News & Brews March 9, 2026
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‘National donors fuel Shapiro’s war chest’
We’ve been highlighting for years how national Democrats prioritize Pennsylvania’s state-level races by pouring out-of-state money into these races—including from the millionaires and billionaires the Left pretends to hate. Well, the Post-Gazette echoes this in a new story on how “the contributions [Shapiro] has received in his re-election bid for governor ha[ve] been fueled by some of the most prominent Democratic donors in the country.” Indeed, “billionaire George Soros donated $500,000, and one of his super PACs — Democracy PAC II — gave another $1 million. California donor Jennifer Duda has poured $3 million into Mr. Shapiro’s gubernatorial campaign. And former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, once a presidential candidate himself, sent $4.5 million.” Overall, Democrats have directed donations from every state in the country to Shapiro.
U.S. House committee presses Pa. on Medicaid fraud
Broad + Liberty reports that the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to the Shapiro administration last week asking Gov. Shapiro and Pa, Human Services Secretary Valerie Arkoosh “to explain what steps [Pa.] has taken in recent years to combat the [Medicaid] fraud that Shapiro himself estimated to be roughly $3 billion a year.” The letter also “ask[s] the administration to detail what audits it has completed or may be conducting, as well as detail what other steps it is taking to screen Medicaid providers as well as disenroll fraudsters.” The letter requests a response by March 17 to a list of questions, including “documentation of recent and ongoing Medicaid audits, program integrity measures such as screening integrity, improper payment and recovery efforts, and more.”
The ‘widening gap’ between Fetterman, Dems
By now we all know that U.S. Sen. John Fetterman doesn’t partake in his Democrat colleagues’ groupthink. He’s willing to vote independently of them, willing to talk to President Trump (gasp), and unwilling to label his political opponents as Nazis. Well, the Wall Street Journal has a story on how this independent streak may mean Fetterman has placed himself in a bit of a political “no man’s land.” And candidates in no man’s land can have a hard time getting re-elected.
Dem govs reconsider rejection of federal school choice
Education Week reports that three Democrat governors who previously announced they would not opt in to the new federal scholarship tax credit program are reconsidering their rejections. Govs. Josh Green of Hawaii, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, and Tina Kotek of Oregon previously said no to giving kids in their state access to educational options. “But since their offices made those initial statements … Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, has become a vocal champion for the program … and pressure campaigns to get Democratic states to participate have ramped up.” Gov. Shapiro as of yet has refused to take a position on the program.
Shapiro’s approach to data centers raises questions
Spotlight PA reports that “Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to incentivize data center developers to follow stricter environmental and transparency standards in Pennsylvania by offering them an expedited permitting process.” But some say “incentives can only do so much without real enforcement mechanisms. To add teeth, Shapiro would need cooperation from the state Democrat-led House and GOP-controlled Senate.” A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman “said that energy grid accessibility and affordability for Pennsylvanians ‘must be at the forefront’ of policy discussions, and that his caucus is focused on passing energy policies that balance the ‘development of our God-given natural resources with environmental needs.’”