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  • White House hits road block in effort to get top colleges to sign deal

    White House hits road block in effort to get top colleges to sign deal

    Despite strong pressure from the Trump administration, including a call with the White House on Friday, colleges and universities are largely rejecting the president’s offer of preferential treatment for funding in exchange for compliance with his ideological priorities.

    Six of nine universities offered the deal earlier this month had publicly said no to the White House request by Monday’s deadline.

    The administration has said it is seeking to make sure the country’s schools are merit-based, but many universities and higher education advocates said the White House’s proposed agreement would undermine the merit-based process currently utilized to award research grants.

    The “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is a new attempt by the administration to get schools to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies and ensure more conservative viewpoints and values are integrated into campus life.

    The Trump administration offered it to nine colleges earlier this month, casting it as a means to gain competitive advantage for federal and philanthropic benefits and invitations to White House events in return for what the administration described as compliance with civil rights law and “pursuing Federal priorities with vigor.”

    The ideological tension was reflected during a call on Friday, which the White House organized and presented as a chance to workshop the terms of the compact in partnership with colleges and universities that had not yet responded, according to a person close to the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

    From the Trump administration, Education Secretary Linda McMahon; White House Domestic Policy Director Vincent Haley, Special Assistant Eric Bledsoe and adviser May Mailman; Josh Gruenbaum of the General Services Administration; and billionaire Marc Rowan were on the call, the person said.

    But within a day of the call, University of Virginia and Dartmouth College rejected the compact, joining ranks with MIT, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California. The University of Texas at Austin was invited to sign on and the chair of the University of Texas System Board of Regents expressed enthusiasm. The University of Arizona and Vanderbilt University have not publicly responded.

    Echoing a term that has been often used by the Trump administration, U-Va.’s president said the agreement violated the merit-based nature of the competition for federal research funding. The federal government currently awards billions of dollars in research grants based on peer reviews and scientific merit.

    On Saturday, Dartmouth President Sian Beilock wrote to McMahon, Mailman and Haley that she welcomed further engagement on enhancing the partnership between the federal government and research universities and ensuring that higher education “stays focused on academic excellence.” But, she wrote, “I do not believe that the involvement of the government through a compact-whether it is a Republican- or Democratic-led White House-is the right way to focus America’s leading colleges and universities on their teaching and research mission.”

    White House spokeswoman Liz Huston described the Friday call as “productive.”

    “The Administration hosted a productive call with several university leaders. They now have the baton to consider, discuss, and propose meaningful reforms, including their form and implementation, to ensure college campuses serve as laboratories of American greatness,” Huston said in a statement. “These leaders are working steadfastly to improve higher education and have been invited to the table to share ideas with the Administration, and we look forward to discussing transparent ways that, together, we will produce future generations of American excellence.”

    A White House official, speaking anonymously to discuss private conversations, said universities will not lose their federal funding because they decided not to engage in the compact.

    The sweeping terms of the compact called on schools to adopt the administration’s priorities, including pledging to freeze tuition for five years, cap international enrollment at 15 percent of a college’s undergraduate student body, and bar the consideration of factors such as gender, race and political views in admissions and other areas.

    Some legal scholars said the terms were unconstitutional. Trump administration officials have insisted they are protecting free speech by compelling universities to reject a culture that suppresses far-right thought.

    Officials asked for “limited, targeted feedback” in writing no later than Oct. 20, with hopes of a signed agreement by Nov. 21.

    As schools turned it down, citing similar concerns – Christina H. Paxson, Brown’s president, wrote in a letter to the White House that provisions in the compact restricting the university’s academic freedom and institutional autonomy would impede its mission – the Trump administration invited more universities to participate. Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Kansas and Arizona State University joined Friday’s call.

    In a Monday statement, Washington University Chancellor Andrew Martin said he had not endorsed or signed on to the compact but agreed to discuss it with the Trump administration. “We believe it is in the best interest of our university, and higher education more broadly, for us to participate constructively, share our experience and expertise, and help inform policies that strengthen the nation’s research and education ecosystem,” Martin said.

    Some of the wording in the compact is vague. But the magnitude of the stakes is clear: The Trump administration has frozen billions of dollars of federal research funding at multiple colleges that it has accused of violating federal civil rights laws for issues such as having diversity, equity and inclusion policies and allegedly not doing enough to prevent antisemitism.

    At Harvard University, which has filed two lawsuits to fight the government’s actions, the administration has tried to bar international students and scholars from campus, threatened to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status and has begun an effort to block the school from receiving any federal grants.

    Faculty, alumni and students at many of the nine schools urged university leaders not to sign. Rallies against the compact occurred on multiple campuses, and student leaders from seven of the nine original schools issued a joint statement opposing it. More than 30 higher education associations issued a statement of opposition Friday, saying “the conditions it outlines run counter to the interests of institutions, students, scholars, and the nation itself.” A coalition formed of alumni groups opposed to the compact.

    President Donald Trump wrote on social media that the administration would continue efforts to swiftly enforce federal law at universities that “continue to illegally discriminate based on Race or Sex,” but that “those Institutions that want to quickly return to the pursuit of Truth and Achievement” were “invited to enter into a forward looking Agreement with the Federal Government to help bring about the Golden Age of Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

  • Federal shutdown may bring a halt to food assistance for half a million Philadelphians

    Federal shutdown may bring a halt to food assistance for half a million Philadelphians

    Nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians — including 500,000 Philadelphia residents — won’t receive SNAP benefits in November if the federal government shutdown continues, state officials said.

    The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides $366 million a month to low-income people in the state, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Human Services (DHS). Most households that receive SNAP benefits consist of elderly people, children, or individuals with disabilities, according to hunger experts.

    This is the first federal shutdown in at least 20 years in which SNAP will not be made available, said George Matysik, executive director of the Share Food Program, a food bank that serves 500,000 people living in the region.

    “It’s like a horror movie where the call is coming from within the house,” Matysik said in an interview last week. “Our own federal government is making the choice to take benefits from Pennsylvanians,” who are among 42 million people nationwide who participate in the program.

    In Philadelphia, Share has seen a 120% increase in food need over the last three years, Matysik said. “And that was with SNAP,” he added, saying the city faces a greater food crisis now than it did during the pandemic.

    In an email Monday, the Pennsylvania DHS blamed Republicans “who control the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House, and the White House” for failing to pass a budget and causing the current difficulties Americans endure.

    “We urge Republicans in Congress to reopen the government and protect vulnerable Pennsylvanians at risk because of this inaction,” the email said.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office could not be reached for comment. In May, Shapiro said that the commonwealth would be unable to replace lost funding for SNAP should the federal government fail to pay.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, did not return calls for comment. The White House issued a statement that the shutdown is affecting personnel in its press office, delaying responses. The statement blamed Democrats for the government’s closure: “Please remember this could have been avoided if the Democrats voted for the clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open.”

    To receive SNAP benefits, individuals carry EBT (electronic benefits transfer) cards that are loaded monthly with the amounts to which they are entitled.

    The shutdown began Oct. 1 after Congress could not reach a compromise to allow funding to continue. The region’s 46,000 federal workers found themselves without paychecks. The Trump administration, meanwhile, began laying off federal workers, with a goal of sacking 4,000 of them. A federal judge in California intervened to halt the layoffs. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

    Like other states, New Jersey faces the same funding difficulty. If the federal government remains closed by Nov. 1, about 800,000 people will be without SNAP benefits.

    Elderly people who rely on SNAP will suffer throughout Pennsylvania because, for them, “food is medicine,” said Allen Glicksman, director of research at the Eastern Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society in Newtown Square. “Without it, there’s the chance of a health catastrophe that will cost more money in Medicaid and in emergency room visits.”

    There are 234,638 Philadelphians age 65 and older, 104,972 (45%) of whom live below the federal poverty line ($21,150 for two individuals in a household), Glicksman calculated.

    Brian Gralnick, executive director of the Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of Elders (CARIE) in Center City, agreed. “Consequences will be devastating. Without federal government dollars, ending or even addressing hunger in the region will be as successful as draining the Delaware River using Eagles helmets.”

    For children, the potential shortage of SNAP benefits will be no less calamitous, said sociologist Judith Levine, director of the Public Policy Lab at Temple University.

    “Food is a necessary element for brain development and growth,” she said. “And there’s a clear connection between hunger and the ability to perform in school.

    “This is a complete crisis we are facing.”

    One in four Philadelphia children experiences food insecurity — lack of enough food over the course of a year to live a healthy life — according to a City Council report.

    In the neighborhoods, the word about the halt to SNAP benefits is circulating. Fear and confusion had already been growing after the Trump administration announced changes to the SNAP program that would make it more difficult for some people to access benefits.

    Among the changes: Some SNAP recipients ages 18 to 54 who are able to work and do not support a child under 18 are now required to report at least 20 hours of work, training, or volunteering per week, or 80 hours per month, to keep their benefits.

    Despite the revisions to the program, however, many people these days are more worried about what happens if SNAP halts.

    “People are very anxious about that,” said Pastor Tricia Neal, director of the Feast of Justice food pantry at St. John’s Lutheran Church in the Northeast.

    “The anxiety level is driving more people to come here, and, because we serve 5,500 households, we are well beyond the capacity of what we can support. It’s really horrendous to look at what’s happening here.”

    That much is clear, according to Rosemary Diem, who tries to stave off hunger for her and her husband by combining SNAP benefits with visits to Feast of Justice.

    “Everything at the pantry is running low,” said Diem, 60, who is disabled, as is her husband, Joseph, 63. “I see us getting hurt without SNAP. There won’t be money for milk and eggs.

    “How am I going to get through?”

  • Philly lawmakers want to ‘clamp down’ on smoke shops. Their landlords could be next.

    Philly lawmakers want to ‘clamp down’ on smoke shops. Their landlords could be next.

    There’s a smoke shop in North Philly peddling recreational drugs across the street from a daycare. A West Philly storefront that sells loose cigarettes on a residential block. A convenience store in Spring Garden that advertises urine to people looking to pass a drug test.

    These are among the so-called nuisance businesses that City Council members and neighborhood association leaders cited Monday as lawmakers advanced legislation to make it easier for the city to shut down stores that sell cannabis and tobacco products without licenses.

    And legislators said their next target could be the landlords who rent space to those businesses.

    “We have to work with our city departments and our state partners to clamp down on these businesses,” said City Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson, who represents the city at-large. “We’re just being inundated.”

    Members of Council’s Committee on Licenses and Inspections passed two bills Monday that city officials say seek to close loopholes store owners exploit to avoid being cited for failing to obtain proper permits.

    In introducing the legislation earlier this year, Gilmore Richardson cited an Inquirer report about Pennsylvania’s unregulated hemp stores, which sell products advertised as legal hemp that are often black market cannabis or contaminated with illicit toxins.

    City Council bill would crack down on unregulated smoke shops, citing Inquirer report

    One bill makes it easier for the city to shut down nuisance businesses by removing language that classifies some violations as criminal matters, requiring that the police investigate them as crimes rather than civil violations that are quicker to adjudicate.

    The second piece of legislation makes it illegal for businesses to essentially reorganize under a new name but conduct the same operations as a means of evading enforcement.

    Both pieces of legislation could come up for a full vote in the Democratic-dominated City Council in the coming weeks. Members of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration testified in favor of them, meaning the mayor is likely to sign both.

    A smoke shop in South Philadelphia.

    Neighborhood association leaders also testified Monday in favor of the changes, but several said more aggressive enforcement is needed. They said smoke shops in particular have popped up throughout their commercial corridors, as have convenience stores that don’t even have licenses to operate as businesses, let alone sell recreational drugs.

    “We’ve seen firsthand the selling of illegal drug paraphernalia and [loose cigarettes], many of which children walk past in order to get to the candy bars and seniors walk past to get to the milk,” said Heather Miller, of the Lawncrest Community Association. “We need to address this.”

    Elaine Petrossian, a Democratic ward leader in Center City and a community activist, called for “much” higher fines and penalties for landlords. She cited progress the municipal government has made in New York City, where authorities cracked down on building owners who knowingly rented space to tenants selling cannabis or tobacco without licenses to do so.

    Several lawmakers said they’d support a similar approach. Councilmember Mark Squilla, who represents a district that spans from South Philadelphia to Kensington, said landlords must be held “more accountable.”

    “If they had some skin in the game, maybe they’d think twice about renting to an illegal operation,” he said.

    Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who represents parts of West Philadelphia, agreed. She said she recently attempted to meet with a building owner who rents space to a problematic smoke shop in her district, but was rebuffed.

    “He was like, ‘These people pay me rent, and that’s the extent to which I basically care,’” Gauthier said. “We need something that forces property owners to be more accountable than that, because neighbors are suffering.”

    Staff writers Max Marin and Ryan W. Briggs contributed to this article.

  • Trump’s Venezuelan drug boats claims obscure reality, officials and locals say

    Trump’s Venezuelan drug boats claims obscure reality, officials and locals say

    MEXICO CITY – The Trump administration’s justification for blowing up suspected drug traffickers off the Venezuelan coast has been clear and consistent: These people aren’t just criminals; they’re “narco-terrorists” smuggling a “deadly weapon poisoning Americans” at the behest of terrorist organizations.

    “We take them out,” Trump told the nation’s three- and four-star generals and admirals last month. “Every boat kills 25,000 on average – some people say more. You see these boats, they’re stacked up with bags of white powder that’s mostly fentanyl and other drugs, too.”

    U.S. kills 6 people in strike on boat accused of carrying drugs near Venezuela, Trump says

    Claiming the power to summarily kill traffickers as though they’re enemy troops, Trump has authorized the U.S. military to strike at least six speedboats the administration has deemed suspicious, killing dozens of people since the beginning of September. At least half of the strikes and 21 of the killings, locals say, have transpired in the waters between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago – nations so close that on clear days they’re within eyesight of each other.

    But records and interviews with 20 people familiar with the route or the strikes, including current and former U.S. and international officials, contradict the administration’s claims. The passage, they said, is not ordinarily used to traffic synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, present in 69 percent of drug overdose deaths last year. Nor are the drugs typically headed for the United States.

    Trump says the U.S. military again targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela

    Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean nation more than 1,000 miles south and 1,200 miles east of Miami, is both a destination market for marijuana and a transshipment point for South American cocaine bound for West Africa and Europe, according to U.S. officials, Trinidadian police and independent analysts. The fentanyl seized in the United States, in contrast, is typically manufactured in Mexico using precursors from China and smuggled in through the land border, most often by U.S. citizens.

    The military strikes are unlikely, as a result, to cut overdose deaths in the United States, officials say – but it has brought U.S. forces into striking distance of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump has accused the authoritarian socialist, who claimed reelection last year despite ballot audits showing he lost the vote, of leading the Venezuela gang Tren de Aragua to push lethal drugs into America.

    “When I saw [an internal document on the strikes],” a senior U.S. national security official said, “I immediately thought, ‘This isn’t about terrorists. This is about Venezuela and regime change.’ But there was no information about what it was really about.”

    The official, like others quoted in this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide his candid assessment.

    The White House declined to share evidence to support the claims that Trump has used to justify the strikes. A spokeswoman defended the killings as necessary to protect Americans.

    “All of these decisive strikes have been against designated narco-terrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. “The president will continue to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”

    Trump won’t get to heaven if he keeps murdering people on boats | Will Bunch

    Two family members of the 11 men killed in September in the first attack acknowledged by Trump did not deny that the men aboard had been taking marijuana and cocaine from Venezuela to Trinidad. But they said Trump’s allegation in his announcement was inaccurate that they’d worked for the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

    “I knew them all,” said one of the family members, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “None of them had anything to do with Tren de Aragua. They were fishermen who were looking for a better life” by smuggling contraband.

    On Tuesday, Trump said, a new strike had killed “six male narco-terrorists” off the Venezuelan coast. That afternoon, one mother in the Trinidadian community of Las Cuevas received a call from her brother, a fisherman. Her son Chad Joseph, the second of her six children, had been killed in the explosion.

    Speaking by phone Thursday morning, Leonore Burnley was furious. Her son had been deprived a trial. And she’d been deprived of any chance of closure.

    “You can’t get the body to bury it,” she said.

    Joseph had spent the last three months in Venezuela working odd jobs, Burnley said. He had written her recently to say he would be returning home.

    She called Trump’s claim he had been involved in trafficking drugs a lie.

    “They are judging him wrong,” she said. “He was no drug dealer. Chad was a good boy, anything you want, he would help; he was a loving child.”

    “Twenty-six years he have,” she said.

    Claiming the power to summarily kill traffickers as though they’re enemy troops, Trump has authorized the U.S. military to strike at least six speedboats the administration has deemed suspicious, killing dozens of people since the beginning of September.

    How cocaine courses through Venezuela

    In recent years, drug cartels in Colombia and other South American nations have supercharged cocaine production. The rush to bring it to market – largely the United States and Europe, but increasingly West Africa – has transformed the continent’s criminal landscape, fueling the rise of new transnational gangs and threatening weaker national governments with limited power of state.

    Venezuela, too, has been swept into the boom. Economically battered by years of socialist mismanagement and punishing international sanctions, a nation that was once Latin America’s wealthiest has become increasingly involved in the trade. Along its border with Colombia, cocaine is now produced for sale and shipment abroad.

    U.S. federal prosecutors in March 2020 accused senior government officials in the Maduro regime, including Maduro himself, of leading the Cártel de Los Soles – “Cartel of the Suns” – a criminal network that extorts drug trafficking groups and controls routes and product itself.

    Venezuela, U.S. investigators say, is now a narco free-for-all filled with armed groups from throughout Latin America.

    “The Mexicans are there,” one former Drug Enforcement Administration agent said. “The Colombians are there, sometimes on behalf of the Mexicans. Sometimes the Hondurans and Guatemalans have guys there, too.”

    Most of the South American cocaine bound for North America flows through the Pacific, but some does depart Venezuela through the Caribbean, according to U.S. officials and analysts who track drug routes. Much of it courses overland through the western states of Zulia and Falcón before shipping northward to Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic. Some travels by air, departing clandestine airstrips in Maracaibo or Apure state for Central America and onward to Mexico and the United States.

    It’s less common, investigators say, to ship U.S.-bound cocaine northeast into the Sucre peninsula and across the narrow Bocas del Dragón channel to Trinidad – the route the administration has targeted. Trinidad is used far more frequently as a gateway to Europe. Spanish authorities seized 1.65 tons of cocaine that had transited through the island, the State Department reported in 2024. Portuguese authorities in June recovered 1.66 tons of cocaine that traversed the same route.

    “When you look at a map, countries like Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname are used as transshipment points of massive amounts of cocaine from Colombia into Venezuela [and then onward] to West Africa and Europe,” a former senior U.S. security official said. He added that routes may change based on pressure.

    One recently retired senior Trinidadian police official, asked whether Sucre traffickers were bringing drugs intended for the United States, chuckled.

    “Why would they use Trinidad and Tobago to transport drugs to the United States, when you have Colombia and Mexico and all of these other places that are closer?”

    The waters between Sucre and Trinidad

    The Sucre peninsula, known for its paradisiacal beaches and green-thatched mountains, has always been poor. But its fortunes turned decidedly for the worse in recent years, as the economy melted down and the state slipped into lawlessness.

    With few opportunities to work, fishermen turned to the smuggling route that has long tethered Sucre to Trinidad, a half-hour boat ride away.

    The former senior Trinidadian police official has investigated the route since 1989. It has historically carried many kinds of contraband: guns, cigarettes, alcohol, honey, exotic animals and people. But in recent years, as more drugs poured into Venezuela, it began to be used as a route to bring over marijuana and cocaine.

    “It’s 80 percent marijuana,” said one Trinidad criminologist who has studied seizure data. “Cocaine is a much, much smaller amount.”

    While Tren de Aragua has had a presence in Sucre, locals and drug trafficking analysts say it doesn’t control the trade. The drugs are instead moved by other local gangs.

    “We have found no links between Tren de Aragua and multinational smugglers,” said Jeremy McDermott, co-founder of Insight Crime, whose team recently visited the region. “There was an attempt by them to penetrate Sucre, but they were ejected by local gangs.”

    “The evidence,” he added, “does not support the claims” by the Trump administration.

    One man who grew up in San Juan de Unare along the Sucre coast, but moved to Caracas after his community plunged into poverty, said his cousin Reibys Gomez was among the first fishermen to take drugs to Trinidad. He said his cousin had a young family to support.

    “People are in need,” he said. “They live off fishing and hunting, and that’s it.”

    Now Reibys is dead, and the man said his family has “deteriorated” in San Juan de Unare – unable to collect his body and haunted by questions over why the U.S. military killed him.

    “They were going to Trinidad,” he said. “They weren’t going to the United States.”

  • ‘Philly crime’ and the specter of Donald Trump are dominating two Bucks County law enforcement races

    ‘Philly crime’ and the specter of Donald Trump are dominating two Bucks County law enforcement races

    Bucks County Republicans are stoking fears about crime in Philadelphia even as violent crime in the city steadily drops from its high during the pandemic.

    Digital ads Republicans have circulated for the county’s sheriff and district attorney races since August tell voters to “keep Philly crime out of Bucks County,” borrowing a tactic from President Donald Trump, who regularly promotes exaggerated visions of crime-ridden liberal cities.

    Republicans in the purple collar county hope the message will boost the GOP incumbents, District Attorney Jen Schorn and Sheriff Fred Harran, as they face off this fall against their respective Democratic challengers, Joe Khan and Danny Ceisler.

    “We’re letting anarchy take over our country in certain places, and that’s not something we want in Bucks,” said Pat Poprik, the chair of the Bucks County Republican Party.

    Meanwhile, Democrats are eager to tie the GOP incumbents to Trump, portraying them as allies of a president whose nationwide approval rate is dropping.

    Khan, a former county solicitor and former federal prosecutor who unsuccessfully ran for attorney general last year, is seeking to portray himself as less politically motivated than Schorn, a veteran prosecutor who is running for a full term as district attorney after being appointed to the position last year.

    Ceisler, an Army veteran and an attorney who worked for Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration, has taken a similar approach in his race against Harran, the outspoken Republican sheriff who has sought a controversial partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    “Democrats are far more enthusiastic about voting precisely because they see what’s happening on the national level. They are really infuriated by what Donald Trump is doing,” State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, who chairs the Bucks County Democratic Party, said. “They’re going to make their displeasure heard by coming to the polls.”

    The local races in the key county, which Trump narrowly won last year, will be a temperature check on how swing voters are responding to Trump’s second term and will gauge their enthusiasm ahead of the 2026 midterms, when Shapiro stands for reelection.

    As the Nov. 4 election approaches, early signs indicate Democrats’ message might be working — polling conducted by a Democratic firm in September found their candidates ahead, and three weeks before Election Day, Democrats had requested more than twice as many mail ballots as Republicans.

    “I think the Republican Party has the same problem it always does. … They turn out when Trump’s on the ticket, but when he’s not, there’s less enthusiasm,” said Jim Worthington, who has run pro-Trump organizations in Bucks County. “Truth be told, the Democrats do a hell of a job just turning out their voters.”

    State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a Republican running for Pa. governor, poses with Bucks County elected officers following her campaign rally Sat the Newtown Sports & Events Center. From left: Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran; Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn; Garrity; and Pamela Van Blunk, Bucks County Controller.

    GOP warns of ‘dangerous’ policies

    Republican messaging in the two races focuses on the idea that Bucks County is safe, but its neighbors are not.

    GOP ads, which have run over the course of four months, suggest that Khan and Ceisler would enact “dangerous” policies in Bucks County such as “releasing criminals without bail” and “giving sanctuary to violent gang members.”

    Democrats reject these ads as scare tactics. The ads make implicit comparisons to Philly’s progressive District Attorney Larry Krasner, who is poised to win a third term in the city but remains a controversial figure in the wider region even as violent crime rates have fallen in the city.

    They frame Harran and Schorn in stark contrast to their opponents as lifelong Bucks County law enforcement officers with histories of holding criminals accountable.

    “I think it resonates beyond the Republican base,” said Guy Ciarrocchi, a Republican analyst, who contended frequent news coverage of Krasner makes the message more viable.

    Khan, a former assistant Philly district attorney who unsuccessfully ran against Krasner in the 2017 primary, has noted that he campaigned “very, very vigorously” against Krasner and challenged his ideas on how to serve the city.

    “I accept the reality that I didn’t win that election,” said Khan, whose platform in 2017 included a proposal to stop prosecuting most low-level drug offenses. “Unlike my opponent, who seems to basically enjoy the sport of scoring political points by sparring with the DA of Philadelphia.”

    Schorn, however, is adamant that politics has never played a role in her prosecutorial decisions. Her mission, she said, is “simply to get justice.”

    A lifelong Bucks County resident who has been a prosecutor in the county since 1999, Schorn handled some of the county’s most high-profile cases and spearheaded the formation of a task force for internet crimes against children.

    Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn speaks at a Republican rally at the Newtown Sports & Events Center in September.

    “This has been my life’s mission, prosecuting cases here in Bucks County, the county where I was raised,” she said. “I didn’t do it for any notoriety. I didn’t do it for self-promotion. I did it because it’s what I went to law school to do.”

    Harran spent decades as Bensalem’s public safety director before first running for sheriff in 2021. He is seeking reelection amid controversy caused by his decision to partner his agency with ICE, a move that a Bucks County judge upheld last week after a legal challenge.

    “Being Bucks County Sheriff isn’t a position you can learn on the job. For 39 years, I’ve woken up every day focused on keeping our communities safe,” Harran said in an email to The Inquirer in which he criticized Ceisler as lacking experience.

    Although Ceisler has never worked directly in law enforcement, he argues the sheriff’s job is one of leadership in public safety. That’s something he says he’s well versed in as a senior public safety official in Shapiro’s administration who previously served on the Pentagon’s COVID-19 crisis management team.

    Harran, who described his opponent as a “political strategist,” criticized “politicians” for bringing “half-baked ideas like ‘no-cash bail’” into law enforcement. The concept, which is repeatedly derided in the GOP ads, sets up a system by which defendants are either released free of charge or held without the opportunity for bail based on their risk to the community and likelihood of returning to court.

    Khan and Ceisler each voiced support for the concept in prior runs for Philadelphia district attorney and Bucks County district attorney, respectively.

    Both say they still support cashless bail. Neither, however, would have the authority to implement the policy if elected, though Khan as district attorney could establish policies preventing county prosecutors from seeking cash bail in certain cases.

    Joe Khan, a Democratic candidate running for Bucks County DA, walks from his polling place in Doylestown, Pa. in April 2024 when he was running for attorney general.

    “When a defendant is arrested and they come into court, every prosecutor answers this question: Should this person be detained or not?” Khan said. “If the answer is yes, then your position in court is that this person shouldn’t be let out, and it doesn’t matter how much money they have. And if the answer is no, then you need to figure out what conditions you need to make sure they come to court.”

    Democrats claim to ‘keep politics out’

    Even as Democrats view voter anger at Trump as a key piece of their path to victory, they are working to present themselves as apolitical.

    Democratic ads attack Schorn for not investigating a pipeline leak in Upper Makefield and Harran as caring about nothing but himself. Positive ads highlight Ceisler’s military background and Khan’s career as a federal prosecutor.

    Khan and Ceisler, the Democratic Party’s ads argue, will “stop child predators, stand up to corruption, and they’ll keep politics out of public safety.”

    Khan has described Schorn as a political actor running her office “under Trump’s blueprint.” He has focused on her decisions not to prosecute an alleged child abuse case in the Central Bucks School District or investigate the company responsible for a jet fuel leak into Upper Makefield’s drinking water.

    The jet fuel case was turned over to the environmental crimes unit in Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office. And prosecutorial rules bar Schorn from discussing the alleged abuse.

    “During the last, I don’t know, 13 years when [Khan] has been pursuing politics, I’ve been a public servant,” Schorn said. “For someone accusing me of putting politics first, he seems to be using politics to further his own agenda.”

    But Schorn appears in GOP ads alongside Harran, a figure who has frequently invited political controversy in fights with the Democratic-led Bucks County Board of Commissioners, his effort to partner with federal immigration authorities, and his early endorsement of Trump last year.

    At a September rally in Newtown for Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a Republican running for governor, Harran cracked jokes about former President Joe Biden’s age as he climbed onto the stage and falsely told voters that they will “lose [their] right to vote” if they don’t vote out three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices standing for retention.

    Harran has long contended that his decision to partner with ICE was not political.

    “I’m a cop who ran to keep being a cop. This isn’t about politics for me — it’s about doing everything I can to keep my community safe,” Harran said.

    Harran’s opponent, Ceisler, paints a different picture as he draws a direct line between the sheriff and the president.

    Danny Ceisler, a Democrat, is running for Bucks County sheriff.

    Trump, Ceisler said, has inserted politics into public safety in his second term, and he contended that Harran has done the same.

    “[Harran] used his bully pulpit to help get the president elected, so to that extent he is linked to the president for better or worse,” Ceisler said in an interview.

    Ceisler has pledged to take politics out of the office and end the department’s partnership with ICE if elected.

    At an event in Warminster last month, voters were quick to ask Ceisler which party he was running with. Ceisler asked them to hear his pitch about how he would run the office first.

    “Don’t hold it against me,” he quipped as he ultimately admitted to one voter he’s a Democrat.

    Staff writer Fallon Roth contributed to this article.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Philadelphia’s immigration court now rejects three in four asylum cases under Trump

    Philadelphia’s immigration court now rejects three in four asylum cases under Trump

    Asylum denials in Philadelphia’s immigration court have spiked through the first seven months of President Donald Trump’s administration, according to an Inquirer analysis of the latest available government data.

    The court has denied 74% of asylum claims in the first seven months of Trump’s second term, compared with a 61% denial rate during the last seven months of the Biden administration, mirroring national trends.

    The data were published by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a data gathering and research organization that regularly acquires and analyzes such data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the agency responsible for overseeing the nation’s immigration courts system.

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    And it’s not just that denials are up: The volume of cases has risen substantially as well. The Philadelphia court heard twice as many cases over Trump’s first seven months, compared with Biden’s final seven: 1,059 vs. 513.

    Local immigration attorneys say that’s no coincidence.

    “Absolutely. They’re pushing cases to go forward,” said Brennan Gian-Grasso, founding partner of Philadelphia’s Gian-Grasso & Tomczak Immigration Law Group, when asked whether the two trends may be connected. “Additionally — and I think this is probably the big difference — prosecutorial discretion.”

    Under the Biden administration, Gian-Grasso said, immigration officials often gave asylum seekers who may not have necessarily qualified for asylum the opportunity to remain in the United States by putting a case on hold or otherwise allowing individuals to continue to stay in the United States so long as they did not have a criminal record or other derogatory characteristics.

    “That’s gone,” said Gian-Grasso. “Every case is going forward now.”

    The administration has been open about its efforts to push cases through the system. Last month, EOIR issued a news release trumpeting a shrinking backlog of immigration court cases — claiming a decrease of 450,000 pending cases since Trump’s inauguration. TRAC data indicate a slight decrease for Philadelphia’s backlog since the start of the current fiscal year last October.

    Emma Tuohy, a partner at Philadelphia’s Landau, Hess, Simon, Choi & Doebley and a recent past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Philadelphia chapter, suggested the rising number of decisions and denial rates were connected to another recent trend: surging arrests and detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

    “Denials in detained settings have always been higher,” Tuohy said, explaining that attorneys face particular obstacles when representing detained clients.

    The Inquirer reported in August that the number of people detained in ICE custody in New Jersey and Pennsylvania was up about 68% in July compared with figures at the start of Trump’s administration.

    Historically, asylum denial rates are vastly higher for those individuals who were in custody at the time a decision was rendered in their cases. Since the start of the 2000 fiscal year, about 99% of detained individuals in Philadelphia’s immigration court were denied asylum, compared with 63% of individuals who were detained at some point but later released and 58% of those who were never detained since the start of fiscal 2000. Similar, though smaller, gaps exist nationally.

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    “[Cases] move much, much quicker — within just a couple months — as opposed to non-detained cases which can take a few years. It’s a much shorter timeline to put together extensive documentation and it’s obviously quite a bit harder to work with clients, given they are not as accessible as normal,” said Tuohy. “It’s much harder for individuals in detention to collect documents, to call people they need to speak with, to prepare their statements, to request letters from witnesses. We’re relying mostly on families that are outside and they may not have all the information nor access.”

    Officials at EOIR did not respond to requests for comment.

    A flurry of policy changes have made winning cases tougher

    The substantial increase in denial rates since Trump’s inauguration has been accompanied by a succession of policy changes at EOIR.

    The first came in a February memo issued by Sirce Owen, the Trump-appointed acting director of EOIR. Unlike typical federal judges, immigration court judges are not independent judicial branch officials but executive branch employees within EOIR. The directive rescinded a 2023 memo meant to better ensure that individuals in asylum proceedings are provided with adequate interpretation and translation services.

    Gian-Grasso explained that access to interpretive services can be critical to an asylum seeker’s ability to properly plead their case.

    “Just in my own experience, I’ve had clients who could not speak a word of English — and were illiterate even in their own language — but in translation during testimony could very, very effectively and intelligently articulate their fear of return to their country and their asylum case,” he said.

    Gian-Grasso worried the policy shift would put some asylum seekers at a severe disadvantage.

    “Limiting that kind of access dooms asylum cases because if you can’t tell your story, what does the judge have to go on?” he said.

    Historically, asylum denial rates are significantly higher for those individuals who don’t speak English. In Philadelphia’s immigration court, about 62% of non-English speakers were denied asylum, compared with 51% of English speakers, since the start of fiscal 2000.

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    Attorneys have cited a second memo, issued in April, as likely to have an even greater effect on asylees.

    That memo essentially encouraged immigration judges to order an asylum seeker removed before providing them with an opportunity for a full hearing of their case — an action known as pretermission — if a judge believes that an applicant has failed to present sufficient corroborating evidence at the outset of their proceedings.

    Tuohy described the practical effect of the policy as telling judges to throw out cases over paperwork errors.

    “These [cases] are not being pretermitted because there’s not corroborating evidence or there’s not an affidavit or there’s a credibility issue where they don’t believe a person’s story on the merits,” Tuohy said. “This is just because someone has not fully filled out a form.”

    Gian-Grasso said the new memo will likely be particularly difficult on individuals navigating the immigration system without an attorney.

    “Asylum is highly technical. It’s very difficult to put together an asylum case,” Gian-Grasso said. “You can have a valid asylum case, but if you don’t know how to put it together legally — now judges are being told to look to pretermit in these situations.”

    Historically, asylum denial rates are markedly higher for those individuals who don’t have access to an attorney. In Philadelphia’s immigration court, about 82% of asylum applicants without representation were denied asylum, compared with 57% of those who did. An even larger gap exists nationally.

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    Denial rates vary by president, and, locally, by judge

    While recent denial rates are the highest on record, increases and decreases in the rate of asylum denials are nothing new.

    While Philadelphia’s recent denial rate marks the highest since data became available a quarter century ago, rates have fluctuated over time, with notable shifts depending on who’s in the White House.

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    In addition to notable partisan gaps, the data reveal another factor in success for an asylum speaker: the judge assigned to the case.

    From the 2019 through 2024 fiscal years, the Philadelphia judge with the lowest denial rate denied asylum in 33% of cases, compared with the judge with the highest denial rate, 85%.

    Tuohy expressed frustration over that chasm in case outcomes.

    “There’s just absolutely no way that those judges are being assigned such fundamentally different cases that their grant rates should be so different so unfortunately yes, it makes a huge difference what judge you get assigned to,” Tuohy said.

    Gian-Grasso agreed, arguing it’s one more reason that asylees without an attorney are penalized.

    “You know as an attorney what you’re getting when you go in with these judges and how to structure your case,” said Gian-Grasso. “But, again, that goes back to our [unrepresented asylum seekers]. They have no idea and they’re similarly disadvantaged for having this lack of knowledge at the end of the day.”

  • Thousands turn out in Philly for the ‘No Kings’ protest

    Thousands turn out in Philly for the ‘No Kings’ protest

    Joining demonstrators around the country, thousands gathered Saturday in Philadelphia to protest President Donald Trump’s actions that they contend are threatening to undermine 250 years of the nation’s democratic traditions.

    “I think everybody needs to know that we’re not going to just sit back,” said Sherri King, who arrived at the “No Kings” rally in Center City wearing an inflatable chicken costume.

    On a mild October afternoon when the weather was drawing no protests, the event began in a festive atmosphere with the sounds of clanking bells as participants gathered at City Hall — some, like King, wearing pre-Halloween regalia — and marched to Independence Mall.

    Demonstrators gather for a’ No Kings’ rally in Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025.

    “It’s a very large, orderly crowd,” said Police Capt. Frank Palumbo. The three-hour march and rally, which began at noon, actually ended on time.

    Said Thomas Bacon, a 72-year-old Vietnam veteran from North Philadelphia: “It’s peaceful. No division. Just opposition.”

    Under Trump, he said, “the whole world is turned upside down.”

    In what was the third mass anti-Trump protest this year, several organizers were taking credit, including Indivisible, MoveOn, and the 50501 Movement.

    The demonstrators’ menu of grievances included aggressive raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trump’s budget and efforts to limit free speech, and the government shutdown that began Oct 1.

    Organizers of the more than 2,500 demonstrations nationwide say the shutdown in particular is a dangerous move toward authoritarianism.

    Trump and congressional Republicans are blaming Democrats for refusing to vote on a reopening.

    For his part, Trump spent the day of what fellow Republicans were calling “Hate America” rallies at his Florida mansion.

    Demonstrators gather for a’ No Kings’ rally in Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025.

    At the Philadelphia protest, Laura Murphy, a 74-year-old retiree, said she was struggling with the “Hate America” concept. “It’s ridiculous,” she said. “What could be more American than being against kings?”

    Along with demonstrators, Democratic politicians were evident at events in Philly and elsewhere.

    With Democrats hoping to make significant gains in the 2026 election, the presence of party elected officials was evident at rallies in Philly and elsewhere. Among those who showed up in Philadelphia were area U.S. Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, Madeleine Dean, and Brendan Boyle, along with U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland.

    Rallies were being held all over New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the region, the nation — even Spain, where a few hundred gathered in Madrid. About 5,000 people jammed the streets of West Chester.

    In Philly, Jerry Lopresti, who said he never had attended a protest in his 64 years, said: “There has to be a show of numbers. It’s important to show up.”

    Demonstrators gather for a ’No Kings’ rally in Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025.

    Among those who showed up conspicuously was Michael Noonan, 48, of Northern Liberties. He was wearing a Tinky-Winky Teletubby costume as he walked off a Market-Frankford Line subway car.

    He said his outfit was a counterpoint to suggestions that the demonstrations might turn violent. “Nobody’s here to fight anyone,” he said, “nobody’s here to kill anyone.”

    Not everyone who showed up had issues with Trump.

    Patrick Ladrie, 20, who lives in Camden County, stood out in his Trump hat and “ultra MAGA” T-shirt that proclaimed “I love our king.”

    He said he crossed the Delaware River to “get a good viewpoint of what the American left is.”

    After engaging in debate with three protesters on matters that included Christianity and conservatism, Ladrie reported that the environment was not so bad.

    In fact, he said, it was one of the “most peaceful” debates he could recall. As one of his adversaries jogged away to meet up with his friends, Ladrie said, “Keep out of trouble.”

    The protest was a decidedly intergenerational affair, with some parents describing the event as a teachable moment, while others said it was their progeny who came up with the idea to attend. Danielle Pisechko, 38, carried her youngest, who wore orange butterfly wings, on her shoulders.

    Their sign read: “The only monarchs we want are butterflies.”

    Demonstrators gather for a’ No Kings’ rally in Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025.

    The participants included Center City resident Reed Oxman, 66. Although his disability limited his movement, he and his husband sat on a ledge near City Hall as evidence of the diversity of the crowd. “It’s [about] representation and clearing all the lies about who is coming to this,” Oxman said.

    Lana Reckeweg, who lives at a North Philly women’s shelter, said her resources were seriously limited, but that didn’t stop her from finding cardboard and getting markers to make signs to give to other demonstrators.

    She said that over the last several months a handful of undocumented women have found sanctuary in the place she calls home, and seeing their struggles made her want to attend the protest on their behalf.

    “I have done a lot of crying. I see how it’s affecting them every day,” said Reckeweg, trying to keep her handwriting steady on a moving bus.

    “I am here because they can’t be. People need to wake up and realize it’s getting a lot more serious more quickly than expected.”

    As for what effect the rallies might have, “I would tend to doubt that the protests will have any immediate direct impact on the administration’s policies,” said David Redlawsk, chair of the political science and international relations department at the University of Delaware, but “they may work to embolden those who are opposed to Trump’s actions to continue to organize and respond.”

    Sam Daveiga, 15, attended her first protest, the Women’s March, when she was 7 years old. This time, she brought along her father, Ed. “Every voice counts,” the Philly teen said.

    “You can have a small voice, but the second you put it with everyone else who’s come out, it amplifies.”

    Staff writers Emily Bloch, Scott Sturgis, and Rob Tornoe contributed to this article, which contains information from the Associated Press.

    Fourteen blocks away from the “No Kings” rally on Independence Mall, Bert and Lynne Strieb stand (and sit) in silent protest Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 outside their apartment building in the 1900 block of Chestnut Street, vicariously joining thousands of others in Philadelphia and in cities across the country in response to Trump’s masked ICE agents and the deployment of troops in American cities. The Striebs, both in their 80s, could not attend the June “No Kings” march as Bert was in the hospital, and Lynne said they “did not want to miss this one.”

  • Dave McCormick joins fellow Senate Republicans urging RFK Jr. to rescind approval for an abortion pill

    Dave McCormick joins fellow Senate Republicans urging RFK Jr. to rescind approval for an abortion pill

    U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) has joined fellow Senate Republicans in signing on to a letter urging top health officials in the Trump administration to rescind approval for a drug used in one of the most common methods of abortion.

    In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary earlier this month, the Republican senators recommended, among other things, that officials re-evaluate the safety of mifepristone, one of two pills commonly used in a medication abortion, and suspend the distribution of the drug and its generic versions, saying it should be considered an “imminent hazard” at the federal level.

    “Today, your agencies have all the information they need to bring an end to previous Democrat administrations’ abortion drug regulations while a comprehensive review is conducted,” the Republicans wrote in the letter.

    Only two Senate Republicans, Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) and Susan Collins (R., Maine), did not sign the letter.

    Mifepristone is considered safe and effective and is used to terminate early-stage pregnancies and manage miscarriages, according to the American Medical Association. It received initial approval from the Food and Drug Administration in September 2000.

    McCormick’s signature on the letter could signal a change in how the Pennsylvania Republican views abortion regulation. During his campaign last fall, McCormick said during a debate that he wants to leave regulation to individual states, which has been the status quo since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. His backing of the letter, which encourages sweeping policy decisions at the national level, suggests otherwise.

    “Sen. McCormick has concerns about the adverse effects mifepristone can have on women, as shown in a recent study,” a spokesperson for McCormick said in a statement Friday evening. “This letter addresses those potential impacts on women’s health and encourages HHS and FDA to reevaluate the potential risks and harms associated with mifepristone. Sen. McCormick also issued a statement yesterday applauding the White House’s efforts to lower IVF costs.”

    Eugene DePasquale, chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, accused him of betraying his constituents.

    “Sen. McCormick’s support for an extreme anti-choice policy that could threaten the lives of Pennsylvania women is a shameful betrayal of his constituents,” DePasquale said. “This type of extreme policy coming out of Washington only makes it clearer that everything is on the line when it comes to protecting our freedom — and it is up to us to do it right here at the state level.”

    Last month, Kennedy said the FDA is reviewing the safety of mifepristone.

    “By law, the FDA has very limited discretion in deciding whether to approve a generic drug, and the FDA’s approval of a generic mifepristone is not an endorsement of the product. HHS remains committed to its study of the reported adverse effects of mifepristone,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to The Inquirer.

    Medical abortions, where mifepristone is used as part of a two-drug regimen along with misoprostol, account for more than half of all abortions performed in the U.S., according to the Cleveland Clinic in 2024.

    Should the FDA revoke its approval of mifepristone, medical abortions won’t be eradicated. Medication abortions are possible using just misoprostol, but the method is less effective, according to a 2021 report from the American Family Physician.

    In addition to their safety concerns, Senate Republicans are also urging Kennedy and Makary to suspend approving new generic versions of mifepristone awaiting the results of a safety review of the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) for the drug. REMS are safety programs for certain medications as required by the FDA.

    The Republicans are also urging the federal government to require mifepristone and its generic versions to be distributed in person, not through mail, and not at a pharmacy.

    The letter also claims that the U.S. has an “‘abortion-on-demand’ culture,” referring to the accessibility of mifepristone through mail. But, according to Planned Parenthood, a telehealth call is required before any pill is shipped.

    Staff writer Katie Bernard contributed to this article.

    This story was updated to include a comment from Sen. McCormick.

  • Barack Obama endorses Mikie Sherrill for New Jersey governor

    Barack Obama endorses Mikie Sherrill for New Jersey governor

    Former President Barack Obama endorsed U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for New Jersey governor, who is locked in a tight race with Republican Jack Ciattarelli.

    Obama’s announcement just weeks ahead of the Nov. 4 election came in the form of an ad paid for by Sherrill’s campaign that Sherrill shared on X Friday morning.

    “Mikie is a mom who will drive down costs for New Jersey families,” Obama said in the ad, echoing her campaign’s core message. “As a federal prosecutor and former Navy helicopter pilot, she worked to keep our communities safe.”

    “Mikie’s integrity, grit, and commitment to service are what we need right now in our leaders,” he adds.

    Sherrill maintains a single-digit lead in polls over Ciattarelli, a former Assembly member who also ran for governor in 2017 and 2021 and has the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

    In a statement, Sherrill praised Obama for leading “historic efforts to lower healthcare costs” and criticized Ciattarelli for defending cuts to Medicaid in Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”

    “There’s so much at stake in this election, so President Obama and I are mobilizing New Jerseyans to make a plan to vote on or before November 4,” Sherrill added.

    The race has been tightening, with each candidate solidifying their bases.

    New Jersey is only one of two states with a race for governor this year, along with Virginia, and national money has been flowing into the race.

    Sherrill last week appeared in South Jersey last week with Sens. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) and Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) and in her hometown of Montclair with former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, an Arizona Democrat. She will appear in this weekend with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

    Ciattarelli appeared on Wednesday with Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who co-founded Trump’s DOGE and who appeared at a GOP summit in Atlantic City earlier this year to garner enthusiasm ahead of the gubernatorial primary.

    Trump does not currently have plans to appear in the state with Ciattarelli, Axios reported. While New Jersey shifted more in support of Trump in 2024 he still lost the state by 6 percentage points.

    The president held a tele-rally ahead of the primary after Ciattarelli pocketed his endorsement in May. Trump is planning to host more of these, Axios reported.

    An earlier version of this story misidentified Vivek Ramaswamy’s position. He is a candidate for Ohio governor.

  • State Sen. Sharif Street has early fundraising lead in Philly congressional race, but his competitors are close behind

    State Sen. Sharif Street has early fundraising lead in Philly congressional race, but his competitors are close behind

    State Sen. Sharif Street has an early fundraising lead over his competitors in next year’s Democratic primary for a storied Philadelphia congressional seat, according to new campaign finance reports.

    But the race is in its early stages, and candidates who entered the race after Street still have plenty of time to catch up before the May 2026 primary.

    Street, the son of former Mayor John F. Street, entered the race for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District in early July, days after U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Philadelphia) announced he would not seek reelection. Street’s campaign launch coincided with the beginning of the campaign finance reporting period, allowing him three full months to solicit contributions and seek endorsements.

    The building trades unions have endorsed State Sen. Sharif Street in the crowded race for Pa.’s 3rd Congressional District

    He took in about $352,000 from July 1 through Sept. 30, according to the Federal Election Commission. His campaign spent $33,000 during that time, and he finished the period with $372,000 in cash on hand, which is also the most of any candidate in the race. (Street’s cash reserves are higher than his fundraising because he carried over money from a previous campaign account.)

    “Our strong fundraising results put us in a commanding position,” Street campaign manager Josh Uretsky said in a statement. “We’re building a strong campaign that will hit every neighborhood in the Third District by leveraging our broad-based coalition.”

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    State Rep. Chris Rabb, an anti-establishment progressive, who raised $257,000, also announced his campaign in July.

    Rabb’s haul was notable for a candidate with little support among Philadelphia’s established political organizations, such as the deep-pocketed building trades unions that endorsed Street this week. As he has in past runs, Rabb said he is eschewing contributions from corporate-backed political action committees, and tapping into a national network of progressive small-dollar donors.

    “This is a robust, grassroots campaign that’s fueled and funded by a growing movement of Philadelphians and citizens far & wide who want a bold, independent-minded and accountable Democrat to represent the bluest congressional district in the nation,” Rabb said in a statement.

    His campaign spent $76,000, and carried forward $181,000.

    State Rep. Morgan Cephas, a West Philly Democrat who chairs the Philadelphia delegation to the state House, collected $156,000 in contributions, a respectable sum given that she entered the race about a month before the reporting deadline. Her campaign spent $37,000 and had $119,000 in cash.

    In a statement, Cephas said “the excitement about our campaign is palpable.”

    “I understand the problems of Philadelphia because I’ve lived them for the last 41 years,” Cephas said. “Together we can deliver real results for our community.”

    Political outsiders aim to shake up race

    David Oxman, a physician who lives in South Philadelphia, brought in $107,000, spent $35,000, and had a healthy $332,000 in the bank.

    “Since day one, this campaign has been fueled by healthcare professionals, small business owners, and working families across Philadelphia who are ready to take power back from leaders bought by corporate interests,” Oxman said in a statement.

    David Oxman, an intensive care doctor and medical school professor at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, is running for Congress. Oxman, 58, of Bella Vista, joins a race that includes State Reps. Sharif Street and Chris Rabb to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans.

    The campaign for Temple University professor Karl Morris raised $28,000, spent $26,000, and had $12,000 in cash on hand.

    “As a scientist, teacher, and a non-politician running an outsider campaign, my focus is on connecting with everyday Philadelphians,” Morris, a computer scientist, said in a statement. “Career politicians and the donor class want politics as usual. I’m prepared to make sure everyone in Philadelphia receives equal benefits and equal protections.”

    One notable candidate, physician Ala Stanford, entered the race after the close of the reporting period and has not yet submitted a campaign finance filing. Stanford was a founder of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium and has been endorsed by Evans.

    “In just a few weeks in the race, Dr. Stanford has generated significant momentum — in contributions, volunteer engagement, and community enthusiasm,” Stanford campaign manager Aaron Carr said in a statement.

    Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of North, Northwest, West, and South Philadelphia, is one of the most Democratic seats in the nation. With Evans retiring from the seat he has held for nearly a decade, the field could still be in flux as more Philly politicians eye the potentially once-in-a-generation ticket to Washington.

    Map of Pennsylvania’s Third Congressional District.

    While the race remains competitive, Street’s early fundraising lead will help cement his status as the favorite of the local political establishment. Democratic City Committee chair Bob Brady said this week that party ward leaders will likely vote to endorse Street after this year’s election cycle wraps up next month.

    “We’re fully prepared to take advantage of this early lead,” Uretsky said.

    Brian Fitzpatrick outraises competitors in Bucks County congressional race

    In Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, where Democrats have made ousting Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick a top priority, the incumbent outraised his leading Democratic challenger by a nearly 4-1 ratio, bringing in $886,049 this quarter.

    Brian Fitzpatrick raised $1.22M this quarter as Democrats plan to target his district in the 2026 midterms
    Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks and Montgomery) speaks during the opening session of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) Legislative Conference in Washington in March.

    Unlike the deep-blue 3rd District, the fate of the 1st District will likely be decided in next year’s general election, and not the primary. The district, which includes all of Bucks County and a part of Montgomery County, is the only Philadelphia-area congressional seat represented by a Republican.

    Democratic County Commissioner Bob Harvie announced plans to challenge Fitzpatrick earlier this year.

    Harvie, viewed as the favorite to win the Democratic nomination, raised $217,745 last quarter. The other Democrat in the race, attorney Tracy Hunt, raised $36,692.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.