News & Brews February 13, 2026
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Shapiro pulls from out-of-state billionaires; Garrity from grassroots
After analyzing campaign finance reports from Gov. Josh Shapiro and state Treasurer and Republican gubernatorial candidate Stacy Garrity, the Inquirer concludes that “big money and out-of-state donors” fueled Shapiro’s fundraising, while “Pa.’s grassroots” made up the bulk of Garrity’s fundraising.While 97% of Garrity’s donors live in Pa., just 62% of Shapiro’s do. And in terms of amounts raised, well over 50% of Shapiro’s money is from out-of-state. Shapiro’s biggest donor is former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Shapiro “also received $1 million from a political action committee led by billionaire … George Soros.”
Pa. to test internet-connected pollbooks
Votebeat reports, “The Pennsylvania Department of State is launching a pilot program to try out the use of internet-connected electronic pollbooks, and the devices would be deployed as early as the May primary election.” Some say “the internet connection would allow counties to more easily provide their polling place workers with updated lists of who is eligible to vote.” But others are “concerned about security and the perceptions this will create about the state’s elections.”
‘Read my lips, no new …’ (never mind)
Gov. Shapiro has been trying to hoodwink Pennsylvanians into believing his proposed spending plan won’t raise Pennsylvanians’ taxes. You know, kind of like, “Read my lips, no new taxes.” Well, as the Commonwealth Foundation’s Nathan Benefield explains in a new op-ed, “In short, Shapiro is lying to Pennsylvanians. Overall, his budget spends $6.8 billion more than current revenue projections. Without the necessary cuts to balance the budget, this deficit spending amounts to a $2,100 tax hike for a family of four.”
Fetterman sole Democrat to back DHS funding bill
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman was the only Senate Democrat to vote yesterday to advance a Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, as a partial shutdown looms over debate over ICE. The Post-Gazette reports, “Democrats blocked the funding because it would have increased spending on ICE while not including reforms.” Meanwhile, the agency already has $75 billion in funding passed as part of last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill. And Fetterman noted, “ICE has plenty of money, and that vote to shut DHS down will have no functional impact.”
Inside the Shapiro-Fetterman feud
The New York Times gives its take on “the strained, and often strange, relationship between the two most powerful Democrats in the country’s biggest battleground state, as both enter pivotal new chapters of their careers.” It’s no secret that Gov. Shapiro and Sen. Fetterman aren’t the best of friends. Yet, “Political veterans in Pennsylvania, where ambitious politicians are always trying to one-up one another, struggled to find a parallel to the open tension between such prominent state officials.”