News & Brews September 17, 2025
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NY Times: Pa. court elections ‘could matter in ‘28’
The New York Times reports on our Supreme Court retention elections this November, noting, “What’s at stake is nothing less than control of the highest court in the most important swing state in the country. In recent years, the court has played a significant role in national politics because it hears cases involving challenges to election law as well as partisan redistricting.” The story notes, “Already, groups aligned with Democrats have booked more than $3 million in broadcast television ads…. The Republican State Leadership Committee … has been running digital ads since early August, and has pledged to spend ‘seven figures’ on judicial elections across the country this year.”
Shapiro says Trump is raising potential for violence
In a speech at an event against hate, Gov. Josh Shapiro yesterday contended that “President Trump and top administration officials [are] raising the chances of future political violence,” PennLive reports. Shapiro also said, “We need to be universal in our condemnation and the president has once again failed that leadership test, failed the morality test, and it makes us all less safe.”
McCormick says ‘no’ to running for president
Yesterday, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick told POLITICO he is not running for president in 2028 (or 2032 for that matter). “Where we are in our life,” McCormick said, ”we have six daughters, I’m 60 years old, had a great private sector career. So this was the penultimate chapter, the ability to make a difference.”
Union leaders oppose RGGI
Writing in RealClear Pennsylvania, Michael Stanton (business manager at Boilermakers Local #154) and Shawn Steffee (business agent at Boilermakers Local #154 and president of the South Central Pennsylvania Building Trades Council) reflect on the 20th anniversary of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). They write, “Pennsylvania already generates cheaper, carbon-free electricity than any RGGI state. And Pennsylvania does it without imposing a carbon tax on power generation, which is RGGI’s key tool – making natural gas, coal, and oil so expensive that they go out of business.” Given this, they call Gov. Shapiro’s continued attempts to force Pennsylvania into RGGI “baffling.”Shapiro’s “push for RGGI would levy a costly carbon tax on the sources that produce about two-thirds of Pennsylvania’s electricity,” they write, “a move that would be felt by residents and businesses alike.”
Celebrating Constitution Day
Today is the anniversary of the 1787 signing of the United States Constitution at present-day Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The National Constitution Center in Philly has events planned all day, capped off by an evening with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, which you can register to watch online as the in-person event is sold out (see the full day’s schedule here). The U.S. Department of Education also has Constitution Day resources available.