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March 14: Pi Day

🥧 It’s Tuesday, 3/14. Yes, it’s Pi Day

PA Weather
Bradford | Snow showers, Breezy, 28
State College | Cloudy, Breezy, 34
Wilkes-Barre | Snow, 33

PA Sports
Pitt | TUE vs. Mississippi State (NCAA MBB)
Penguins (34-22-10) | TUE vs. Montreal
Flyers (24-31-11) | TUE vs. Vegas
76ers (43-22) | WED vs. Cleveland

What We’re Hearing
Sam Janesch, former political and investigative reporter with The Caucus and LNP, and Kelsey Tamborrino, an energy reporter for POLITICO, got engaged on Saturday. Congrats.

Happy Birthday
Cake and candles to Rep. Jason Ortitay and Eric Reath of Rep. Lloyd Smucker’s office.

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For a free subscription to the PoliticsPA Playbook and get it emailed to you every weekday morning. It’s one of the best deals in town.

 

Top Story

1. Special Election To Fill Soon-To-Be-Vacant House Seat To Coincide With May 16 Primary

'A wake-up call': What Pennsylvania election results mean for 2022

“The 203-member Pennsylvania House of Representatives will be down a second member as of Thursday when embattled Delaware County Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel resigns amid accusations of sexual harassment.

A spokeswoman for House Speaker Joanna McClinton said on Monday the speaker intends to call for a special election to be held on May 16 to coincide with the primary to fill the 163rd legislative district seat Zabel held since 2019.” (PennLive)

Related

Who’s Running? Here’s The List of Candidates For Erie City Council, County Council. “Erie City Council incumbents Ed Brzezinski and Michael Keys, as well as recent council appointee Susannah Faulkner, want to hold onto their seats. The same goes for four current members of Erie County Council.” (Times-News)

  • Who’s Running For Statewide Court Seats? (PoliticsPA)
  • Philadelphia: Who’s Running For Office? (PoliticsPA)
  • 6 GOP Candidates, 3 Dems Running For Washington Co. Commissioner (Observer-Reporter)
  • 4 GOP Candidates, 3 Dems Running For Greene Co. Commissioner (Observer-Reporter)

 

Statewide

2. The Polls Were Historically Accurate In 2022

The perils of pre-election polling: is the 2020 election much closer than the polls suggest? — United States Studies Centre

“Let’s give a big round of applause to the pollsters. Measuring public opinion is, in many ways, harder than ever — and yet, the polling industry just had one of its most successful election cycles in U.S. history. Despite a loud chorus of naysayers claiming that the polls were either underestimating Democratic support or biased yet again against Republicans, the polls were more accurate in 2022 than in any cycle since at least 1998, with almost no bias toward either party.” (FiveThirtyEight)

Related

Shapiro’s Workforce Development Plan Could Pay Off Big For PA, Policy Director Says. “Gov. Josh Shapiro’s effort to win bipartisan appeal in his first budget by emphasizing workforce training and supports to help businesses create new high-wage jobs could prove to be truly transformative for the state, said the director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center.” (PennLive)

PA Warns Residents They May Lose Health Insurance, Highlights Options to Keep Coverage. “Hundreds of thousands of lower-income Pennsylvanians will no longer have guaranteed access to Medicaid and might lose health coverage if they don’t act soon.” (PennLive)

PA Capitol Police Fully Equipped With Body Cameras, Shapiro Administration Announces. “The Department of General Services began implementing the technology in January, assigning each officer an individual body camera, which will be integrated with in-car cameras used since 2016. ” (Capital-Star)

PA Readies To Send Out $62M For EV Charging Stations. “As Pennsylvania officials discuss an electric vehicle fee to replace the gas tax, federal funds are available to build out the EV charging infrastructure in the commonwealth.” (The Center Square)

 

Around The Commonwealth

3. ‘Dismal’: Philadelphians Are Down On Their City As The Mayor’s Race Looms

Discover Philadelphia - PHLCVB - DiscoverPHL.com

“Philadelphians across the city are frustrated with city leaders and concerned for their families’ futures — and some are fearful for their lives. A newly released poll shows that two-thirds of city residents think Philadelphia is “pretty seriously off on the wrong track.”” (Inquirer)

Related

Philly Lawmakers Call For More State Funding To Fix City Schools. “Philadelphia’s public schools need literally billions of dollars in repairs and upkeep, according to a group of local and state lawmakers who gathered at City Hall Monday morning to call for help from Harrisburg.” (WHYY)

Allan Domb Touts His Business Career In Bid For Mayor, But Skips Over One Line On His Resume. “Domb has served since 2017 on the board of Universal Health Realty Income Trust, which pays him $60,000 per year. He also holds about $500,000 in stock in that company, including more than $105,000 in shares given to him for free since 2018.” (Inquirer) 

Judges Choose Burick As Commissioner. “Former Lawrence County Commissioner Brian D. Burick will be stepping in to his previous position for a reprise, filling a vacancy created with the resignation of Commissioner Morgan Boyd.” (New Castle News)

Leschinskie Has 10 Days To Withdraw Candidacy; Jury Seated In Illegal Recording Case. “Former Shamokin City Councilman Joseph Leschinskie Jr. has 10 days to withdraw his name from the spring ballot after Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz said the Shamokin resident is not legally allowed to hold office.” (Daily Item)

York County Elections Lawsuit To Go Before Judge Amid Settlement Talks. “Settlement talks are continuing in the federal lawsuit filed by advocacy organization CASA and LatinoJustice Fund over a lack of services for Spanish-speaking voters.” (York Dispatch)

Paper to Switch to Digital Format On Mondays, Eliminate Print Edition. “When The Times-Tribune and its sister daily newspapers in Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Pottsville transition to a digital-only format on Mondays effective April 10, eliminating their Monday print editions, they will be latecomers to a growing movement within the industry.” (Times-Tribune)

 

Editorial

4. What They’re Saying

A glance around the Keystone State at editorials and opinions.

  • I’m An Abuse Survivor. The PA General Assembly Has To Do Better. (Colleen Kennedy)
  • In Their Budget Addresses, Biden, Shapiro and Kenney Prudently Aim For Normalcy. (Inquirer)
  • The Right’s Desperate, Defensive, Destructive War on ‘Wokeness.’ (Michelle Goldberg)
  • How Many Foreign Citizens Voted In PA Elections? The Secretary of State Can Tell Us. (Noel Johnson, Linda Kerns)
  • Secrecy Is Too Often The Norm In PA State and Local Governments. (Christopher Baxter)
  • At The Third Anniversary of School Closures, Public Education Is In Shambles. (Beth Ann Rosica)
  • Rage Is Not Part of Life In Rural PA. (Stacy Garrity)
  • Stoned On Government Overreach. (Times-Tribune)

 

1 Thing

5. PA Bracket Mania

The Legend of Lebanon Bologna | TASTE

The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry launched its tournament, where 32 of the most interesting products made in Pennsylvania will compete for the right to be called this year’s Coolest Thing Made in PA.

The round 1 bracket includes Sheetz MTOs vs. Astrobotic Lunar Robots. Other contenders include Rutter’s Iced Tea vs. Martin & Co. Guitars, Zippo Lighters vs. Asher’s Chocolate Pretzels and Yuengling Lager vs. Wabtec Locomotives.

The 32 companies included in this year’s tournament will face off in a single-elimination bracket format with winners chosen through public voting on the PA Chamber’s Twitter page. Voting will begin on Tuesday, March 14, at Noon.

 

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2 Responses

  1. So if Philly is down on itself but wants a Mayoral leader who can do the work day one…they’ll have to pay closer attention as they really only have two choices…

    Maria Quinones-Sanchez
    Derek Green

    They’ve been in the trenches long before they were City Council members and became leaders…getting stuff done…while in Council.

    Other candidates are certainly doing their part to lead, but these two have been ready to be Mayor for years now.

    Philly needs to get this pick right.

    They’re just running now.

  2. Special election scheduled same day as regular primary election. How did that happen? Was that coincidence or did somebody in govt actually think and make a smart decision?





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