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What We’re Hearing
Republican Rob Bresnahan will formally announce his candidacy against Democrat Matt Cartwright in the 8th Congressional District this morning.

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Top Story

1. Democrats Won Big This Week In PA. What Does That Mean For 2024?

“Democrats had plenty of good news to celebrate in Tuesday’s off-year elections and more evidence that they can win races centered on the national debate over abortion.

The victories won’t be enough to make Democrats feel secure heading into next year’s presidential election. The off-year elections have major implications in all of those states and provide a snapshot of American politics heading into 2024.” (AP)

Related

Abortion Helped Democrats Win Across Pennsylvania. They Say 2024 Will Bring More Of The Same. “Remember the three rules of real estate? Location, location, location. And the three major issues of the last two elections? Abortion, abortion, abortion.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Voters Have Spoken In PA. What The Results Mean For The High Courts, And For 2024. “Tuesday was another big night for the blue party in Pennsylvania. The results come just a year after Democrats in the state captured a vacant U.S. Senate seat, flipped the state House of Representatives and won the governorship by 15 points.” (Erie Times-News)

Now That Democrats Have Swept School Boards In Some Republican-Controlled Districts, What Happens Next? “In competitive races, ‘the people who had the message that we don’t want chaos, we don’t want to attack children, we don’t want to ban books — that message resonated,’ said Susan Spicka.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

How Democrats Flipped A Central Bucks School Board Embroiled In Controversy. “On Tuesday night, Democrats completed a clean sweep of the five Central Bucks School Board races, changing the balance of power in a district that has garnered national attention for book bans, anti-LGBTQ actions and rhetoric, and treatment of its students and teachers.” (WHYY)

State

2. Beck, Lane Win Open Seats on PA Superior Court

“Democrats Jill Beck and Timika Lane have defeated Republicans Maria Battista and Harry Smail for two open seats on Pennsylvania’s Superior Court.

Two sitting judges on Superior Court — Jack Panella and Vic Stabile — also have comfortable margins in favor of their yes-or-no retention elections, though the AP hasn’t formally called those elections. If their victories hold, they will begin additional ten-year terms.” (Spotlight PA)

Related

Wins In Local Races Will Disrupt Michigan And Pennsylvania Democrats’ Hold On Legislative Chambers. “Michigan and Pennsylvania will emerge from the Tuesday elections with House legislative chambers evenly split between Republicans and Democrats in yet another sign of how narrowly divided the two swing states have become. The change will be at least temporary after House members in the states were elected to other offices and will need to resign from the legislatures.” (AP)

Innamorato’s Win Caps A Wave Of Women’s Political Victories In Allegheny County. “Sara Innamorato’s victory Tuesday night means that Allegheny County will see a woman as its top elected official for the first time in history.” (Tribune-Review)

• ‘We’re Not Wasting A Minute’: Innamorato Announces Transition Team After Winning Race For Allegheny County Executive. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Voting System Error And Bomb Threat Among The Problems During PA’s 2023 Municipal Election. “Pennsylvania’s secretary of state said Election Day in the state mostly went smoothly, with an error in one county causing what his office called the main issue of the day.” (WPSU)

Around The Commonwealth

3. David Oh Did Better Than Any Other GOP Mayoral Candidate In 20 Years. But He Didn’t Come Close To Winning

“Republican David Oh appears to have won about 25% of votes in the mayor’s race, according to results that were still being finalized Wednesday evening.

That would be the best result for a Republican since Sam Katz won more than 40% of the vote in his campaigns against then-Mayor John F. Street in 1999 and 2003. But it isn’t enough to raise questions on whether Democrat Cherelle Parker has an electoral mandate or to give the Philly GOP hope that it has found a political formula that could lead it out of the woods.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Philadelphia Mayor-Elect Cherelle Parker Set To Announce Transition Committee And Team. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Related

Election Results 2023: County Commissioners. The numbers are in for the county commissioner and council races and we have the winners. (PoliticsPA)

If Vote Count Holds, Dems Will Lead Dauphin County For 1st Time Since At Least 1919. “Who says local politics are boring? This week, Dauphin County residents – at least the nearly 65,000 who took the time to vote this fall – got themselves on the cusp of assigning majority control of the county’s board of commissioners to the Democratic Party for the first time since at least World War I.” (PennLive)

Newly Elected Mont. Co. Commissioner Makhija Celebrates Series Of Firsts For Role. “Montgomery County voters elected new commissioners on Tuesday, including the youngest and first Indian American to hold the seat known for launching its occupants into higher public offices.” (Penn Capital-Star)

How Steve Zappala Was Reelected as Allegheny County DA Running On the GOP Ticket. “There was one more thing that propelled Zappala to a seventh term: an alliance that united top Republican political consultants, Democratic power brokers and all stripes of businessmen, politicians and consultants bent on one thing: stopping Dugan, the county’s former chief public defender, and his progressive agenda.” (Tribune-Review)

• Suburban Ticket Splitting Spelled Defeat For Dugan, Nearly Derailed Innamorato. (Public Source)
• Political Strategists Weigh In On How Voters Elected Progressive Innamorato And Law-And-Order Zappala. (CBS Pittsburgh)
• 5 Takeaways From Allegheny County’s 2023 Election Results. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

The Philly GOP Is Soul Searching After An Unprecedented Loss To The Working Families Party: ‘This Could Be The End’ “The Working Families Party’s message was simple: Vote for us, and you can kick Republicans out of Philadelphia City Hall. Turns out that in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 7-1, that simple message resonates.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Editorial

4. What They’re Saying

• Across The Nation, Election Day Results Show That Voters Care About Diversity And Democracy. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• The Center Holds: Allegheny County Voters Want Steady Leadership, Not Radical Change. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Are Republicans Tired of All the Losing? (Wall Street Journal)
• Voters Sought Balance And Rewarded Competence In Off-Year Elections. (Washington Post)
• PA Sen. Fetterman’s Jabs At Fellow Dems And Others Draw National Note. (John Baer)
• The Moms for Liberty School Board Takeover Has Hit A Wall. (Zeeshan Aleem)
• The DelVal GOP Just Got Pounded — Again. Now What? (Taylor Millard)
• Let’s Stick With Trump And Shed The RINO Establishment. (Dwight Weidman)

1 Thing

5. Did Michigan Steal Penn State’s Signs?

“The Michigan sign-stealing controversy has taken a new turn, and now three other Big Ten schools have found themselves in the spotlight alongside the Wolverines.

At Michigan, Connor Stalions allegedly ran a smash-and-grab sign-stealing operation. Ohio State, Rutgers and Purdue, meanwhile, were reportedly operating the equivalent of a criminal conspiracy. It was pure white-collar stuff.

In the end, they both allegedly stole, or participated in the stealing of, the same thing — information on opponents’ play signals in an effort to secure an advantage.

It’s just that one was a ski mask bank robbery. The other was an inside job, cleanly wiring the money to the Caribbean.” (Yahoo! Sports)

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