News & Brews May 5, 2026
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McClelland responds to Shapiro backing Garrity
Former Democrat state treasurer nominee Erin McClelland has responded to the Axios story reporting that Shapiro “secretly helped” Republican Stacy Garrity win in retaliation against McClelland for criticizing him. And let’s just say, her response is a doozy. In part, it reads, “What goes around comes around. While this issue has come up a number of times since the 2024 election, I chose not to comment to reporters on the story simply because I didn’t see any purpose or dutiful end to weighing in. But now that someone is actually on record saying what everyone else knew, Shapiro’s fealty-frenzied troglodytes are revising history and in some cases, bold-faced lying, and I’m not going to just lay down for that. I’d actually have more respect for him if he just said, ‘Hell yeah, I tanked that bitch.’ Instead they’re trying desperately to put the genie … back in the bottle.” Since the story broke, Shapiro’s team has frantically been trying to deny it.
Rally this morning for educational freedom
This morning at 10:00 a.m., Pennsylvania Families for Educational Choice will host “Rockin’ the Capital 2026,” a rally at the state Capitol to celebrate educational freedom. Students, parents, school choice advocates, lawmakers, and teachers are scheduled to attend the event, which will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s highly popular Educational Improvement Tax Credit program.
Analysis: Pa. forfeited $5 billion under RGGI
A new analysis from the Commonwealth Foundation shows that while Pennsylvania faced the “looming implementation of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative” from 2019-2025, “new generation proposals plummeted by 38 percent, and generation projects fueled by natural gas collapsed by 65 percent.” Indeed, the state “forfeited approximately $4 to $5.5 billion in investment.”
Shapiro loves abortion, and sues to prove it
Recently, a video went viral showing U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas asking a pro-abortion advocate her favorite method of abortion. Despite his taking time to describe multiple methods, she refused to answer the question and seemed quite uncomfortable hearing about abortion procedures. Well, I wonder if Gov. Shapiro would be able to tell us his favorite method, since he’s equally enthusiastic about abortion. Yesterday, Shapiro joined a lawsuit arguing for access to the abortion pill by mail. Could this be Shapiro’s favorite method? Someone should ask him.
Pa. has most Dems in ‘Red to Blue’ program
The Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” program “arms top-tier candidates with organizational and fundraising support to help them continue to develop strong campaigns” in hopes of flipping red congressional seats blue. And this year, Pennsylvania has more seats—four—in the program than any others state: Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti (in the seat held by Rep. Rob Bresnahan), Janelle Stelson (challenging Rep. Scott Perry), Bob Harvie (in the seat held by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick), and Bob Brooks (running for the nomination to challenge Rep. Ryan Mackenzie).