😅 Hi There, Wednesday. Just one more day reminding us that summer isn’t over.

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⚾ Phillies (78-54) | Houston 5-0 | Wed vs. Houston
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⚽ Union (6-9-10) | Wed vs. Columbus

👂 What We’re Hearing. VP Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, will hold their first sit-down interview on Thursday night with CNN.

🤔 Did You Know? That fewer than half of U.S. states require employers to provide paid time off to vote. New York, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia are neighboring states that give employees time off to vote.

🗞️ You Asked for PA News. We Deliver. Where can you find all the latest news on what’s happening in Keystone State politics? Sign up for the PoliticsPA Playbook. We’ll deliver all the latest headlines in an easy-to-read format every weekday at 8 AM. And it’s free. Add your name to the list and subscribe now.

Top Story

1. What Even Is An Auditor General?

“November 5 will be a pivotal day for the Commonwealth. Yes, there’s the role we’ll be playing in the presidential race itself — a true contest of firsts. Will Kamala Harris win to become the first woman president? The first Asian president? Or will Donald Trump prevail to become the first felon president? It is a consequential race on whose scale the Commonwealth will certainly place its thumb.

But there are other important races on November 5 for Pennsylvania — including deciding who will be our next attorney general — Eugene DePasquale (D) or David Sunday (R) — which Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt noted in the spring could be the most important race in this election that no one is paying attention to.

A few attention levels below that AG race, is another AG race happening on November 5 — the race for the state’s auditor general. (True story: I spent my first day researching this story believing I was writing about the attorney general’s race. “Wait, which AG are we talking about?” I finally asked. “Auditor general? What the hell is that?”)” (Philadelphia Citizen)

Elsewhere

Vance Will Be In Erie Wednesday. What He Plans to Discuss. “Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance is scheduled to speak on the economy and energy during a campaign stop Wednesday in Erie.” (Erie Times-News)

Biden, Harris to Campaign in Pittsburgh on Labor Day. “Western Pennsylvania may once again be the center of the political universe this Labor Day. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are expected to return to the area for the holiday.” (WESA)

Letter Urges Farm Bill ‘Rework’ Amid SNAP Snafu. “A stalled congressional effort to update the nation’s five-year Farm Bill hinges on a disagreement over how to calculate food stamp benefits for 42.1 million Americans.” (The Center Square)

State

2. Mail Ballots Cause Headaches For Tracking Vote Totals

“A proposal for election transparency has one state legislator going against the Department of State. At the center of the split: changes made to Pennsylvania’s elections stemming from the passage of Act 77 of 2019.

Rep. Brad Roae (R-Meadville) introduced House Bill 2542 to require the Department to again update precinct counts online, allowing voters to see how the count is progressing.

“The election returns portion of the Department of State website previously showed how many voting precincts there were and how many precincts had been counted,” Roae wrote in a legislative memo. “It also showed what percent of the precincts had reported. The Department of State still gets this information, but they removed it from their website so that citizens can no longer see it.”” (The Center Square)

Elsewhere

​​Trump Campaign, GOP Continue Push For PA Voters to Embrace Mail-In, Absentee Voting. “With Democrats fresh off the enthusiasm of the national convention, the Trump campaign and Republican Party are aiming to steal some of the opposition’s thunder by leveling the playing field when it comes to absentee and mail-in ballots in the pivotal battleground state.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Westmoreland Commissioners Urged To Switch To Paper Ballots For November Election. “The Westmoreland County commissioners were urged Tuesday to abandon touch-screen computerized voting at the polls in November in favor of paper ballots.” (Greensburg Tribune-Review)

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, Biden Ally and Harris Campaign Co-Chair, Calls NEPA ‘Central’ to Victory. “The commonwealth literally is the hinge point, the keystone for Democrats’ hopes to win back the House, to hold the Senate, to win the White House. And the counties right around Scranton — Luzerne, Lackawanna — are absolutely central.” (WVIA)

Around The Commonwealth

3. Washington County Republican Commissioners, Pennsylvania and National Parties Weigh Appealing Mail Ballot Court Order

“Washington County Republican county commissioners and state and national Republican party organizations are weighing whether to appeal last week’s mail ballot case court order.

If there’s an appeal, the mail ballot battle in Washington County may not be over. But for now, a Washington County judge’s court order stands.

If a voter’s mail-in ballot is disqualified because of marking mistakes on the outer envelope, they are to be informed of that. And they are to get the option to vote in-person with a provisional ballot on Election Day.” (WTAE)

Elsewhere

Five Ways Philly’s Economy Could Be Shaped By a Harris or Trump Presidency. “Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are offering very different economic agendas. Here’s what that could mean for Philadelphians.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Early 2024 Numbers Offer Cause For Optimism on Pittsburgh City Finances, But Concerns Remain. “Amid ongoing concerns about the city’s financial health, both Mayor Ed Gainey’s budget office and the city controller agreed that Pittsburgh’s finances for the first half of the year looked encouraging — at least for the immediate future.” (WESA)

Rural PA Faces a Widening Health Services Gap. State Officials Think Loan Forgiveness Could Help. “Health care professionals in rural Pennsylvania would be eligible for student debt relief under a bipartisan proposal aimed at addressing workforce gaps in remote communities.” (Spotlight PA)

Editorial

4. What’s On Your Mind

• Abortion May Not Be a Winner for Democrats This Fall. (Jason L. Riley)
• Trump’s Antisemitic Attack on Gov. Josh Shapiro Should Be Strongly Condemned. (Philadelphia Tribune)
• Wyoming County Dems Take on Trump, Project 2025. (Chris Kelly)
• The Mainstream Media Proves RFK’s Point. (Beth Ann Rosica)
• Public Speaking Can Win (or Lose) the Presidency. (Elaine Maimon)
• What We Can Learn From a Spat Between Sen. John Fetterman and His Communications Director. (Cliff Smith)
• Sunday Hunting Ban Is Unfair and Hurts PA Economy. (Brian Pitell)
• Let’s Stick To the Facts About Skill Games, Not the Nonsense From Opponents. (Mike Barley)
• Clean Power Plan Reboot Will Cripple PA’s Energy Affordability. (Sen. Greg Rothman)

1 Fall Thing

5. Leaf Peeping Close To Home: Bucks County Rated No. 1 For Fall Foliage

“You won’t have to trek to New England to see the brightest fall foliage in the country, according to a national travel magazine. You have all the magnificent colors of fall right in your backyard as it has ranked Bucks County No. 1 in the nation as an autumn must-see.

Travel + Leisure magazine reports to its 5 million monthly readers that Priceline, an online travel company, crunched “search value data” and determined that Bucks County is this year’s top destination for autumn leaf peepers.” (Bucks County Courier Times)

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