News & Brews May 19, 2026
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It’s Primary Election Day!
It’s primary Election Day in Pennsylvania, and polls are open until 8:00 p.m. On the ballot are primaries for governor and lieutenant governor (we have endorsed Stacy Garrity for Gov. and Jason Richey for Lt. Gov.), U.S. House primary races, as well as state House and state Senate primary races. While many of these races are uncontested, some are being hotly contested. We’ll have a full roundup of the results of the most watched races tomorrow.
Pa. on ‘front lines’ of Dems’ hopes to take Congress
Today’s Democrat primaries are merely a step in the party’s hopes for November. The AP reports, “The campaigns will put Pennsylvania on the front lines of Democratic efforts to retake control of Congress and block the last two years of President Trump’s agenda. They will also test Shapiro’s influence ahead of a possible White House campaign.” As I shared before, Pa. has more toss up congressional races, at four, than any other state in the country.
How teachers’ unions became political spenders
The Free Press reports on a new report by the Network Contagion Research Institute that “found that of the NEA’s [National Education Association’s] $450 million annual disbursement budget from fiscal year 2025, less than $46 million, or 10 percent, was spent on activities directly representing the union’s constituents.” Where did the rest go? Well, $51.7 million went to political activities and lobbying. And $123.3 million went to often vague contributions. “But digging deeper, some of these funds were going to explicitly political organizations.”
Will Dems pick blue collar or white collar candidate?
The Dispatch has a story on Pennsylvania’s hotly contested four-way Democrat primary in the 7th congressional district in the Lehigh Valley. The seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie. The region has gone back and forth between Trump and Biden and has also sent both Republicans and Democrats to Congress. The story notes, “Ultimately, the outcome of the Democratic primary for one of the most competitive districts in the country will indicate whether the party wants to try to win back the blue-collar, working-class voters who have migrated to the GOP in the era of Trump or whether it will continue to be the party of white-collar, college-educated voters.”
Number of minimum wage earners down in Pa.
New research from the Commonwealth Foundation shows that in the five years beginning in 2020, the number of minimum wage earners in Pennsylvania fell by 42% to fewer than 1 percent of all workers in the state. Additionally, the state’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) “estimates the effective market minimum wage is around $11 to $11.50 per hour — and climbing.” The IFO also estimated that if government mandates a higher minimum wage, more than 15,000 jobs would be lost.