.” State law ties the raises to inflation, and “[w]ith inflation at 8.8% in southeastern Pennsylvania in June and expected to edge higher by the end of the summer, legislators are set to get at least an $8,300 salary boost — an increase that comes without any lawmaker being required to vote on it.” In response to this report, Spotlight PA looked at which lawmakers have returned past raises to the state treasurer.
Pa. among targets of record Planned Parenthood election spending
“Planned Parenthood … plans to spend a record $50 million ahead of November’s midterm elections,” the AP reports. The spending will target nine states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In a press release, the abortion giant said it “will focus on electing Josh Shapiro to the governor’s mansion, John Fetterman to the U.S. Senate, and securing more sexual and reproductive health champions in the Pennsylvania legislature.”
IFO: Population growth favors southeastern Pa.
According to a new report from the state’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO), population growth in the commonwealth largely favors southeastern Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, when adjusted for population changes, per capita personal income growth was less regionally concentrated. The Center Square has more.
Op-Ed: If GOP loses U.S. Senate seats, look to Pa. and Ga.
American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Gary Schmitt writes in The Dispatch that “in the abstract,” Republicans “had a decent chance to gain a Senate majority in the midterms.” But Schmitt is less optimistic about that chance now, given the latest polling showing Republicans Mehmet Oz and Herschel Walker trailing their Democrat opponents. “Would that have been the case if the Republican candidates were not Oz and Walker?” Schmitt asks? “Difficult to know for sure but common sense suggests picking two amateur politicians has certainly not helped.” Read the op-ed here.