The Governor’s race, 2016 aftermath and a legislative breakthrough. See who made this week’s Ups & Downs!

Tom Wolf. Scott Wagner has been picking a fight with the Governor for days and that’s why he’s had a good week. It seems Wolf wants Wagner as his opponent in 2018 (although Democrats should be especially careful about what they ask for). On top of that, the first classification of the 2018 race gives Wolf the edge as does the national map. We also want to give the Governor a shout-out for once again skipping PA Society.

Rob Teplitz. Just because State Senator Rob Teplitz lost his re-election race doesn’t mean he has to leave the Capitol. That’s the rationale of the Democratic caucus at least. Despite his defeat, the Dems decided to hire Teplitz as a policy advisor. The lawmaker may prove to be a valuable asset but it sure doesn’t look good for a party which is already miles away from the majority in the upper chamber.

Tim Murphy. Congressman Murphy finally saw one of his major initiatives achieve success this week. Murphy has been working to pass his mental health reform bill for years. Thanks to its attachment to the 21st Century Cures Act, it appears all his work will finally come to fruition. Congrats to Rep. Murphy and may his legislation provide a positive change.

Matt Cartwright. It was definitely an up and down week for the Congressman. First, Rep. Cartwright failed to secure the votes to make the Policy and Communications Committee even after receiving the support of Nancy Pelosi. The next day, however, Cartwright was touted his elevation to the Democratic Policy and Steering Committee. Perhaps he’ll enjoy his new position more than the one he was originally after.

Eric Papenfuse. We’ll be giving the Harrisburg Mayor a down arrow every week until he lifts his ridiculous ban of PennLive. We’ve now reached week twenty-six.

The tweet of the week goes to Decision Desk HQ, who broke down the election results in simple math.

Changes from 2012 in Pennsylvania:
Trump received 290,000 more votes than Romney, Clinton received 64,000 fewer votes than Obama.

— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) December 6, 2016