Let’s see … the Phillies won a playoff series … the Eagles and Penn State are undefeated … fall foliage is in high gear … what’s not to like in Pennsylvania right now? Here are our Ups and Downs for the week ending October 14.

Mehmet Oz. The celebrity doctor’s campaign against John Fetterman on crime took a hit from friendly fire on the Wendy Bell radio program. Question: “What can a federal senator do exactly about crime in the state?” GOP nominee for governor Doug Mastriano: “Nothing. The governor has the power to affect what’s going on.” 

Mike Doyle. The retiring PA-18 Democrat held a press conference to reiterate that he was not running for the PA-12 seat against fellow Democrat Summer Lee. “My name is on the ballot,” he said, “but it’s not me.” His name belongs to another Mike Doyle who is running on the GOP side for the seat.

Kathy Barnette. The conservative commentator who was unsuccessful in her campaign for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, unloaded on “elite Republicans” and allies such as Sean Hannity in a pair of interviews this week. “The people have chosen, in large part because Sean Hannity is a jackass,” and “No, I have not endorsed Oz. He knows that.”

David Ritter. A candidate for Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas in 2021, Ritter asked the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate a federal appeals court ruling that ordered the county to include undated mail ballots in the final vote count. The request was granted, however, Ritter did not win as the ruling does not change the results of his contest.

Wayne Fontana. The state senator wasted little time in imploring his colleagues to pass Senate Bill 129 that would require inexpensive battery-operated devices be placed in childcare facilities. This follows a carbon monoxide leak in an Allentown daycare center earlier in the week that sickened 27 children and staff. He said, “It appears that the Allentown community, and all Pennsylvanians, avoided tragedy today. It should not take an actual loss of life to spur the General Assembly to action.”

Carrie DelRosso. The Republican candidate for lieutenant governor declined to answer a question from WHTM’s This Week in Pennsylvania program, asking if Doug Mastriano will accept the results of the November 8 election. “We’re not going to lose,” DelRosso said. “I’m a winner.”

Christian Dunbar. The former Philadelphia treasurer pleaded guilty to charges including immigration and tax fraud and faces up to 10 years in prison. Dunbar acknowledged that he and his wife had secretly wed in a ceremony in Senegal in 2013 while he was legally married to another woman — a U.S. citizen he had met as a student at Temple University and had married seven years before.

Dasha Burns. The NBC News correspondent came under fire after her interview with John Fetterman and an on-air remark about him having difficulty following part of their conversation. Burns said that when the captioning device was off, “it wasn’t clear he was understanding our conversation.” “This is just nonsense,” business reporter and podcaster Kara Swisher, who had a stroke herself in 2011, said on Twitter. “Maybe this reporter is just bad at small talk.”

Yard Signs. Not a great week for the venerable political yard sign. “If you are deciding who to vote for based on a yard sign, you might want to spend some time researching the candidate.” “Are these signs actually effective campaign tools, anyway? Or do they just serve to pit neighbor against neighbor?” And more than 100 signs were discovered by Apple AirTag in a restaurant dumpster in Chester County.

Mail Ballots. The much-maligned Act 77-initiated way to vote by mail has proven to be popular with a segment of the Commonwealth’s population. As of October 13, more than 1.15 million requests for mail ballots have been processed by county election boards. To no one’s surprise, more than 7 out of 10 requests have come from Democrats. Allegheny County has processed more than 154,000 mail ballots, while Philadelphia County is second at over 130,000. Cameron County seems to prefer the polling place, as its election board has processed just 353.