1/29 Ups & Downs

Polls, primaries and the never-ending budget battle. See who made this week’s list!

Up Arrow1Kathleen Kane. Undoubtedly the biggest shock of the week was the Harper Poll showing Kane leading the Democratic field of Attorney General candidates. All of a sudden, her threat to run for re-election seems viable. Additionally, it appears that the State Senate’s attempt to kick her out of office has lost some steam as the State House is looking into impeachment instead. For the first time in months, there is a sliver of a chance that Kane will have her referendum on the ballot and not in a courtroom.

 

Down ArrowTom Wolf. It’s looking like the Governor has decided that the 2015 budget battle will be carried over into the 2016 budget process. In an interview this week, Gov. Wolf warned that a “train wreck” was coming. That, of course, is a huge problem for him. If the state is forced into severe financial distress, he’ll take the heat as the leader and most visible figure in the government. Proving that point was a new Franklin & Marshall poll which found Wolf’s approval numbers trailing Corbett’s at this point in his tenure. Worst of all, two-thirds of Pennsylvanians think the state is currently on the wrong track. The Governor doesn’t have much more time until voters start blaming him for the mess.

Up ArrowDown ArrowJoe Sestak. The good news for Sestak is that during the week two separate polls, Harper and Franklin & Marshall, showed him in the lead. The bad news is that neither lead was particularly large. At this point, it’s also unclear how much of Sestak’s advantage comes from name recognition since he was the 2010 Democratic Senate nominee. So while the former Congressman is still ahead three months out, the large numbers of undecided voters shows that McGinty and even Fetterman are still very much in the race.

Up ArrowBill Shuster. Last week, GOP primary challenger Art Halvorson unveiled some impressive staff hires. In response, yesterday Congressman Bill Shuster announced the endorsement of his colleague and fellow Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member Mark Meadows. The importance of Meadows’ support comes from the fact that he was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, which should provide some protection on Shuster’s right flank.

 

Down ArrowPat Meehan. What the campaign giveth, the campaign taketh away. Last month, one of Meehan’s potential Democratic opponents switched elections. On Monday, however, he found out that businessman Stan Casacio would be running in the GOP primary. Given Meehan’s margin of victory in 2014, a primary is a bigger threat to him than the general election and Casacio is already hitting him for supposedly being too moderate. As a result, 2016 could be a tougher year than Meehan anticipated.

 

The tweet of the week goes to former Governor Ed Rendell for this epic typo (hat tip to Gideon Resnick).

14 Responses

  1. You should probably take away Shuster’s up arrow and give it to Art Halvorson. Art submitted his first 1000 signatures today and Shuster’s people are in full blown panic mode.

  2. Scranton Sucks-

    The August 8th 2016 date seems very coincidental to her arrest date of Aug 8th 2015.

    Was there some one year max limit by which they had to shit-or-get-off-the-pot?

    The Montco DA finds this case so imperative that the trial isn’t even going to START until Kane has 4 months left in her 4 year term. Throw in delays and appeals, and Kane will have finished her term before this case is resolved (and the people pursuing will have stopped caring).

    I hope the PA Supreme court has the common sense to see through this farce and revoke the previous court’s suspension of her license.

  3. To whoever asked if anyone proofs the copy on this site, I would add does anyone care about the copy as most of the comments are personal shots at people who post opinions instead of opinions on what is posted.

  4. So Steve Santarsiero wins the overwhelming endorsements of both the Montgomery County Democrats and the Bucks County Democrats for the 8th Congressional Race, garnering 95% of the vote in Bucks alone, and no mention at all today? His opponent got just 11 votes on Saturday. It just fuels lingering suspicions of your bias in this contest.

  5. Hey Larry … Unsanctioned Retard … Scranton Suck Boy … Brandy … did you really get arrested for sex with animals?

  6. gulag, she got caught red-handed breaking the law. Normal, emotionally well-balanced people (i.e., not you) understand that.

  7. Due process and democracy should have up arrows for the GOP backing off special removal of Kane and the possibility that this political issue will be resolved at the ballot box instead of the jury box on a trumped up political prosecution.

  8. So no down arrow for pig Kevin boyle running for two seats that the Dems already have. Causing another special election and taxpayers money just like his section housing owning brother the new Congressman ???

  9. I will be suing Stan Carpaccio for stealing my likeness and attempting to catapult to power.

  10. “For the first time in months, there is a sliver of a chance that Kane will her referendum on the ballot and not in a courtroom.”

    DOES ANYONE PROOF YOUR COPY????

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