News & Brews April 22, 2024
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Primary Election Day is tomorrow
Voters will head to the polls tomorrow to cast their ballots in primary contests from president down to state House, and more. The results of only a small percentage of the races are actually still “to be decided,” however: Among them are Democrat primaries for state attorney general, auditor general, and treasurer as well as the GOP primary for attorney general. The outcomes of the presidential and U.S. Senate primaries, meanwhile, are pretty much already known.
Pa. voter registration is shifting, but is it impacting elections?
The Tribune-Democrat looks at the narrowing gap in voter registration between Democrats and Republicans in Pennsylvania over the past decade. But, the story notes, “even as that gap narrowed, Democrats dominated statewide elections.” This leads some observers to note that voters are “aligning their partisan affiliation with how they’ve already been voting.” (The story doesn’t dive into any other factors impacting races, such as candidate quality, redistricting, etc.)
House Republicans praise Shapiro for using their ideas
After Gov. Shapiro announced last week that standardized school testing would move online, House Republicans applauded the move, saying they “were thrilled to see reforms they have advocated for included in Shapiro’s announcement….” State Rep. Seth Grove (York County) said, “Most of the reforms Shapiro announced are ideas from my proposal, House Bill 887. I am thrilled to see Gov. Shapiro listening to Republican ideas about transitioning to electronic testing, which provides real-time results and benchmark assessments to ensure students are learning throughout the school year.”
Krasner running for 3rd term?
The Inquirer’s Clout reports that controversial Philly District Attorney Larry Krasner is reportedly planning to run for a third term, according to sources. If he’s re-elected yet again, that would be highly unusual. “Over the last 70 years, just one Philadelphia district attorney has served for more than two terms: Lynne Abraham, the Democrat known as ‘one tough cookie’ who was the city’s prosecutor for four terms.”
Shapiro pledges to help tout Biden’s ‘wonderful track record’
As Gov. Shapiro chases his own national limelight, he appeared recently on CBS’s Face the Nation and said that President Biden’s terrible poll numbers are basically due to his failure to communicate all the wonderful things he’s doing. (Who doesn’t love paying $72 at the grocery store for eight items?) Anyway, the Post-Gazette reports that regarding Biden’s accomplishments (and I use that word loosely), Shapiro said, “There’s a wonderful track record. There’s a wonderful body of work. They need to make that case, and I’ll be helping make that case alongside the president.”