News & Brews July 7, 2026
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‘Does Josh Shapiro have a fight in him?’
National Review Senior Writer Noah Rothman writes that Gov. Josh Shapiro “sounds like he’s itching for a fight with his party’s insurgent socialist wing,” as he recently said his party needs “to have a battle over what we believe in.” ButShapiro stopped short of saying what he believes in. “That timidity is in keeping with Shapiro’s efforts to retain the good graces of the far-left wing of his party.”
A debate not over a bill but over a room
City & State PA reports on a Harrisburg debate that has nothing to do with legislation but everything to do with a room in the Capitol. Specifically, the Senate Rules Committee Conference Room. This room is “home to regular meetings of the Senate Appropriations and Rules & Executive Nominations committees, where bills big and small get teed up for a final vote in the General Assembly’s upper chamber.” But, “Unlike committee meetings in the state House of Representatives … committee meetings held in the Senate Rules Committee Conference Room are not livestreamed or recorded.” (I couldn’t help but notice that one person quoted as complaining that she couldn’t get in the room as it was crowded — actually did get in the room.)
Non-Allegheny western Pa. Dems losing power
Over the past decade, we’ve seen the story of southeast Pa. Republicans losing power in the state Legislature as more SEPA seats turned blue. But the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports the opposite has been happening in southwest Pa., as Democrats who are not from Allegheny County are also losing power in Harrisburg. “Two decades ago, about 55% of registered voters in the six counties surrounding Allegheny County were Democrats, while 36% were Republicans, according to voter records. In a near reversal, 53% of registered voters in Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties are Republicans today, while 34% are Democrats.”
Platner story reaches Pa.
So apparently sporting a Nazi tattoo and having a history of mistreating women wasn’t enough for Democrat U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio from western Pa. to ditch his support of Maine Democrat Senate nominee Graham Platner. But now that Platner has been credibly accused of assaulting a woman, Deluzio is calling on him to drop out of the race. Nice to see where the line is for Deluzio. Nazi tattoo and mistreating women = Ok. Assaulting a woman = Not ok. Got it.
Skill games ruling ‘could’ apply to Chuck E. Cheese
Call it unlikely but technically possible? The recent Supreme Court ruling that skill games are gambling could technically also mean that games found in arcades—such as Skee Ball—are also gambling. The Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports that in its ruling, “the court acknowledged that ‘as a theoretical matter, this sort of amusement device may qualify’ as a skill game. This puts machines found at Dave & Busters, Chuck E. Cheese, and arcades at risk of bans.” But this scenario is unlikely, as “state Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office wrote in a statement that while it will approach enforcement of the ruling on a case-by-case basis, its focus ‘remains on games involving financial gain’ — so neighborhood arcades would still be safe.”