News & Brews January 28, 2026
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Trump endorses Garrity for governor
Yesterday, President Trump endorsed Pa. state Treasurer Stacy Garrity in her bid to unseat Gov. Josh Shapiro this November. Trump posted, “Stacy Garrity has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of Pennsylvania – SHE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!” Responding to the endorsement, Garrity said, “Josh Shapiro is President Trump’s number one adversary, and I am looking forward to working with President Trump and his team to defeat Josh Shapiro this November.”
Sexual abuse survivors say Shapiro hasn’t ‘GSD’
Spotlight PA reports on frustration among survivors of sexual abuse that Gov. Josh Shapiro—who campaigned on exposing sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and promised to “continue fighting for accountability for victims of sexual abuse”—“hasn’t done enough to live up to that promise.” Specifically, they take issue with Shapiro’s lack of ‘GSD’ on pushing to open a two-year window for childhood victims of sexual abuse to sue. You’ll recall this proposal was set to go before voters as a constitutional amendment until the Wolf administration failed to properly advertise it as required. Since then, each chamber has accused the other of stalling the issue. But former Democrat state Rep. Mark Rozzi placed the blame squarely on Shapiro. “You have time to go on your Instagram account and post all these ridiculous stories. You’re the governor, put your foot down. Either get a deal done or shut the government down.”
It’s budget time!
Fewer than three months after Gov. Shapiro signed the very late state budget last year, Pennsylvania is gearing up for another budget season. After he wraps-up his national book tour this week, Shapiro will come back to Pennsylvania to deliver his budget address next Tuesday. PennLive reports, “Pennsylvania’s core fiscal issues haven’t changed much. The state is staring down a deficit in the general fund…. Two paths seem clear, according to most observers: either Shapiro and the legislature find the political horsepower to make substantive change on a given item, or they find enough fiscal runway to kick the can down the road another year so that they can get back to campaigning.”
New post-census redistricting projections
Carnegie Mellon University Assistant Teaching Professor Jonathan Cervas, whose specialties include redistricting, has forecasted post-2030 congressional apportionment changes based on the most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Per his forecast, as many as nine electoral votes could move away from blue states to red states (just as people are fleeing blue states for red states). For purple Pennsylvania, the changes are projected to lead to a loss of one congressional seat—continuing our decades-long trend of losing seats each census.
Why we should seek to understand political ‘adversaries’
The Liberal Patriot has an interesting piece arguing that “liberals should try harder to understand their adversaries.” I would posit the same holds true for conservatives. While the piece focuses on Democrats, the following excerpt applies to both political ideologies: “The more American life has become politically and culturally fragmented, the less people seem to understand their fellow citizens who see the world differently than they do. This has created ‘perception gaps’ that lead people to misunderstand others’ motivations (and sometimes even ascribe views to them that they may not possess). It leaves many of us wondering how others could possibly believe what they believe.” Here’s my advice: First, don’t think of everyone who disagrees with you as “adversaries.” And second, if you don’t have at least one good friend (preferably more) of a different political persuasion, go find one. You’ll be glad you did.