News & Brews March 4, 2025
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Judicial retention races will look different this year
The progressive Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports that this year’s judicial retention elections—in which three Pa. Supreme Court justices will face voters for “yes” or “no” votes on whether they should retain their seats for another 10-year term—will likely be a “different animal” from past, low-key retention races. “Republicans and Democrats appear now to be gearing up for an expensive campaign in the type of election that usually generates little buzz.” The story adds, “The 2015 Supreme Court race in the commonwealth … was the most expensive in United States’ history at the time, with more than $16 million in spending. The 2023 race … destroyed the previous Pennsylvania record with more than $22 million spent. But that same year, candidates and political organizations set a new record by spending $51 million on a single Wisconsin Supreme Court seat.” Spending this year in Wisconsin and Pa. may crush even these records.
Shapiro’s Department of Self-Promotion is hiring again
Gov. Shapiro, whose Department of Self-Promotion has long rivaled that of his predecessors, is looking for a new promoter. Shapiro is hiring another taxpayer-funded social media staffer to make him look good online. Or, as the Commonwealth Foundation’s Nathan Benefield aptly put it, “Governor Photo Op is hiring yet another taxpayer-funded Tik Tok Specialist to tell everyone how amazing he is at getting poop done.” As Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward recently noted, “I would say that he [Shapiro] is much more of a political animal than he is actually a ‘get-stuff-done’ governor. He has 26 people, I understand from our appropriations folks, 26 people working in his office that, doing all that social media, following him around with cameras. Gov. (Tom) Wolf had twelve. Gov. Shapiro has 26, and there’s a reason for that, right?”
The Democrats’ coming civil war
Here’s an interesting read from the Left. While excoriating Trump and MAGA, columnist and academic researcher Joel Kotkin writes that the Left has a major problem of its own. While “the world press is obsessed with” Trump, “perhaps a more consequential struggle is taking place on the other side of the aisle,” where, “The party’s left is locked in battle with those who embrace the party’s traditional values, like support for economic growth and enforcing the law.” If Democrats continue their leftward lurch, their future looks bleak. “Democratic messaging must move away from race and climate, and instead focus on issues like inflation, rising crime, poor schools and the threat to livelihoods posed by draconian green policies.”
How Pa.’s senators voted on protecting women in sports
And speaking of Democrats’ embrace of the radical left (see previous story), legislation to protect women and girls from being forced to compete against biological males stalled in the U.S. Senate yesterday, despite widespread support among Americans. The bill, which needed 60 votes, failed 51-45. All Democrats—including U.S. Sen. John Fetterman—opposed the bill, while Sen. Dave McCormick voted in favor of it. As The Hill explains, the legislation “would have effectively codified into law” President Trump’s executive order protecting women and girls. So as the Left talks about Women’s History Month this month (as they did multiple times in state budget hearings yesterday), just remind them that they can’t even define a woman.
Pa. budget hearings continue today
Today, the Pa. House Appropriations Committee will hold a two-part budget hearing with the Department of Human Services. Part One will begin at 10:00 a.m. and can be watched here, while Part Two is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and can be watched here. The Senate Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, will hear from the Department of Corrections/Pennsylvania Parole Board at 9:30 a.m. (watch here) and from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency/Office of the State Fire Commissioner at 1:00 p.m. (watch here). See the full schedule here.