News & Brews October 7, 2026
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Shapiro, Garrity to debate tonight: How to watch
Gov. Josh Shapiro and challenger Stacy Garrity will meet tonight in their only televised debate of the campaign. The debate, which will be held from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. in Harrisburg, will be moderated by ABC27’s Dennis Owens and WPXI’s Lisa Sylvester. It will air on ABC27 (Harrisburg), PHL17 (Philadelphia), WBRE/WYOU (Scranton), WJET/WFXP (Erie), WTAJ (Altoona), and WPXI (Pittsburgh). Additionally, it will stream on each station’s website as well as on social media. Click here for a full list of viewing options.
Data center critics rally at the Capitol
The progressive Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports that “dozens” of data center opponents gathered in the Capitol rotunda yesterday and “called on Gov. Josh Shapiro and lawmakers to enact a statewide moratorium on data center development. At least 100 data center projects are proposed around the commonwealth, according to Shapiro’s office…. [S]peakers at the rally were critical of Shapiro for his initial embrace of Amazon and other tech companies as they scoped out sites. The development guidelines that now encompass much of the commonwealth’s data center policy are too little, too late, they said.”
Now Philly is just making up numbers
Remember recently when I shared the story of the Philly school district going door to door to try to round up students to increase enrollment numbers? Well, now the district seems to have a new approach: simply make up numbers. The Inquirer reports that just before a deadline to report enrollment numbers, the “district reenrolled students who had been dropped from school rosters — students who, in some cases, had moved out of the country months prior, and have not attended a single class this year.” As one principal said of the district, “They’re just cooking the books. They’re telling the state we have all of these kids enrolled that have not been to school a single day, and telling me to put them through truancy. If we weren’t missing 4,000 kids, all of this would be moot.” Gee, if the district is willing to lie to the state, what the heck are they teaching kids to do?
Jones v. Malone: This seat could decide Pa. Senate
The Lancaster Independence profiles the 36th Senate District race between incumbent Democrat James Malone and Republican challenger state Rep. Tom Jones. Although the district is heavily Republican, Malone flipped the seat blue in a special election last year. Now, Jones aims to re-flip it, and the story notes, “His success or failure will distinctly impact his party’s hold on the Senate, where Republicans now outnumber Democrats 27 to 23.” If Malone wins, Democrats would need to flip three other seats to gain an outright majority in the chamber. If Jones wins, however, Democrats’ path to a majority becomes one seat more difficult.
GOP lawmaker resigns from all committees
The Inquirer reports that Republican State Rep. Aaron Bernstine (Butler &. Lawrence counties) has resigned from all his committee seats and says his focus for the remainder of this legislative session is “delivering results on the issues that matter most to Pennsylvanians.” His committee resignations were announced in the House yesterday and follow allegations of insulting another lawmaker.
