News & Brews August 3, 2026
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Ad wars are on in Shapiro v. Garrity
Gov. Josh Shapiro and challenger Stacy Garrity both released new campaign ads on Friday, each taking aim squarely at the other. City & State PA explains Shapiro’s ad seeks to paint Garrity as lockstep with President Trump, while Garrity’s ad focuses on “the growing discontent with data centers across Pennsylvania, accusing Shapiro of selling the state out to data center developers.” Beyond the ads themselves, some thought it curious that Shapiro—an incumbent with a strong lead in the polls—would release an ad targeting his challenger, as the general political consensus is for incumbents to ignore challengers unless they pose an electoral threat.
Former GOP lawmaker facing felony charges
Here’s a doozy. Do you remember way back in 2018 when former Republican state Rep. Nick Miccarelli refused to resign his seat following credible allegations of assault? Miccarelli had been elected in 2008 and wanted to make sure he hit his 10-year minimum service time to get free lifetime health benefits. He hit 10 years, got the benefits, and declined running for re-election. He then “landed a higher-paying job running a publicly funded transit agency,” the Inquirer reports. Well, now he “is facing felony charges of child endangerment after a DUI arrest on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.”
‘A brief history of wealth creation’
Here at CP, we love entrepreneurship and ingenuity! So this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal caught our attention. In it, author John Steele Gordon traces major American entrepreneurial endeavors from the late eighteenth century through the present. He summarizes, “All this wealth creation is ultimately capital formation. Billionaires don’t keep their wealth locked in Scrooge McDuck-style money bins. They invest it in ever more wealth-creating enterprises.” And the Left’s attempts to “tax wealth heavily … would reduce the available capital needed to make the economy grow.”
U.S. Steel unveils latest Braddock plan
WESA reports that U.S. Steel recently held an “open house to unveil its latest investment–a new hot strip mill at the Edgar Thomson plant” in Braddock. “The project is part of a makeover the company is getting from its new owners, Nippon Steel of Japan, which bought U.S. Steel last year. Nippon pledged $2.5 billion in investments in U.S. Steel’s Pittsburgh-area plants. That includes the new hot strip mill, which will cost over $1 billion and replace an aging operation at the company’s nearby Irvin Works in West Mifflin.”
Democrat direction on the ballot in Michigan
Even as we focus on Pennsylvania, it’s worth paying attention to what’s playing out in another swing state: Michigan. The Wall Street Journal reports that tomorrow, “A divisive Democratic primary for Senate … will reveal whether a progressive and socialist groundswell has spread to America’s heartland.” Battling it out are Abdul El-Sayed—an antisemitic socialist—and four-term Democrat Congresswoman Haley Stevens. “The race showcases deep divisions among Democrats about how to win competitive elections.” El-Sayed leads in the polls, but many believe if he wins the primary, Democrat chances in the general election will suffer.
