News & Brews October 16, 2026
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Shapiro launches federal PAC
The Inquirer reports that Gov. Shapiro “took his first official step into the national political arena this week by creating a federal political action committee, New Path PAC. The new federal PAC is the strongest signal yet that Shapiro is eyeing a 2028 presidential run in the Democratic primary.” Of course, we didn’t need any signals beyond Shapiro himself, but whatever. By law, money raised in Shapiro’s state-level PAC cannot be transferred to a federal PAC or to federal candidates. Shapiro’s new federal PAC will let him raise money for congressional candidates and other federal races—but let’s be real, this PAC is about Shapiro and no one else. If he wanted to help congressional candidates this year, he would have started the PAC long before now.
New Pa. polls show Dems gaining
New polling of three state Senate districts and seven state House districts released yesterday by State Navigate show Democrats leading in all but two of the races. All results, however, are within the polls’ margins of error. “State Navigate re-polled the nine state legislative districts we surveyed this summer and fall in Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Lancaster counties, re-interviewing many of the same voters. We also polled HD-145 in Upper Bucks for the first time. Democrats improved their position in seven of the nine districts we polled twice…. The State Senate decides whether Shapiro gets his trifecta, and there Democrats have slightly expanded their lead in both Republican-held seats we polled.”
McCormick hosts ‘Red Tape Dialogues’
Yesterday, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick “convened a daylong gathering … [of] politicians and industry stakeholders to brainstorm ways to improve Pennsylvania’s business climate.” The “Red Tape Dialogues,” held at Temple University, was “a first-of-its-kind, nonpartisan gathering of executives, business owners, policy experts and federal and state regulators from across the commonwealth. Those invited submitted 300 initial ideas to reduce the regulations the state imposes on businesses; after hashing them out in person, 10 industry groups presented their recommendations.” Of the brainstorming sessions, McCormick said, “The idea is to really cross-pollinate And within 60 days, I will publish a report outlining [the] proposals and the plan for how we’re going to pursue them to the benefit of all Pennsylvanians.”
Dems reverse Pa. voter registration trend
I’ve been sharing various iterations of this story for a few months now, but Democrats have reversed the long-running trend of Republicans closing the voter registration gap in Pennsylvania—despite misleading and clickbait social media posts from some conservative activists suggesting the opposite. CNHI reports, “It took nearly two decades, but Pennsylvania’s Republican Party narrowed a registration gap of 1.2 million down to just 170,681 entering last year’s November general election.”
But since then, the trend has reversed. “Since Nov. 3, 2025, one day ahead of the fall elections, Pennsylvania Democrats gained 57,938 registered voters while Republicans lost 5,926, according to data from the Department of State. Last week alone, Democrats gained 2,045 more voters compared to Republicans. As it stands, less than three weeks from the fall 2026 elections, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party has 234,545 more registered voters compared to Republicans, the data shows.”
Lancaster candidates square off in debate
The Lancaster County state Senate race between Democrat Sen. James Malone and Republican Tom Jones (whom we are proudly supporting) could determine control of the chamber heading into next year. Malone flipped this longtime red seat blue in a special election last year, and Jones is aiming to flip it red again. The two candidates met this week in a debate hosted by WGAL, and the Lancaster Independence gives a rundown of how it went. You can also watch the debate here.
