News & Brews October 2, 2024
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‘In deep blue Philly, working class voters are shifting towards Republicans’
The uber-liberal Philly Inquirer highlights “one of Democrats’ biggest problems in Pennsylvania.” Namely, “working-class voters in Philadelphia, a once reliable voting bloc for the party, have drifted right in recent years. And they’ve been disproportionately affected by rising prices over the last several years, an issue many blame Democrats for.” The story continues, “An Inquirer analysis of election results found that, in 2020, Democrats lost the most ground in neighborhoods where education levels were lowest and poverty rates were highest.”
Party voters in Pa. react accordingly to VP debate
Not surprisingly, Republican and Democrat Pa. voters reacted according to their party stripe in giving their thoughts on last night’s vice-presidential debate between Sen. J.D. Vance and Gov. Tim Walz. Of course, it’s not loyal party voters who will decide this race but rather those all-important swing voters. WVIA gives a run-down of the debate, with an eye toward NEPA voters.
Johnny Doc reports to prison
Yesterday, former Philly labor leader John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty reported to federal prison in Lewisburg to begin a six-year sentence after being convicted of embezzling nearly $600,000 from the union he once led. NBC Philadelphia notes, “For nearly three decades, Dougherty ran the union and he was a Democratic power broker in Pennsylvania politics, steering tens of millions in union campaign contributions to candidates for office.”
Another lawsuit, this time over drop boxes
Three Luzerne County residents have filed a lawsuit after the county manager said that ballot drop boxes will not be used in the November election. Per the AP, the lawsuit accuses the county manager “of violating state election law and it claims her policy will ‘lead to irreparable harm to the voting rights’ in Luzerne. The plaintiffs want a county judge to stop … [her] from implementing her decision.” For her part, the manager cited “purported safety and security concerns” as her reason for not using the drop boxes.
Philly office buildings have lost >$1B in assessed value
The Inquirer reports that per Philadelphia’s Office of Property Assessments, Center City’s office buildings have dropped more than $1 billion in assessed value in recent years, dropping from $9.82 billion in tax year 2023 to $8.78 billion in tax year 2025. This, of course, bodes ill for the city’s tax revenue.