News & Brews November 9, 2026
Get News & Brews in your inbox each day: Subscribe here!
Pa. Dems face 2028 deadline on affordability
PennLive reports that Pa. Democrats “ran hard in 2026 on affordability, blaming the economic woes of the median voter on President Donald Trump and an intransigent Republican majority in the state Senate.” But now that they’ve won, “they’ll have to deliver – and deliver fast.” That’s because “power only lasts if those who have it do something with it, especially at a time when public opinion is increasingly fickle and political allegiances are historically loose.” (See next item for more on this.) Gov. Shapiro and lawmakers will soon roll out their plans for the first 100 days of a Democrat trifecta. But while some things, like raising the minimum wage, will pass quickly, other more progressive items “are going to be a heavier lift.”
‘Less party loyalty, big election swings’
Looking at elections both in the U.S. and abroad, the Wall Street Journal reports that one takeaway is, “Voters are fed up, they have lost trust in political parties and they don’t have much patience when they feel politicians aren’t listening.” Here in the U.S., “A record proportion of Americans—45%—now identify as political independents not affiliated with either party, a 10-percentage-point rise compared with the early 2000s, according to Gallup. An equal share of 27% identify as partisan, either Democrat or Republican.” And as one former presidential advisor put it, “Putting the results of this election alongside the last one should show us that there are actually many potentially movable and persuadable voters in America, even in lots of places we would not have imagined. The idea that these voters are now committed Democrats is no more plausible than the notion that they were committed Republicans two years ago.”
Election is over, but Vereb remains
Gov. Shapiro may have won re-election, but he lost in court last week, as a statewide court ruled Shapiro must hand over records related to the Mike Vereb sexual harassment scandal. “On Nov. 3, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court sided with Broad + Liberty and upheld an order requiring the governor’s office to release 12 withheld records, emails and their attachments.” Vereb, of course, was Shapiro’s secretary of legislative affairs who resigned after being accused of sexual harassment. Shapiro’s office settled with the accuser to the tune of $295,000.
However, “Questions remain about the timeline. The settlement was signed Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, 2023, and Vereb stayed on the job until Sept. 27. The administration has said Shapiro learned of the allegations while settlement talks were underway, and it has not explained why Vereb remained for weeks afterward. Shapiro’s explanations of the timeline have shifted over time.” Shapiro can still ask for a reconsideration of the ruling or appeal it to the state Supreme Court.
Philly’s antisemitic bike ride is a flop
CNN confirms that hundreds of counterprotestors “overwhelmed” an antisemitic demonstration in Philadelphia, as anti-Jewish cyclists, many of whom were too cowardly to uncover their faces, targeted Jewish-owned businesses. The event backfired as individuals came from across the region to stand up against the hate and support the Jewish-owned businesses. Broad + Liberty reports, “Allan Domb, owner of Schlesinger’s Deli on Locust Street said: ‘I can only tell you that the best part of this is the tremendous support of our Philadelphia community and even people outside of Philadelphia. I’ve had people come down from New York, West Chester, Harrisburg, from Maryland and Delaware, the Jersey Shore – drive two or three hours to eat eggs! To show their support.’” That’s how it’s done.
Pe. Ed Dept hid scores, now wants to alter metrics
Flying a bit under the radar amid the election is a brewing scandal within the Pennsylvania Department of Education. For months, the department has refused to release test results for Philadelphia, “where families and teachers have repeatedly asked officials to release the scores they usually get in August,” Chalkbeat reports. Now, “Pennsylvania state officials have proposed changing how they score students’ performance on state math and reading tests, making it easier for students to be considered ‘advanced.’
“The proposal, which Pennsylvania Department of Education officials shared with the state’s Board of Education Thursday, would have implications for how the state measures student achievement and schools’ success, and would apply to tests students took months ago. State officials acknowledged the department’s cut score review contributed to the wait.” So let’s get this straight. Students took tests. The Department wants to hide the results and instead change metrics so the results appear better than they are. What does this tell you about how much education bureaucrats truly care about helping kids learn vs. making themselves look good?
