News & Brews September 29, 2026
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These #s tell the story of the Pa. governor’s race
”In 17 polls conducted in the last year, Gov. Josh Shapiro held a double-digit lead over State Treasurer Stacy Garrity in all of them,” says the Philly Voice in a story reporting that the Pennsylvania governor’s race “is lopsided in polling, fundraising and name recognition.”
“Shapiro has a 20-point lead over Garrity, according to a recent poll by the Inquirer, New York Times and Siena University. The state treasurer also faces an anonymity issue, with 1 in 4 GOP voters in that poll saying they didn’t even know her. That fact likely isn’t being helped by the disparity in campaign finances — Shapiro reportedly raised $11.5 million more than Garrity over the summer, and he spent a lot of it on TV and digital ads.”
Although Garrity is a solid candidate with a strong record of achievement, this year’s anti-Republican political environment, combined with Shapiro’s massive war chest, his constant PR machine as governor, and his ability to win over even some Republicans has led to a gubernatorial contest that heavily favors Shapiro.
Trump, Shapiro use same argument to hide emails
Broad + Liberty reports that this past August, “President Donald Trump’s Justice Department concluded that executive privilege can cover the president’s communications with private advisers outside the government. Ten Democratic senators, led by Adam Schiff and Chuck Schumer, objected in a letter to the White House counsel.” The senators argued, “Extending this constitutional privilege to private individuals … fundamentally distorts the intent of the executive privilege.”
Apparently Gov. Shapiro is trying Trumps’ tactic. “In the earliest months of his administration … Shapiro brought his family’s private financial advisor into an emailed legal exchange with his own general counsel. Three years later, Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records ruled that the public has no right to see the emails.”
Pa. Dems think they like socialism
Likely underscoring an abysmal public education system combined with socialist breeding grounds known as colleges, a new poll shows that “most Democrats in Pennsylvania have a positive view of socialism — and nearly 40% consider themselves to be democratic socialists.” Of course, neither these polls nor the classrooms that breed these “I think I’m a socialist” folks highlight the reality of rampant poverty, standing in hours-long lines for government rationed food, or the history of “socialism inflict[ing] extraordinary misery on hundreds of millions of people in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics.” (This is a good time to revisit my former colleague Abhi Samuel’s reflections on growing up in a socialist country.)
Philly schools going door to door to get students
The Inquirer reports that the Philadelphia School District was 4,236 students below enrollment projections as of September 17. And with an October 1 deadline to report enrollment to the Pa. Department of Education, “District staff — up to and including chiefs and assistant superintendents — are fanning out across the city, pounding the pavement to try to connect with reluctant families face-to-face.” The district says funding is tied to enrollment numbers, but for state funding, that’s only true for a small portion of the funding, as Philly continues to receive more and more money despite declining enrollment under a practice known as “hold harmless” in which enrollment matters not a whit and schools keep getting money for kids they don’t educate. (Of course, Philly doesn’t even educate kids who ARE enrolled). And honestly, given Philly’s practice of teaching kids to hate Jews and kill white people, you’re better off keeping your kids home.
Dem trifecta would allow recreational marijuana
As part of our look at what Democrats would do if they gained a governing trifecta in Pennsylvania—control of the state House, state Senate, and governor’s office—a new story today reports that they would prioritize legalizing recreational marijuana. Now, if you’ve never lived in or traveled extensively in a state where recreational pot is legal, you may not know that once it is, you can’t go to the grocery store or the park without inhaling marijuana. (Not to mention other concerns.) So legalizing it for fun really does impact the wider population. But WHYY reports, “If Democrats succeed in winning control of the state Senate in November, Pennsylvania voters can expect to see rapid movement toward legalization of recreational marijuana.” So, either don’t let Dems gain a trifecta, or enjoy these final breaths of fresh air.
