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Top Story
1. Five Days After The Election, Mastriano Concedes To Shapiro
Republican candidate for governor Doug Mastriano conceded the election to Democrat Josh Shapiro in a social media post on Sunday.
“Difficult to accept as the results are, there is no right course but to concede, which I do, and I look to the challenges ahead. Josh Shapiro will be our next Governor, and I ask everyone to give him the opportunity to lead and pray that he leads well.”
He did take one last shot at election operations, saying “we can and must do better to make our elections more transparent, secure and more quickly decided.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Related
Mastriano Concedes In Statement. “The tone of the concession statement brought a conventional end to a campaign that was marked by the unconventional from the start and was often marked by a steady diet of barbed taunts from Mastriano about everything from Shapiro’s height to his upbringing as the son of an accomplished physician.” (PennLive)
- Mastriano Breaks Silence, Uses Social Media To Concede Governor’s Race To Josh Shapiro. (Tribune-Review)
Shapiro Lays Out Plan To ‘Move Pennsylvania Forward.’ “Governor-elect Josh Shapiro spoke to a number of radio stations this morning in his first interviews since securing his victory on Tuesday.” (PoliticsPA)
Shapiro: ‘Now We Have To Come Together And Get Things Done.’ “Pennsylvania Governor-elect Josh Shapiro said he is “unbelievably humbled” to see the support he received from Republicans, Democrats, Independents, especially in places like Luzerne County and other areas where Democrats haven’t won.” (Times Leader)
Review
2. It Was Never About The Debate
“For as excited as the political class was on October 25 to see Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz meet on the debate stage, one wonders whether it was worth all the expended energy.
Headed into the 60-minute fray, Fetterman seemed to be in control of the race with a polling lead of anywhere between 2-8 points. After the debate that showed signs of Fetterman’s post-stroke recovery, Oz appeared to be right back in the thick of things, including polls that showed the celebrity doctor in the lead.
Final tally – Fetterman 50.9, Oz 46.6 out of 5.29 million votes cast.
What did we miss?” (PoliticsPA)
Related
Democrats See A Blueprint In Fetterman’s Victory In PA. “Did John Fetterman just show Democrats how to solve their white-working-class problem?” (NY Times)
How John Fetterman’s ‘Punk Rock’ Campaign Defeated Mehmet Oz. “Long before Mehmet Oz locked up the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, his Democratic opponent, John Fetterman, had a plan to discredit him in the eyes of voters.” (HuffPost)
Why Didn’t Republicans Win Big? “The election last week defied reality. For example, John Fetterman, the Democrat who won the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, promised more inflationary spending, more lenient treatment of felons amid a violent crime wave and more of the left’s radical, parent-dissing sexual agenda. Yet he won.” (Washington Times)
Harrisburg
3. The Shifting Balance of Power In The PA House
“Pennsylvania citizen groups are celebrating what will likely be the first narrowly-divided state House of Representatives in more than a decade — and they’re giving newly-drawn state political maps part of the credit.
Analysts predicted that under new maps installed earlier this year, elections would be way more competitive than they had been in the last decade. Republicans dominated the lower chamber in that time – but Democrats now have a real chance of taking control.” (WESA)
Related
Hogan, Moffa Race Remains Separated By Only Two Votes. “The race is so closely watched because Moffa win could be the seat that gives the Democratic caucus the majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in years.” (Levittown Now)
Stephens Holds 14-Vote Lead Over Cerrato For 151st State House Seat. “The election to represent the 151st Legislative District, which includes portions of Lower Gwynedd and Upper Dublin townships, between incumbent Todd Stephens (R) and Melissa Cerrato (D) is still too close to call.” (Around Ambler)
What A Difference A Map Makes. Both Parties Say Redistricting Had Lots To Do With PA House Outcomes. “Sometime this week, Democrats may have control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the first time since 2010.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- A Map Makes The Difference. (PennLive)
PA GOP’s Terrible Election Is Forcing A Reckoning In The State Party. “Republicans had a lousy night nationwide Tuesday. In Pennsylvania, it was an unmitigated disaster.” (Tribune News Service)
Around The Commonwealth
Once On The Bubble: How Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild Won Reelection. “The conventional wisdom heading into Tuesday’s congressional election held that the addition of heavily Republican Carbon County to the 7th Congressional District made it lean more red than blue.” (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
Across The U.S., A Return To Democratic Order. Will It Last? “There was no violence. Many candidates who denied the legitimacy of previous elections lost and quietly conceded. And few listened when former President Donald Trump tried to stoke baseless allegations of electoral fraud.” (AP)
81-Year-Old Woman Puts A Human Face On The Undated Ballot Problem. “On Tuesday, a court helped an 81-year-old homebound voter in Northampton County, Pruella Shook of Nazareth, ensure her undated ballot could be fixed and counted.” (Williamsport Sun-Gazette)
Does York County’s Hand Recount Increase Transparency Or Encourage Election Deniers? “Audit the Vote PA questions the integrity of Pennsylvania’s elections based, in part, on flawed demographic data acquired through door-to-door canvassing which often conflicts with Pennsylvania’s voter rolls.” (WITF)
Elected Official’s Plea Deal Left Bad Taste For Many In The Case. “Three years of probation. That’s the sentence former North York Tax Collector Keith Ramsay received after admitting he fired a gun in the air to scare mourners who’d gathered in a nearby cemetery, covered it up by claiming the sound was firecrackers, and — in a separate case — sexted a fellow elected official.” (York Dispatch)
Opinion
- PA Democrats Must Consider The Opinions Of ‘Unhyphenated Americans.’ (The Pitt News)
- A Biden Coalition Is (Barely) Saving Democracy. POTUS 46 Must Run Again In 2024. (Will Bunch)
- Thank You, Allegheny County Elections Division. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
PA’s Corporate Welfare For Select Businesses Keeps The State Down. (Nathan Benefield) - Fetterman Made The Carpetbagger Label Stick On Oz. It Helped Him In The End. (Charles R. Hunt)
- PA Voters Stood Up On Election Day. But Defending Democracy Means Playing The Long Game. (Shira Goodman and Andrew Goretsky)
- The U.S. Was Not Founded On The Basis Of Christianity. (Mike Schneirle)
- Lawrence Tabas, It’s Time To Step Down. (Clarice Schillinger and Beth Ann Rosica)
- The Peer Pressure Of Legalizing Marijuana. (Tribune-Review)
- The MAGA ‘Red Wave’ Was Real. (Chris Kelly)
- The Real Lesson From The 2022 Midterm Elections In PA. (Bill Kelly)
- The Three Reasons For PA’s GOP Debacle – And How To Fix It. (Dom Giordano)
- Time Is Running Out For Congress To Save Local News. (Tribune-Review)
6 Responses
Sen. Mastriano deserves credit for a good concession message.
It would be good to see Sen. Mastriano and Gov. Shapiro collaborate to improve Pennsylvania at least once or twice.
Mastriano has nothing to offer PA. He’s a fake elector (aka fraud) who conspired to overturn US democracy.
The Republican leadership shafted PA voters for years with districts that looked like pretzels. My Congressman lived almost across state. Oz lost because he believed the nonsense consultants peddled which is that abortion is a local issue and that it does not matter to voters. Wrong. Voters care but don’t want to talk to pollsters about it.
Oz lost because he was from NJ, and couldn’t spell Wawa.
His reputation is being a fraud and huckster, who sold fake medical cures. There was zero authentic about him. He couldn’t even shop for appetizers.
Hoorah for democracy. PA House may become Democratic after years of GOP misrule.
Hoorah for democracy. PA House may become Democratic after years of GOP misrule.