Democrats’ Secret Weapon in 2024
(Democracy Docket)
Polls for an election a year away drive chatter in some Washington, D.C. circles, but if you get outside of Washington and away from the media’s obsession with Donald Trump and the horse race for the White House, you’ll find Democrats are actually in a position of strength across the country.
Bills would open PA primaries to unaffiliated voters
(Public News Service)
Pennsylvania is one of only seven states that shuts out independent voters from voting in primary elections. Two bills proposing to open the Keystone State's primary elections to roughly 1.2 million independent voters await a Senate vote.
Spending around Pa. Supreme Court race set a new record, surpassing $19.5 million
(Penn Capital-Star)
Driven by the likelihood that Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court will weigh in on abortion rights in the next decade, spending in this year’s race to elect its next justice surpassed $19.5 million, setting a new record for judicial races in the commonwealth, according to campaign finance reports.
Pennsylvania passes laws to overhaul probation system, allow courts to seal more criminal records
(AP News)
More criminal records in Pennsylvania can be sealed from public view and fewer people might be kept on probation or in county jails, under legislation signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro on Thursday.
A long budget impasse and partisan standoffs dominated the Pa. legislature in 2023
(Spotlight PA)
The full-time General Assembly sent Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro just under 80 bills as of Dec. 14 — roughly half of the annual output of recent years — with dozens of measures advanced by each chamber languishing without consideration in the other.
NBC News Picks Erie County as a “Decider” In 2024 Election
(PoliticsPA)
On NBC’s Sunday morning public affairs program, “Meet The Press,” analyst Steve Kornacki called Erie the “ultimate blue-collar swing county,” as it is located as close to Buffalo and Cleveland as it is to Pittsburgh. Barack Obama won the county by 16 points in 2012, while Donald Trump carried Erie by a pair of points just four years later. Joe Biden pulled out a one-point win in the northwestern corner of the state in 2020.
Voter registration applications are up 65% since Pa. started automatic registration at PennDOT centers
(The Meadville Tribune)
The state’s top elections official said Pennsylvania has seen a “pretty significant increase” of about 65 percent in voter registration applications since Gov. Josh Shapiro’s implementation of automatic voter registration at Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) centers in September.
Private schools, child care legislation pass in Pennsylvania as lawmakers move past budget feud
(AP News)
Lawmakers moved past a months long budget feud in Pennsylvania’s Capitol on Wednesday, advancing legislation to tie up loose ends and send millions more to subsidize private school tuition and child care tax credits for parents.
