News & Brews January 9, 2025
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As Shapiro runs for governor, he has ‘bigger plans in mind’
CNN reports that even though Gov. Shapiro announced his re-election bid for governor yesterday, he has “bigger plans in mind” as he is “looking to burnish his record in a state that has become the keystone for Democrats’ presidential hopes — and possibly his own.” Indeed, “He wants to run up the score to help flip as many as four US House districts in Pennsylvania. Boosting Democrats by dominating in a perennial swing state would be an accomplishment Shapiro could cite next year during presidential primary season.” But the New York Times adds that Shapiro’s “November performance — the outcome itself and the margin of victory should he win [over Republican Stacy Garrity] — will go a long way toward shaping national perceptions of his viability as a candidate for higher office.”
Pa. Dems hope Shapiro will help them flip the Senate
As Gov. Shapiro kicked off his re-election campaign yesterday, Pennsylvania Democrats are hoping that his name at the top of the ticket will help them “expand their narrow majority in the state House and even flip the 30-year Republican control of the Pennsylvania Senate,” WESA reports. Shapiro suggested as much in his campaign kickoff in Pittsburgh yesterday, telling listeners they’ve “got the power to help me win a trifecta in Harrisburg, where the Legislature is divided by a mere three seats.” A trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the legislature as well as the governor’s office.
Pa. denies intent to join election integrity initiative
Votebeat reports that Pennsylvania has denied a claim by Ohio that it is in discussions to join a “multi-state election integrity network” intended to “identify people who try to vote illegally, often by having more than one active voter registration and then casting multiple ballots in the same election.” A Pa. Department of State spokesperson said there had been initial discussions about the program, but the state “never engaged in any discussions about joining any larger election-data-sharing initiative with Ohio.” Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Ohio Secretary of State said they’ve “had productive conversations” with Pa. “and are optimistic we’ll be able to reach a final agreement, as we hope they share the same goal of ensuring election integrity.”
3 Pa. Republicans vote with Dems on healthcare subsidies
With friends like these … well, you know the rest. Yesterday, three Republican U.S. Reps. from Pennsylvania—Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan, and Ryan Mackenzie—joined with Democrats (and 14 other Republicans nationwide) to revive former President Biden’s COVID-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies. The three—all political targets of the Left this year—no doubt hope their votes will spare them some Democrat ire in the high-stakes elections. But, you see, that’s not how it works. They’re still going to be top electoral targets. Only now, as Americans for Prosperity’s Emily Greene Brey pointed out (prior to yesterday’s vote), “While supporting Obamacare may win over some swing voters, it will greatly depress enthusiasm among grassroots GOP voters.”
Kick off the New Year with 2026 voter registration data
Politics PA has published its semi-regular update on Pennsylvania’s county-by-county voter registration data. Despite several previous months and years of a shrinking gap between registered Democrats and Republicans, the gap more recently has held fairly steady, with registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans by about 172,000. However, “the largest increase” in registration “comes in the independent camp with 1.142 million eschewing any political party.”