News & Brews October 31, 2024

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A look at spending in the AG race

Spotlight PA reports that in the race for state attorney general between Republican Dave Sunday and Democrat Eugene DePasquale, Sunday and his allies have spent more than $13 million on TV ads, compared with $3.1 million by DePasquale and his allies. The story continues, “The race for attorney general is relatively low-profile but highly consequential. The attorney general defends Pennsylvania’s laws and election results, joins multistate legal battles, and prosecutes everything from political corruption to gun and drug dealing. The powerful and highly visible position has launched previous officials — like now-Gov. Josh Shapiro — to higher office.” We have endorsed Dave Sunday for attorney general.

Harris comes to Harrisburg

As part of her “final sprint” to Election Day, VP Kamala Harris held a campaign rally in Harrisburg yesterday. PennLive reports, “In her 24-minute stump speech, Harris largely gave a mashup of other rally speeches and the ‘closing address’ she delivered in Washington D.C. Tuesday night.” As has become typical for her, however, “She didn’t take any questions from the press.”

Court ruling adds chaos to mail-in ballot counting

Well, this is kind of nuts. Yesterday, a Commonwealth Court panel ruled that undated or incorrectly dated mail-in ballots must still be counted. The Inquirer reports that technically, the ruling applied to a few dozen ballots in a Philly special election. “But the court’s reasoning … left elections officials uncertain of the decision’s implications for Tuesday’s vote.” Here’s the clincher: The PA Supreme Court already recently ruled that these ballots would not be counted, so the Commonwealth Court ruling seems to pretty much ignore the higher court’s ruling. As one dissenting judge wrote, “The majority opinion will risk causing confusion on the eve of the 2024 General Election.” Ya think!!!??

Haley campaigns for McCormick in Pa. 

Nikki Haley joined GOP U.S. Senate nominee Dave McCormick yesterday in western Pa. in a final effort to reach those all-important swing voters. WESA reports, “Although much of McCormick’s final pitch to voters was a bipartisan appeal, he was clear at the beginning of his speech that he believes his hopes are aligned with Trump’s…. But while he led with Trump, McCormick emphasized that he believes issues such as inflation and energy production are bipartisan issues.” Haley added, “Dave McCormack can’t win if we don’t elect Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. You may find Trump noisy, but what I will tell you is he understands that we’ve got to get this economy turned around.”

‘Teachers: Your union dues are funding the election’

Americans for Fair Treatment highlights that “teachers across the country should take a moment to consider how unions have been spending their hard-earned money in this time of heightened political division.” In Pennsylvania in particular, “During the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), representing over 175,000 Pennsylvania teachers, spent $5.02 million on politics. This spending went primarily to progressive causes.” What’s more, PSEA also sends a portion of members’ dues to the National Education Association (NEA), which, in turn, also spends money on politics. “So far in the 2024 election cycle, 98.96% of NEA’s contributions have gone to Democrats, totaling $3,098,592. Republicans have received just $32,599, or 1.04% of NEA’s election spending.”

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