Two counties reject a request for a “forensic audit,” the Democratic mayoral candidate in North Braddock is arrested, plus a progressive congressional challenge outraises an incumbent in Allegheny County. All of that and more are in this week’s Ups and Downs.
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Tom Wolf. Gov. Tom Wolf moved one step closer to addressing a climate change priority, while a new report also details his administration’s error dealing with unemployment. The Associated Press reports that the Environmental Quality Board approved Wolf’s plan to fight climate change by a 15-4 vote. The AP reports that the Independent Regulatory Review Commission could take up the matter this fall. However, Spotlight PA reported that “Wolf’s administration completed its internal investigation into a multimillion-dollar unemployment mistake in mid-2017, but failed to make the findings public until this week.”
Doug Mastriano. The Franklin County Republican and potential gubernatorial candidate push for a “forensic audit” of three counties appears to be unsuccessful. The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Tioga County, a GOP-friendly county which was targeted by Mastriano, said that they would not allow “third-party access to its voting machines.” On Thursday, York County announced it would “deny a request for access to election documents and equipment” from Mastriano, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Philadelphia is the lone county to not respond to Mastriano’s request thus far, and, well… his odds there ain’t great.
Chad Salsman. The Associated Press reports that the former Bradford County District Attorney “who pleaded guilty to pressuring clients for sex when he was a defense attorney was sentenced Friday to 18 months to 5 years in prison.”
Cletus Lee. The Democratic Party mayoral candidate in North Braddock was charged with assault this week, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Lee reportedly was arrested and charged with assault “after a reported domestic incident.”
Brian Fitzpatrick. A new record for the Bucks County Republican. In an exclusive to PoliticsPA, Fitzpatrick’s campaign announced that he raised over $1.1 million in Q2, which is a new high in a single quarter. His campaign’s previous record was his $945,000 Q3 haul in 2020. Although Biden carried his district, fundraising numbers like that could help scare off potential strong Democratic challengers.
Jerry Dickinson. The progressive law professor at the University of Pittsburgh who is challenging Rep. Mike Doyle for a second time is starting off his campaign with some promising fundraising news. Dickinson raised $210K in the most recent quarter, while Doyle raised just under $60K. Doyle still maintains a cash on hand advantage, but if Dickinson can duplicate his most recent quarter’s haul, chatter about his challenge will only get louder.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs. As life returns to normal, young baseball fans in the Lehigh Valley were getting ready to participate in a youth baseball camp later this month, but will have to wait. The Allentown Morning Call reports that the Lehigh Valley IronPigs youth camp scheduled for later this month was cancelled, due to not enough of the players receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. The MLB requires an 85% vaccination rate for a team to host a youth camp, while the IronPigs did not meet those requirements.
Reading Fightin Phils. Help is on the way. WFMZ reports that “Reading City Council voted 6-0 Monday night to commit to using $3 million to help fund needed renovations at FirstEnergy Stadium.”
TWEET OF THE WEEK
@PA_Spotlight, @PennCapitalStar, @SpotlightPA, @PoliticsPA pic.twitter.com/HXgpRETWsK
— Thanks, Dems, for the child-tax credit! (@Dani_PA) July 16, 2021
2 Responses
When will Republicans govern again instead of this endless Big Lie nonsense?
Forensic audit equals debacle for Republicans pushing this utter fiasco of an idea. Silly looking maneuver.