News & Brews October 19, 2026
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NY Times: How Pa. explains the midterm elections
The New York Times reports, “No single state in America better captures the forces and fault lines shaping the coming midterm elections than Pennsylvania.” Indeed! “Just two years ago, Pennsylvania was at the epicenter of a nationwide Republican revival. President Trump swept its electoral votes. His party ousted an entrenched Democratic senator. And it was the only state where Republicans flipped two House seats.
“Now the pendulum has swung. Mr. Trump’s support has crumbled. And Democrats are targeting four bellwether House districts in the state that together would give them the congressional majority. What makes Pennsylvania so revealing is how emblematic those races are of the candidates, issues and demographic shifts that will determine outcomes across the country.”
Trump’s approval hits record low as midterms near
Underscoring the incredibly bad environment for Republicans this year, President Trump’s approval rating hit a low of 33 percent in a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos Poll. Meanwhile, 66 percent disapprove, with 52 percent strongly disapproving. “That approval rating is four percentage points lower than in July and eight points lower than at this point last year. It’s lower than at any point in his first term…. The poll also finds that, for the first time in more than a decade, Democrats are seen as more trusted to deal with the economy.” This likely isn’t because Democrats have offered any great economic ideas (they haven’t) but rather that Trump has started a war that—whether one approves of it or not—has spiked gas prices while inflation remains high and cost of living unaffordable for many.
Pa. has 10.5 million words of regulations
Writing in PennLive, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick tells us that “Pennsylvania’s regulatory code contains 10.5 million words—enough to fill roughly 21,000 printed pages stacked seven feet high. It contains more than 166,000 regulatory restrictions, 22 percent more than the average state. Reading the code once would take more than four months of full-time work. And that’s before navigating more than 2,400 state licenses, permits, and certifications.” Yikes! And this doesn’t count federal regulations. “Federal paperwork alone consumes an estimated 11.5 billion hours every year. That is equivalent to the annual labor of 5.7 million full-time workers, more than 44 times the Manhattan Project’s peak workforce.” Against this background, McCormick explains the aims of his recently convened “Red Tape Dialogues.”
Fitzpatrick spends more than last races combined
The Inquirer reports that U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who is one of Democrats’ top four congressional targets in Pennsylvania this year, “is on track to spend more money to avoid getting swept up in a blue wave this fall than he has in his last three campaigns combined.” Over the summer, Fitzpatrick “spent $5 million … mostly on advertising in an expensive Philadelphia media market. That was not only more than any other candidate in Pennsylvania’s competitive U.S. House races during the same period … it was more spending by Fitzpatrick in three months than in the entirety of any of his five previous campaigns.”
Allegheny paid leave mandate would cost $300M
A new analysis from the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) shows that Allegheny County’s proposed paid leave mandate would cost an astounding $300 million and would kill up to 1,500 jobs. EPI notes, “Unlike other areas that mandate similar requirements, the Allegheny County proposal fully places the cost on employers’ own funds. Other states typically require employees and employers to share the cost, or have significantly more-modest employer-funded mandates.” The price tag is high no matter how you slice it. “Even if you account for paid leave that employers already offer, which may be compatible with the new mandate, the total new cost to Allegheny County employers comes out to $219.7 million a year.” It’s little wonder the proposal is leading small businesses to consider leaving the county.
