News & Brews April 2, 2026
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Shapiro brings in $10M in 1st quarter
Axios reports that Gov. Shapiro raised more than $10 million in the first three months of 2026, which, per his campaign, “is twice as much as the prior record for a Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate for this quarter in the cycle.” The official reports aren’t yet posted publicly, and Shapiro’s campaign did not provide additional details on his fundraising. Meanwhile, speaking to a group in Erie, Shapiro said he won’t announce a decision about a presidential run until after the 2026 midterms. (That’s rather humorous as everyone knows he’s been running for president for years.)
Pa. tourism bureau mixes up Philly, Harrisburg
As a writer, I know the horrors of finding a major error in something AFTER it’s been printed. It’s happened to me more than once, and it’s a terrible feeling. So I have some compassion for this faux pas by the Pennsylvania Office of Tourism. Turns out that the 2026 travel guide published by the office “mistakenly labeled a picture of the Capitol building in Harrisburg — the state capital — as the ‘Philadelphia Capitol,’ a building that does not exist,” PennLive reports. The deputy secretary of the office of tourism said, “You know, that’s a bummer. It’s a bummer for us. We went through the guide multiple times.” A bummer indeed.
Shapiro copying bad policies from other states
Commonwealth Foundation Chief Policy Officer Nathan Benefield writes in RealClear Pennsylvania that “Gov. Shapiro and House Democrats are copying the worst policies from the very states they claim to outperform.” And while the governor “keeps repeating the claim that Pennsylvania is the only growing state in the Northeast.” That’s simply “not true.” Indeed, “New data from the Internal Revenue Service shows that Pennsylvania lost 15,000 residents on net to other states in 2023. Those residents took with them $2.3 billion in annual income.” While we may be better than states like New York and New Jersey (painful for me to say as a Jersey native), Shapiro wants to imitate bad policies from those and other states that are “driving people away.”
How will Trump impact the 2026 governor’s race?
The Inquirer considers how President Trump’s influence will play out in this year’s gubernatorial contest between Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican challenger Stacy Garrity—whom the president has endorsed. While Shapiro has been fixated on suing Trump at every turn, Garrity has been a strong supporter of the president. Trump “remains the leader of the Republican Party,” with significant influence over stalwart MAGA fans, but his popularity has waned among some others. It remains to be seen how this will play out in this year’s race for governor.
The battle over data centers in Pennsylvania
City & State PA reports, “While the world’s tech giants are actively seeking primacy in the artificial intelligence economy, Big Tech seems to agree on one thing: Pennsylvania is a key location on the road to AI dominance, as evidenced by the flood of private investments into the commonwealth to build out data centers and other AI-related infrastructure. But as the likes of Amazon and Google move to build data centers and infrastructure here to power the nation’s AI revolution, Pennsylvania residents haven’t been as quick to welcome them as their public officials have.”