News & Brews March 12, 2026
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Garrity calls on Shapiro to secure elections
PoliticsPA reports that state Treasurer and Republican gubernatorial candidateStacy Garrity is calling on Gov. Josh Shapiro to “take commonsense steps” to secure Pennsylvania’s elections. The call comes after recent “news from the U.S. Attorney’s Office that Mahady Sacko, 50, a Mauritanian citizen from Philadelphia, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with fraudulent voting in the 2024 federal election by an illegal alien.” Separately on the gubernatorial front, Cook Political Report recently moved the governor’s race from “likely Democrat” to “solid Democrat.”
Are central Pa.’s primary races ‘spicy’ this year?
PennLive contends that open seats and challenges to incumbent lawmakers in both state and federal races are ‘spicing up’ central Pa.’s primary elections this year. One primary race of note in the area is the Democrat battle for the nomination to challenge GOP U.S. Rep. Scott Perry. Repeat candidate Janelle Stelson is facing Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas. At the state level, Republican Sen. Chris Gebhard is also facing a primary challenge from horse farm owner and wrestling coach Clovis Crane. Meanwhile, the would-be Republican challenger to Perry failed to get enough signatures to get on the primary ballot, but she says she’ll run as a write-in candidate.
Pa. House committee votes to enshrine same-sex marriage
The Inquirer reports that the Democrat-controlled Pa. House Judiciary Committee this week advanced eight bills that include “a formal recognition of same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania, increased protections for marginalized groups from hate crimes, [and] an easier process for a transgender person to change their legal name.” But the bills “are unlikely to ever reach Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk…. Republican members of the committee opposed almost all of the bills considered … except a bill to enshrine same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania law that received some bipartisan support.”
State-run colleges bemoan flat-funding proposal
In an era in which “more” often seems the only adjective acceptable when it comes to government spending (sigh), the head of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education expressed disappointment in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal to flat-fund the massive system in 2026-27, but he said it was too early to predict a tuition increase for next school year.” The sentiment emerged at a state budget hearing. Leaders at the system had wanted a 5% increase. “We feel that an investment in the State System of Higher Education is an investment in the future of the Commonwealth,” Chancellor Christopher M. Fiorentino said.
Sen. Rick Scott talks capitalism at Bucknell
Our friends at Open Discourse Coalition at Bucknell University in Lewisburg welcomed U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida this week for an event on Capitalism and Capital Markets. Sen. Scott knows a thing or two about capitalism. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he opened his first business—a donut shop—and from there his career eventually took him to run the world’s largest healthcare company. You can watch the replay of the event here!