🤠 Hola, Wednesday. Six days until Election Day.

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☀️ Waynesburg | Mostly Sunny, 81
☀️ Lock Haven | Mostly Sunny, 77
☀️ Wilkes-Barre | Mostly Sunny, 77

PA Sports
🏒 Penguins (3-7-1) | Minnesota 3-5 | Thu vs. Anaheim
🏒 Flyers (3-6-1) | Boston 2-0 | Thu vs. St. Louis
🏀 Sixers (1-2) | Wed vs. Detroit

📫 Mail Ballot Update. As of Tuesday morning, 2,133,955 applications were received by counties and 1,473,825 mail ballots have been received and returned (69%).

🎂 Happy Birthday. Cake and candles for Rep. Leslie Rossi.

🗞️ Political News From THE Swing State. 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. The Battle for What May Be the Most Important County in the Country

“There are signs everywhere in Erie County, and the only thing you have to know is how to read them. “It appears that whoever wins Pennsylvania is going to win the whole thing,” says Sam Talarico, the bald and affable chair of the Erie County Democratic Party. And whoever wins Erie County is probably going to win Pennsylvania. As goes Erie, so goes America.

“Yard signs are big in Erie County,” says Talarico, who looks like former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, but without hair. “They always have been.” Now you just have to count all of the yard signs in this largest of Pennsylvania’s counties, and account for any and all political loyalties not expressed on a 24-by-18-inch rectangle of corrugated plastic, and you’ll have next week’s presidential election all figured out.” (The New Republic)

Elsewhere

Five Takeaways as Kamala Harris Takes on Trump From Ellipse. “Vice President Harris kicked off the final stretch of the election campaign on Tuesday evening with a speech delivered at the Ellipse, within sight of the White House.” (The Hill)

• Rallying on the Ellipse, Harris Calls On Voters to Reject Trump’s ‘Chaos and Division.’ (Penn Capital-Star)

Donald Trump Repeats False Claims About Lancaster County and Immigration at Senior Roundtable in Delaware County. “He falsely claimed that Lancaster County found 2,600 fake voter registrations after claiming earlier that day the county encountered “fake ballots.” He also briefly mentioned York County.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Trump Rally in Allentown Focuses Heavily on Immigration in Majority Latino City in Crucial Pennsylvania. “Former President Donald Trump’s rally Tuesday in front of a packed PPL Center in Allentown focused heavily on cracking down on illegal immigration and attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, signaling his final pitch to voters a week out from Election Day in the presidential race.” (Allentown Morning Call)

• Trump Campaigns in Allentown as Controversy Over Puerto Rico Remarks at Rally Continues to Escalate. (Penn Capital-Star)
• Trump Supporters, Hispanic Protesters Offer Contrasts Before Trump Rally. (Armchair Lehigh Valley)
• Biden Suggests Trump Supporters Are ‘Garbage’ After Comic’s Insult of Puerto Rico. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

State

2. State Treasurer Preview

“This is the first in our series highlighting the statewide row offices, looking at the contest for State Treasurer.

The state treasurer is one of three elected row officers in the commonwealth, and plays a crucial role in managing state dollars. State revenue is deposited into the Treasury, and the office uses the money to pay bills for things like contracts and workers. The treasurer also invests state savings, and sits on the boards of Pennsylvania’s two massive public sector pension funds.” (PoliticsPA)

Elsewhere

Congressional Vulnerability Rankings – Election Day 2024. “Election Day 2024 is almost here, so it’s time to assemble our final PoliticsPA congressional vulnerability rankings for the Pennsylvania delegation in the U.S. House.” (PoliticsPA)

Pennsylvania Democrats Lean Into Abortion As Closing Message. “They’re hoping a laser focus on protecting reproductive rights will allow them to maintain control of the state House and pick up seats in the Senate.” (POLITICO)

In Battleground Pennsylvania, Election Officials ‘Bracing’ For Onslaught of Litigation. “In the battleground state of Pennsylvania, election officials have quietly been preparing for another possibility: an onslaught of litigation that could flood the courts on Election Day and beyond.” (ABC News)

PA Lawmakers Push For Impeachment and Investigation Into Allegheny County Judge Xander Orenstein. “The embattled judge released on no-cash bail a defendant who subsequently was charged with homicide in the death of an off-duty police officer.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Around The Commonwealth

3. With PA Poised to Swing the Election, Statewide Voters Air Views On Harris, Trump

“The Keystone State could hold the keys to the White House.

That’s because the presidency is at stake, and Pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes are smack in the middle of the manic race to 270 – the magic number in the Electoral College.

Amid this high-stakes backdrop, PennLive partnered with the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University to send about 20 journalism students across Pennsylvania to talk to voters in ten key counties.” (PennLive)

• Gen Z and Democracy: What Pennsylvania College Students Think About the Upcoming Election. (Penn Capital-Star)

Elsewhere

A Clumsy Early Voting Option Has Backed Up Election Offices in Pennsylvania and Frustrated Voters. “A clumsy and time-consuming early voting option in the nation’s biggest presidential battleground state is creating frustration, leading to hours-long lines and prompting claims of disenfranchisement as voters swamp county offices that are not prepared to handle the influx.” (AP)

Trump Campaign Announces Lawsuit Against Bucks County Over Long Lines and Early Cut-Offs For Voters Casting Mail Ballots. “Unlike other states that offer early voting with machines similar to Election Day, Pennsylvania voters who want to cast a ballot early in-person must request a mail ballot, receive it, then cast it.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

$9M in Federal Funding For Scranton-NYC Train Infrastructure Comes at Critical Political Moment. “Scranton’s decades-long dream of renewed rail service to New York City will soon take a key step forward thanks to nearly $9 million in federal infrastructure funding.” (WVIA)

Democrats Are Blanketing Small Newspapers With Ads in the Election’s Last Sprint. “The DNC is placing ads in small-to-midsize papers in core states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.” (NOTUS)

PA Billionaire Putting $638K Into Bucks County State House Race. “The fund is one of several political action committees associated with Jeffrey Yass, a Montgomery County billionaire who has gained notoriety in recent years for his political spending.” (Bucks County Courier Times)

Editorial

4. What’s On Your Mind

• Built-In Safeguards, Vigilant Workers Already Protecting PA Election Integrity. (Ed Rendell, Melissa Hart, Jim Gerlach and Keith McCall)
• Don’t Believe Trump’s Lies About the 2020 Vote Count Being Rigged In Philly. I Know It Wasn’t, Because I Was There. (Daniel Pearson)
• Donald Trump’s Economic Agenda Would Turn Boom Into Bust. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• We’re Taking Off Our Red Jerseys For Now to Join the Team That Will Protect American Democracy. (Jim Greenwood and Anne Womble)
• Lancaster County Officials Should Deliver Real Answers On Voter Registration Issues — Not Shut Down Questions. (LNP | Lancaster Online)
• From Blue to Purple: GOP Makes Significant Voter Registration Gains in PA. (Lowman Henry)

1 Thing

5. Pennsylvania Woman, 114, Becomes Oldest Living Person in North America

“A 114-year-old woman residing in Pennsylvania who says she never smoked or drank alcohol recently became the oldest known living person in North America.

Naomi Whitehead told Pennsylvania’s New Castle News for her 113th birthday that she was born in Georgia on 26 September 1910 on a farm where she later helped relatives pick cotton and reap tobacco. She was a toddler when the Titanic sank, nine when women gained the right to vote in the US and had raised a family with her husband before the US civil rights movement.” (The Guardian)

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