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  • Democrats sweep Bucks County law enforcement races, ousting a sheriff who sought controversial ICE partnership

    Democrats sweep Bucks County law enforcement races, ousting a sheriff who sought controversial ICE partnership

    Democrats swept two law enforcement races in Bucks County, ousting the incumbents and signaling the swing county has soured on President Donald Trump just a year after voting for him.

    Democrat Danny Ceisler, an Army veteran who held a public safety role in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration, led Republican Sheriff Fred Harran by 12 percentage points with all precincts reporting Wednesday morning. The sheriff race centered on Harran’s controversial decision to partner his agency with ICE as Trump ramps up immigration enforcement nationwide.

    And former Bucks County Solicitor Joe Khan led Republican District Attorney Jen Schorn by eight percentage points. Democrats believe Khan is the first member of their party to ever be elected to the office.

    Bucks County Democrats declared victory just after midnight Wednesday morning — sweeping every countywide race. The victories came in what appeared to be a blue wave election as voters rejected Republican candidates in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia.

    “What’s going on with our federal government is not normal, and voters saw that creeping into local offices, and they overwhelmingly rejected it,” Ceisler said Wednesday. “Bucks County doesn’t let extremism come inside.”

    The hotly contested Bucks County races centered on some of the most contentious issues in national politics — Trump, crime, and immigration. Democrats sought to paint the incumbents as Trumpian ideologues, while Republicans warned voters of an influx of “Philly crime” if Democrats took office, even as the violent crime rate in the city has dropped from its pandemic peak.

    Voters opted for a change, delivering both offices to Democrats and, as result, spelling the end to a controversial partnership between the sheriff’s office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    Bucks was the only county in the Philadelphia area to go for Trump last year and will be a key battleground in 2026 when Shapiro runs for reelection. Tuesday’s wins will give Democrats momentum going into the midterms.

    Democrats, Khan said, had to work to prove to voters they could be trusted with public safety. They were aided by a favorable dynamic as voters rejected Trumpism.

    “It was a campaign not about attacking somebody else but, really, making really clear that we deserve better than what we’ve got,” Khan said.

    Voters at the polls persistently expressed frustration with Trump, and a sense that anyone from his party should not be trusted in office.

    “They’re subject to his control, regardless of how they feel on issues,” said Stephanie Kraft of Doylestown. “And that affects everything, from our local courts on up to the higher courts in the state.”

    Harran attributed the GOP losses to Democratic enthusiasm for retaining three left-leaning state Supreme Court justices.

    “We woke a sleeping giant. When I say ‘we,’ I don’t mean me; I mean the Republican Party at the state level,” Harran said Wednesday.

    “I also worry for Bucks County,” he added. “We’re going to have Philadelphia policies and politics in Bucks County, and that’s extremely dangerous.”

    Democrats control the Bucks County Board of Commissioners, but Trump narrowly won Bucks last year, marking the first time the purple county had gone for a Republican in the presidential race since the 1980s. There are more registered Republicans than Democrats in Bucks County, but Democrats hoped the president’s low approval ratings, and Harran’s decision to partner with ICE, would drive angry voters to the polls in high numbers.

    Joe Khan

    The effort succeeded, indicating that Bucks voters are already disenchanted with the president they voted for just a year ago. The vote may set off alarm bells among Republicans as they prepare for next year’s election, when Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity seeks to oust Shapiro and Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick stands for reelection.

    The Democratic victory is “on everything that Trump is doing to undermine the institutions of democracy, but it’s also on Trump’s failure to really reverse inflation,” said State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, the chair of the Bucks County Democratic Party.

    Even so, for several voters, Harran’s partnership with ICE was the final straw.

    Jill Johnson worried it would result in the targeting of Latino citizens, including her half-Mexican son, who is away at college.

    “My biggest fear is that someone in a mask is going to come up and grab him because they think he’s here illegally,” Johnson said. “It’s scary. These are law-abiding people who have done nothing wrong.”

    The partnership, which recently became active after months of planning, provoked backlash, including a lawsuit, public demonstrations outside the courthouse, and a repudiation by the Democratic-led board of commissioners.

    Ceisler said Wednesday that he will issue a moratorium barring deputies’ cooperation with ICE on his first day in office. From there, he said, he will figure out how to disentangle the sheriff’s office from the agreement signed by his predecessor.

    For his part, Harran said Wednesday that Ceisler will “have to answer for a person who becomes victimized by an individual that should have been deported. And he’ll have to sleep with that, and it’ll be on his head, not mine.”

    Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment.

    Harran, an outspoken Republican who endorsed Trump last year and frequently clashes with the Democratic commissioners, was elected sheriff in 2021 after more than a decade leading Bensalem’s police department.

    The Republican has expanded the role of the sheriff’s department, adding a K-9 unit and partnering with immigration officials, but faced criticism that he was failing to complete the basic duties of his job, such as executing warrants and protecting the courthouse.

    Ceisler advocated taking politics out of the office, saying he would focus on domestic violence and pledging to end the partnership with ICE. He argued his experience in the Army and in a public safety leadership post under Shapiro prepared him to serve as sheriff — though Harran argued Ceisler would be unprepared for the job, having never worked in a sheriff’s office or police department.

    “Being the sheriff isn’t on-the-job training,” Harran said at a Bristol polling place Tuesday. “You need knowledge and experience.”

    Ceisler said he had spoken to Harran after the results came in and the incumbent promised to assist with a smooth transition.

    Schorn, a veteran Bucks County prosecutor, lost in her bid for a full term after being appointed district attorney last year when her predecessor became a judge.

    She had been an assistant district attorney in the county since 1999, prosecuting some of the county’s most high-profile cases. When she became district attorney, Schorn started a task force in the county to investigate internet crimes against children.

    Khan, a former county solicitor and federal prosecutor, argued Schorn ran the office under “Trump’s blueprint” and criticized her decisions not to recuse herself when a Republican committeeperson was charged with voter fraud and not to prosecute alleged child abuse at Jamison Elementary School.

    Schorn has said she was unable to discuss the details of the Jamison Elementary School case due to rules governing prosecutors, but Khan argued her explanations were insufficient as parents sought answers.

    Meanwhile, Schorn accused her opponent, who had unsuccessfully run for Philadelphia district attorney and Pennsylvania attorney general, of playing politics when he understood the rules prosecutors were bound by.

    Schorn performed slightly better than her GOP counterparts in Bucks County on Tuesday. But, while many voters said they had no issue with Schorn’s policies, her political party was a turnoff.

    “I just feel the Democrats would be better right now; I’m down on all Republicans,” said Marybeth Vinkler, a Doylestown voter who said she had no problems with how Schorn had run the district attorney’s office. “Everything happening in D.C. is trickling down around us.”

    Schorn did not immediately comment on the results Wednesday.

    Jim Worthington, who has run pro-Trump organizations in Bucks County, said Republicans failed to turn out voters on Election Day even as data showed Democrats held a significant lead on mail voting ahead of Tuesday.

    “This is where the GOP was asleep at the wheel,” Worthington said.

    Traditionally, voters trust Republicans more with law and order. The resounding victories for Democrats defied that trend.

    “We now have an obligation to deliver and to show that Democrats can lead on the issue of safety,” Ceisler said.

    “The ball is in our hands, and we’re ready to run with it.”

    Staff writer Jeff Gammage 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.

  • Why there’s less controversy — and less money — in this year’s school board races in Central Bucks and elsewhere

    Why there’s less controversy — and less money — in this year’s school board races in Central Bucks and elsewhere

    Personal attacks, political division, and culture wars have defined school board races in the Philadelphia suburbs in recent years.

    But 2025 feels different.

    Even as national politics are more divided than ever — and amid a federal shutdown and state budget standoff — local school board candidates from both parties are shying away from partisanship in favor of focusing on local issues like taxes and full-day kindergarten.

    The change in posture can be attributed to several factors — Republicans who ran on culture-war issues largely lost in 2023 and, while the GOP is now tackling those priorities from the federal level, local candidates said they cannot control what President Donald Trump does. Schools are also facing pressing fiscal issues amid state and federal budget cuts.

    There are some exceptions. In Souderton, candidates on the Republican slate say they want to maintain the district’s current policies that prevent transgender girls from playing sports and prioritize “parental rights” — stances Trump has also embraced. Some Democratic candidates, meanwhile, say Trump’s education policies, including plans to dismantle the federal Department of Education, motivated them to run.

    Still, those issues are not taking center stage across the Philadelphia collar counties.

    “School districts are struggling financially,” said Brittany Crampsie, a Democratic consultant. Parents “don’t want to have a debate about DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] anymore, they want to make sure their kids are getting a good education.”

    Moving on from ‘culture wars’ — for the most part

    Supporters cheer in 2023 before five new Central Bucks school members are sworn in. Democrats seized control of the board in a contentious race.

    Culture-war debates reached a fever pitch in the aftermath of COVID-19, as conservative parents voiced frustration over pandemic protocols and classroom curricula. Republicans in districts like Central Bucks won contentious races focused on those issues in 2021.

    Two years ago Central Bucks was again among the most closely watched races in the region, with spending surpassing $600,000. Democrats swept every open seat, ousting a conservative majority that had banned books and Pride flags in the district. Other suburban districts flipped to Democratic control as well.

    Now, candidates are steering clear of those hot-button topics.

    “My campaign is focused on academics, school taxes, and safety….these are the current issues of concern in Central Bucks,” Betty Santoro, a Republican, wrote in an email.

    The Democratic candidates for Central Bucks school board: Amanda O’Connor, Katrina Filiatrault, David Comalli, and Daniel Kimicata (left to right).

    Culture wars were a “distraction” from priorities for the district, said Daniel Kimicata, a Democrat running for reelection. Four of nine seats are on the ballot this year; Democrats will maintain their majority regardless of the outcome.

    Andrew Miller, a Republican running in Central Bucks, wrote in an email it’s good that things are quieter. “People are tired of the shouting and want results,” he wrote. “They want candidates who listen, not lecture and candidates who build bridges, not walls.”

    In Souderton — where Democrats say they are optimistic about their chances of gaining representation on the all-Republican board — the Republican platform also includes parental rights and student safety.

    Republican board president Stephen Nelson, who is running for reelection, said that culture-war topics are not an issue in the district, but that it would not allow transgender athletes to compete on girls sports teams should the situation arise. (The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association this year changed its transgender athlete policy to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order on “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”)

    “Why is that a question? It’s always been that way and we don’t quite understand why it has to be any different,” Nelson said.

    In Pennridge, where the board is Democratic-controlled, Republican candidates, in a statement, pushed back on the idea that school board races in the past centered on issues promoted by Republicans. Instead, they argued, GOP candidates were responding to Democratic-initiated policies and questioning some DEI policies and whether they were best for students.

    “Our intent was never to divide but to ensure that schools serve all students equally and that classroom priorities remain rooted in education, not ideology,” they said.

    Money, money, money

    This year, there is far less money flowing into school board races, though Central Bucks continues to attract outside fundraising.

    The Republican candidates for Central Bucks school board. Andrew Miller, Sharon Beck, Roman Szewczuk, and Betty Santoro (left to right).

    The 1776 Project PAC, a group supporting Republican school board candidates that has drawn ire from Democrats, has spent more than $86,000 on mailers and text messages in Bucks County. Approximately half that has gone toward supporting Central Bucks GOP candidates, with the rest going to candidates in Centennial School District and Pennridge, according to Bucks County campaign finance reports.

    The PAC has also spent more than $20,000 supporting candidates on Republican slates in Perkiomen Valley and Lower Merion, according to Montgomery County campaign finance filings.

    Democrats are also getting support from an outside group — Red Wine and Blue, a national group of suburban women that promotes Democratic candidates. The group has spent approximately $260 in Bucks County and $104 in Montgomery County school board races, according to county filings.

    In Bucks County, other races like district attorney and sheriff have drawn money and attention that might have otherwise gone to school boards, said Guy Ciarrocchi, a GOP analyst.

    “There’s a certain amount of fatigue that’s hitting a place like Bucks,” Ciarrocchi said.

    The Trump factor

    Democrats in suburban districts said they need to maintain majorities to best address the impacts of Trump administration policies.

    “When I realized the threat that public education was under, I decided now was the time that I had to run,” said Katrina Filiatrault, a Democrat running in Central Bucks.

    Judy Lofton, a Democrat running in Perkiomen Valley, said of her slate: “Our central unifying message is that we want to protect public education, that public education is currently under attacks from a variety of different stakeholders.”

    Republicans are striking a different tone.

    “We’re not focused on anything that’s going on outside of something that we don’t control,” said Jason Saylor, a Republican running for reelection in Perkiomen Valley. “We don’t control the federal government. We don’t control what might happen with the Department of Education. We don’t control issues at the state legislature.”

    In Souderton, controversy flared last year when Republican school board member Bill Formica made lewd comments about former Vice President Kamala Harris. He is still on the board and is not up for reelection this year.

    Residents protest at a Souderton school board meeting last year after board member Bill made a lewd social media post about then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

    “We’re talking to every voter who might be a Republican or an independent, and they’re sharing concerns at the doors about how they can’t vote for certain people anymore,” said Corinne DeGeiso, a Democrat running for the board.

    Nelson, the Republican school board president running for reelection, said Formica was protected by the First Amendment.

    His comments, Nelson said, were “rude, lewd, and unacceptable,” but there was nothing the board could do about it.

    Even in a less contentious election cycle, Chris Lilienthal, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which tends to endorse Democratic candidates, said school board elections are more important than ever this year.

    “They’re holding the line right now in this budget impasse,” he said, “and that alone should merit the attention of voters.”

    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.

  • Erica Deuso’s campaign to be Pa.’s first trans mayor isn’t about that. It’s ‘about the neighbors.’

    Erica Deuso’s campaign to be Pa.’s first trans mayor isn’t about that. It’s ‘about the neighbors.’

    By most measures, Erica Deuso’s campaign for mayor of Downingtown is unremarkable.

    She spends Saturday mornings greeting residents at the farmers market and her weekend days knocking on doors in the Chester County borough. Most of the time, she’s talking about traffic and community events.

    Nevertheless, the effort is groundbreaking.

    If she is elected in the Democratic-leaning borough, Deuso would be the first openly transgender person elected mayor in Pennsylvania. She would do so as President Donald Trump’s administration pursues policies that limit public life for transgender residents and as Democrats’ vocal support for the community wanes in the aftermath of the 2024 election.

    Democratic supporters pose with current Downingtown Mayor Phil Dague, center, Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell, center left, and mayoral candidate Erica Deuso, center right.

    For most voters, though, those facts didn’t even register.

    Deuso, who works in management at a pharmaceutical company, has lived in Downingtown for 18 years.

    She is a committeewoman in the local Democratic Party, and board member for Emerge Pennsylvania, which trains women and LGBTQ+ people to run for office. Her platform centers on traffic control, domestic violence, community engagement, and sustainable development.

    The Downingtown mayor has relatively limited power, overseeing the police department and acting as a tiebreaking vote on borough council. Deuso has promised not to sign an agreement between Downingtown police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and said she wants to work on enhancing mental health services for officers while expanding their reach in the community to address concerns over traffic violations and e-bikes.

    As she knocked on doors on a Saturday morning in October, Deuso’s gender identity rarely came up in her interactions with voters.

    “I’m not running on being trans, that’s not something I ever do or ever wanted to do. I wanted to make it about the neighbors,” Deuso said. “It’s the other side making it about who I am, my identity.”

    Going door-to-door looking for votes in Downingtown in October, Erica Deuso meets Nicole Flood at her door.

    The historic nature of her campaign has likely driven attention and funds to the race. She has earned endorsements from several organizations that back LGBTQ+ and women candidates. And she’s received donations from outside the state and outside Chester County, including a $3,000 donation from Greater Than PAC, which supports progressive women.

    But a scan of comments in community Facebook pages shows her identity has also driven more vitriol.

    “There are people who refuse to use my correct name or pronouns, they’ve deadnamed me, all those sorts of things. But it’s been 16 years since I transitioned; I don’t really care,” Deuso said. But she’s mindful that LGBTQ+ youth are watching her. She engages in some of the posts, but not all of them.

    “I want to handle it with grace.”

    Those efforts are already influencing at least one local teen. Nicole Bastida-Moyer, a 39-year-old voter, told Deuso her candidacy had inspired her 14-year-old daughter to volunteer to help other students with their mental health. Both she and her daughter are pansexual.

    “She deals with a lot of hate,” Bastida-Moyer said through tears about her daughter.

    “Having Erica’s voice, it means a lot,” Bastida-Moyer said.

    Nicole Bastida-Moyer gets a hug from Downingtown mayoral candidate Erica Deuso while campaigning in October.

    Impact on voters

    Deuso responds to comments on her Facebook page and other groups occasionally. She said she tends to do so only when she thinks a true conversation can come of it.

    Door-knocking in her neighborhood, Deuso encountered just one voter who appeared to be hostile to her because of her gender identity. When Deuso approached one house, a woman came to the door and glanced at the candidate and her fliers through the screen door without opening it.

    “I’m not voting for him,” the woman said. “For who?” Deuso asked as the woman turned and walked away.

    Episodes like this are relatively rare, Deuso said

    “People are generally much nicer in person than online,” said Jenn Fenn, who managed U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan’s 2024 reelection campaign in a district that includes Downingtown.

    Deuso’s opponent, Republican Rich Bryant, says he doesn’t condone those who attack Deuso based on her identity.

    But Deuso has shared several screenshots on social media that appear to show Bryant insulting transgender women and making misogynistic remarks about cisgender women. At a canvass launch at the local farmers market, the township’s current mayor, Democrat Phil Dague, referenced these posts while comparing Bryant to Trump.

    Current Downingtown Mayor Phil Dague talks with supporters for Erica Deuso listening at right. Saturday October 18, 2025.

    Bryant claimed 90% of these posts are AI-generated but refused to say which posts are real and which are fake.

    “I don’t like mud-slinging misinformation,” Bryant said. “I try to stay focused on what’s good for Downingtown.”

    Rich Bryant is running as a Republican for Downingtown mayor.

    He sought to present himself as better experienced than Deuso to be mayor, contending his career in cybersecurity has prepared him for the mayor’s primary duty of overseeing the local police department.

    Alice Sullivan, an 80-year-old neighbor and donor to Deuso, had noticed some of the nastiness on social media and said she was voting for Deuso because, unlike her opponent, she wasn’t a “bigot.”

    She lamented the online attacks against Deuso as disappointing — but unsurprising. The candidate’s gender identity shouldn’t matter, insisted Sullivan, who has lived in Downingtown for decades.

    “Other people’s lives, genders, whatever is not my business,” she said.

    Josh Maxwell, a Democratic county commissioner and former Downingtown mayor who had joined Deuso to knock doors, asked if Sullivan thought others would disagree in the historically Catholic community. But the people who cared, Sullivan argued, are “not going to vote Democrat anyway.”

    “There might be some,” she said. “I don’t know very many.”

    Campaigning in the west end of Downingtown Erica Deuso greets Alice Sullivan on Oct. 18.

    As Deuso walked door to door, her conversations focused on local and community issues. She greeted every dog she saw and spoke to their owners about their safety concerns — drivers had been racing down quiet neighborhood streets — and their concerns about the community. Deuso is proposing a program to offer hotel rooms for one night to those facing domestic violence.

    She also made it clear that she would be a resource, even on issues that went beyond the mayor’s official duties. She showed one voter how she had started a youth-driven art project at a recent township festival. And pointed to a home that, just weeks prior, she’d brought a misdelivered package to on behalf of a voter.

    For weeks, Raul Hurtado, Deuso’s neighbor who immigrated from Colombia in the 1990s, has been rolling down his windows when he sees Deuso, telling her he’s voting for her.

    “She is from this town, my neighbor, and we need someone to help us,” Hurtado told The Inquirer.

    If she’s elected, Deuso told Hurtado, her goal is to be available to all residents through office hours at Borough Hall.

    “We can have a face-to-face discussion,” she said. “Not through your car window.”

    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.

  • Shapiro’s view that America is ready for a Jewish president hasn’t changed, Times says

    Shapiro’s view that America is ready for a Jewish president hasn’t changed, Times says

    Gov. Josh Shapiro told the New York Times in an article appearing Monday his opinion that a Jewish person could become president has not changed since he first voiced it a year ago.

    The article referenced a statement Shapiro made to the Times last year that “speaking broadly, absolutely” America could elect a Jewish president in his lifetime.

    The Monday article stated: “This month he said his view was unchanged.”

    Shapiro has never publicly confirmed he’s interested in running for president, though speculation has long followed him.

    While he has been largely untested on the national stage, Shapiro is often listed among the Democrats likely to make a run for the presidency in 2028.

    Despite that, the April arson attack, denounced by many as antisemitic, at the governor’s mansion against Shapiro and his family on Passover as they slept shook some people’s “confidence in the idea that the country was ready for leaders like Mr. Shapiro,” the Times wrote.

    In fact, Shapiro told the Times, he spoke with his family about whether holding elected office was worth the risk of political violence, which Americans believe is on the rise, according to a survey released last week by the Pew Research Center.

    Shapiro concluded: “If I leave because violence pushed us out or scared us, then those who want to perpetuate political violence win.

    “I’ve got to stay. I’ve got to show that we’re not afraid.”

    Taking that stand, however, is not getting easier.

    “It’s gotten hotter and hotter and more and more dangerous,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, herself the target of a kidnapping plot, told the Times.

    Cody Balmer, 38, the man accused of setting the governor’s mansion ablaze, pleaded guilty on Oct. 14 to attempted murder and related crimes. Sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison, Balmer said he intended to attack Shapiro with a hammer that night.

    Photos released by the Pennsylvania State Police and seen on YouTube showed a soot-covered chandelier, singed walls, a blackened carpet, melted tables, burned furniture, and a damaged grand piano.

    Since the attack, Shapiro has spoken with other elected leaders and those considering running for office, offering personal guidance to those victimized by political violence, and he talked with Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota after the former state House speaker, Melissa Hortman, and her husband were assassinated, the Times wrote.

    “Knowing that as you’re doing that work that I consider to be noble, that it comes with a risk to you and your family,” he told the Times, “that’s a tension that is a challenge to work through.”

    “It is one of the reasons why I’m so motivated to speak out against political violence,” Shapiro added. To “try and take the temperature down so that good people want to serve.”

    Regarding potential bias against religion, the governor told the Times that Americans “respect faith, even if they don’t practice it, and want to have a deep relationship with the people who represent them.”

    Being open about his Judaism has allowed him “to be able to have a deeper relationship with the people of Pennsylvania, allowed them to share their stories,” Shapiro told the Times, adding: “We’re doing that in this ultimate swing state.”

    Shapiro will release a memoir next year detailing his career and personal life, including the firebombing of the governor’s mansion and his place on the short list to be Kamala Harris’ vice presidential candidate.

    Considered a viable Democratic presence, Shapiro on Saturday stumped for New Jersey gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the Garden State at a senior center auditorium and an African Methodist Episcopal church, targeting two groups seen as necessary for Sherrill to beat Republican Jack Ciattarelli.

    Staff writers Julia Terruso and Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.

  • Delco homeless shelter system to close two shelters amid Harrisburg budget impasse

    Delco homeless shelter system to close two shelters amid Harrisburg budget impasse

    Delaware County’s homeless services, already overextended and stretched to its limits, are slated to lose two shelters and a much-needed rental assistance program at the end of the month as a result of the ongoing budget impasse in Harrisburg.

    The closures, though likely temporary until state lawmakers set aside partisan disagreements to approve a budget, would mark a major blow to a system some say is on the brink of collapse in one of Pennsylvania’s most populous counties.

    Delaware County officials have attempted to stave off suspensions in critical social services for the first few months of the budget impasse by dipping into their coffers. According to officials, the county typically spends $12 million a month on homeless shelters and other services for children and youth, mental health needs, and substance use disorders.

    Now out of options to pay for these critical supports, the county has notified local service providers that they won’t be able to help them any further. Only a budget can restore funding.

    “We had hoped the impasse would be resolved much sooner and had fully funded our providers through September, but unfortunately can no longer fully fund providers without the funds from the state,” county spokesperson Mike Connolly said.

    Men’s dorm at Life Center-Eastern Delaware County in Upper Darby on Friday.

    The Community Action Agency of Delaware County, which operates three shelters and a rental assistance program, among other services, has no choice but to make cuts to its services or even close, its executive director Ed Coleman said.

    Life Center, a shelter that has room for about 50 people, has gradually cut its capacity by half. Wesley House and Family Management Center, which have a combined capacity to house more than 110 people, are slated to close by the end of the month. Plus, CAADC’s rental assistance program, which helps approximately 270 families a year, will be paused until the state budget is passed.

    Remaining homeless shelters, such as Breaking Bread in Upper Darby and the Salvation Army in Chester, have already seen a surge in people seeking assistance in recent weeks as Wesley House Shelter and Family Management Center wind down operations.

    “We’re at capacity. We have no more room,” said James Stephenson, who leads the Salvation Army’s 40-person facility.

    Mental Health Partnerships, which provides services for people with mental health conditions or substance use disorders, has been assembling a weekly working group with local shelters and county government to prepare for a winter with at least one emergency shelter, in anticipation of more shelter closures, said its president and CEO, Jeannine Lisitski. Mental Health Partnerships officials have already begun seeing more people on the streets around Delaware County as part of their street outreach there due to the diminishing number of places that people can go to stay warm in these cooling months.

    “There’s a real crisis in Delaware County brewing now,” Lisitski said.

    ‘It’s childish for people to be so politically divided’

    With no state budget in sight, public schools, counties, and service providers that help Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable have been forced to find ways to keep their doors open as they await reimbursement from the state. School districts have had to make up more than $3 billion in expected state payments, while some counties have had to lay off staff or take out major loans.

    But the issues are particularly dire in Delaware County, where the budget impasse is just the latest blow to the threadbare safety net that has only been further stretched in recent years.

    Delco had the fourth-highest eviction rate in Pennsylvania in 2022, at 11.5%, according to a study by PolicyLink and Community Legal Services of Philadelphia.

    The persistent issue pushed Delco officials and dozens of other stakeholders to convene the following year to find ways to help the more than 300 people already facing homelessness and the 100 families on wait lists for shelters in the county, as well as all those in danger of losing housing.

    But just this year, Crozer-Chester Medical Center, which was the county’s only 24-7 crisis center for mental and behavioral health, closed in May. Shelter operators, such as the Salvation Army, believe they will have to step up to help the affected population.

    St. Joseph’s Family Hope Center closed in June.

    Breaking Bread, which until recently could serve 25 people, can take in only eight after moving back to its original building, which is in need of repairs and has limited space.

    And the county’s adult and family services agency, which contracts with shelter providers, saw a loss of $1 million in funding.

    Lisitski said Mental Health Partnerships — which serves Delaware County, the other three collar counties, and Philadelphia — has already taken out a significant amount of credit to continue operating. And she has grown deeply frustrated with the state government that leaders have not been able to come together to achieve a budget deal.

    “I’m really disgusted, I have to say. I hold myself to a very high standard as a CEO and as a leader. I would not leave my post if I did not take care of every program. I would not leave for the day until I resolved everything,” she said.

    “That’s my commitment. I want the same commitment from our elected officials. And it’s childish for people to be so politically divided,” she added.

    Separately, the federal shutdown is poised to delay funds from the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, which help about 300,000 Pennsylvanians pay their heating bills, as well as the distribution of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

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

    As funds dry up, limited options for families

    At Wesley House, which can serve an average of 50 children at any given time, families like Grayson’s are scrambling to find temporary housing.

    The 52-year-old has been living in Wesley House for almost seven months after caring for his terminally ill mother drained the family’s finances and led his family of four to be evicted. He asked that his full name be withheld to protect the identity of his two young children, as not everyone knows the family became homeless this year.

    “This is people’s last resort. This is the last stop before being on the street,” Grayson said of the room with four bunk beds he shares with his family. “I feel like we’re being kicked while we’re already down.”

    With news of Wesley House’s closure, Grayson and his wife are working with social workers to get rapid rehousing so as not to disrupt their children’s lives, but it’s a race against time in between the three combined jobs the couple is working.

    John Weis, Life Center of Delaware County’s lead case manager (left) assists client Joseph Wallace Friday.

    For Heather Schearer, her several months living at Life Center were a necessary step up in her recovery process. She had been unhoused for about five months earlier this year, and was sleeping in her car until it got too cold. When approached, she agreed to stay at Life Center until she eventually was connected to longer-term provider Mental Health Partnerships for its rapid rehousing and peer support programs, she said.

    “[Politicians] don’t want to get their boots on the ground, take your ties off, and sit and talk,” Schearer said. “It’s the little things that matter that will get you to the next step.”

    According to Community Action, similar scenes are playing out at Family Management Center, which can serve an average of a little more than 30 children at any given time. And while the most significant service reductions in homeless services are not scheduled for another week, the impacts of cuts are already visible across Delaware County.

    Lisitski, of Mental Health Partnerships, which provides street outreach around Delaware County, said staff have already seen “a lot more people” than usual living on the street.

    When shelters close like this, it becomes a “life-and-death situation” for people who are unhoused, she added. If the people who access critical services — usually people who are homeless, have substance use disorder, or have serious mental health conditions — cannot do so, she said, it will result in their being jailed, institutionalized, or, in the worst cases, dead.

    In anticipation of the added need for housing due to the impasse, Mental Health Partnerships is working with Delaware County officials, faith-based entities, and other local groups to prepare emergency shelter space from December through April. It is also taking a line of credit to stay afloat.

    But loans are not a viable option for all service providers.

    Coleman, of Community Action, said even if the nonprofit could be approved for a line of credit, leaders have no way of knowing how much to ask for since they don’t know when a budget will be passed. Then there would be the question of interest.

    “There’s no way [shelters] can afford to pay back interest on a loan, and the interest on a loan cannot be charged to a grant, so it would just be money lost to them,” he said.

    Without a state budget, local government is the nonprofit’s last hope. Upper Darby, where Life Center is located, has awarded Life Center $120,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds, which will become available Jan. 1, according to officials there.

    It’s much-needed money, but only one thing can help Community Action’s two other shelters stay open.

    “We’re hoping that the legislators can do their job and pass a budget so the county doesn’t have to deal with some unfortunate situations,” Coleman said.

  • $1M in taxpayer money will be used to make security upgrades at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s private residence

    $1M in taxpayer money will be used to make security upgrades at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s private residence

    Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters.

    HARRISBURG — Taxpayers are paying for roughly $1 million in security upgrades to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s private home in Montgomery County, according to information the administration disclosed to top lawmakers about its expenditures in the aftermath of the brazen arson attack on the first family earlier this year.

    In a Friday letter to legislative leaders, administration officials said improvements include “erecting physical and visual barriers on the property, installing enhanced security technology, and other steps.” They then noted that due to safety concerns, they could not provide more details about the work being conducted at Shapiro’s private home.

    The letter, authored by Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris and Department of General Services Secretary Reggie McNeill, also disclosed safety upgrades totaling $32.3 million at the governor’s official residence in Harrisburg, including $8 million to retrofit the mansion with new windows that are bullet- and shatterproof.

    The attack occurred at the 29,000-square-foot mansion this past April while the governor and his family were asleep inside.

    “The horrifying attack on the Governor, his family, and Commonwealth property, coupled with the unfortunate rise in political violence across our country, has made these updates necessary to protect the Governor and his family and ensure the continued operation of the executive branch of the Commonwealth,” Paris and McNeill wrote. “No family should have to live behind bulletproof glass or behind large walls — but the nature of the threats against elected officials today require us to take these important steps.”

    They added: “Unfortunately, the threat to a high-profile elected official like Gov. Shapiro does not end when he leaves the Governor’s Residence.”

    In a statement, Shapiro spokesperson Rosie Lapowsky said the State Police conducted a security review of the governor’s personal residence and recommended a number of improvements. Before carrying out any of those improvements, she said the administration “consulted the Ethics Commission … to ensure there is no improper private, pecuniary gain from these security improvements.”

    Last week, Harrisburg resident Cody Balmer pleaded guilty to attempted murder, aggravated arson, and other charges related to the attack in the dead of the night on April 13. That is when Balmer scaled the perimeter fence at the governor’s official residence along the banks of the Susquehanna River, broke two windows, and used crude, homemade Molotov cocktails to set fire to several rooms on the residence’s first floor.

    Shapiro, his family, and friends had celebrated Passover just hours before, and were asleep on the second floor of the residence when Balmer broke in. Balmer told authorities that he would have beaten Shapiro with a hammer he had with him if he had encountered the governor.

    The Democratic governor has said that he and his family are still struggling with the emotional toll of the attack, but stressed that he will not be deterred from continuing in public service.

    It is not clear what prompted Paris and McNeill’s letter. Earlier this week, Spotlight PA submitted a public records request for all taxpayer-funded expenditures at the governor’s private home.

    Also midweek, Republican state Sen. Jarett Coleman, who chairs the chamber’s Intergovernmental Operations Committee, fired off a letter to Paris seeking similar information about physical improvements to Shapiro’s Montgomery County home, among other items.

    Coleman told Spotlight PA on Friday that his committee will “continue to investigate” spending at the governor’s private residence “to protect taxpayers as this unprecedented project is being completed.”

    Spotlight PA last month reported that the state has spent more than $6 million to repair extensive damage from the fire at the governor’s official residence — but that the administration is shielding information about nearly a quarter of those expenses, including who was paid and exactly what the money was spent on.

    The news organization has also reported that private donors have separately contributed to a fund managed by a Harrisburg-based nonprofit to help restore the mansion. So far, neither the organization nor the administration has disclosed the donors’ identities, the amount they contributed to the fund, or provided a general description of what that money has or will be used for.

    In the letter sent to legislative leaders, the administration shed light on at least some of those questions. The officials said that to date, the state has submitted $4.5 million in expenses to one of its insurers, which in turn has so far approved $2 million in reimbursements.

    Security upgrades and improvements to the official residence, however, are not covered by the state’s insurance plans. The security improvements — recommended by a third-party review commissioned by the State Police in the wake of the attack — there include:

    • An estimated $14 million to replace the 6-foot fence that Balmer scaled with a “single material, 10-foot barrier resistant to vehicle damage or climbing.”
    • An estimated $6.3 million to install updated cameras, improve lighting, and add motion detection sensors in the residence’s yard.
    • An estimated $8 million to retrofit the residence’s existing windows with bulletproof and shatterproof glass.
    • An estimated $4 million to install a comprehensive fire suppression system in the residence, one of the largest state-owned buildings without one.

    “In addition to the visible and extensive building security enhancements outlined above, additional recommendations on things like staffing, internal systems, and other technology improvements have been implemented,” by the state, Paris and McNeill wrote. “To avoid risk of a successful security threat against the property or the Governor in the future, we cannot disclose all of those recommendations publicly.”

    The two men noted that the fire damaged multiple decorative items inside the residence, including chandeliers, china, pianos, and artwork. Most of those items, they said, do not qualify for insurance reimbursement, and their repair or replacement will be funded by private dollars.

    BEFORE YOU GO… If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.

  • Democrats in Upper Darby accuse a GOP council candidate and former police officer of racist posts

    Democrats in Upper Darby accuse a GOP council candidate and former police officer of racist posts

    Bob Yantorno, a Republican candidate for a seat on the Upper Darby Township Council, is facing scrutiny over material he posted three years ago that Democrats have decried as racist.

    Yantorno, 65, is a former commanding officer of the Narberth Police Department, a former paramedic, and a veteran of other law enforcement agencies. He’s running in the township’s 3rd District.

    Yantorno denies that anything he has ever posted was motivated by racism and said his social media comments reflected his outrage over incidents of violence.

    The controversy stems from posts Yantorno made in 2022 on Twitter, now known as X, in response to crime news stories from Fox 29 that involved Black suspects.

    “Take him out back n bullet in occipital section,” Yantorno wrote about a suspect from Drexel Hill charged with two homicides.

    “Arrest convict bury,” Yantorno wrote in response to a booking photo of a Camden man accused of rape.

    In a 2022 reply to an Upper Darby Police Department statement about a rash of thefts from automobiles, Yantorno wrote under four photos of young men in hoodies walking near cars but not stealing anything, “Common denominator?”

    The race of the men was not obvious from the photos posted by the department.

    Democrat Noah Fields, 25, who is running for one of two at-large council seats, neither of which Yantorno is seeking, condemned Yantorno in an interview for what he said was “shocking” and “hateful” speech, as well as “violent rhetoric.”

    Fields said that “racism has no place in Upper Darby.” He added that “this guy is calling for the execution of people without due process. The violent rhetoric we’re hearing on the national level is trickling down to local politics.”

    State Rep. Heather Boyd (D., Delaware), who represents Upper Darby, said the posts were “really upsetting, offensive, and disappointing.”

    She added, “We don’t want anyone in a position of influence to not consider people’s right to due process and the rule of law.”

    Asked about the posts in an interview Wednesday, Yantorno initially said he was unaware of their existence.

    “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What Democrats are saying is slanderous. People put stuff out there about me that’s not true,” Yantorno said. “All I can tell you that in the Narberth Police Department, my reputation was stellar.”

    Yantorno said he didn’t know how posts with his name, photo, and personal details got onto X. His page says he joined the platform in 2022 and features a profile photo of him in police uniform.

    He bristled at being called racist. He added, “I would never put a picture of somebody of any color and disparage them because of their race.”

    Yantorno said that personal experience has made him sensitive to race bias. He said that when he and his first wife, whom he identified as a woman of color, moved into a house in Stonehurst, an Upper Darby neighborhood, someone stuck a cross in their lawn.

    It was, Yantorno said, a symbol of hatred aimed at his then-wife.

    Similarly, he said, when he was a police officer in Yeadon, he and his former wife “fell in love” with a house they wanted to buy, but had to back out of the deal because their real estate agent said if they moved in, “someone would burn down the house and the real estate office.”

    Yantorno added without being asked: “You will never see anything from me online using the N-word. That’s not how I roll, brother.”

    A statement emailed Thursday by the Upper Darby Republican Campaign Committee included remarks attributed to Yantorno that differed from his original explanation.

    In the new statement, Yantorno no longer said he was unaware of the posts. Instead, he said, “those comments reflected my frustration and anger over the senseless violence in our community and had nothing to do with race.” He added that “claims of racism are offensive and absurd.”

    A GOP committee statement, which was not attributed to a specific person, emphasized Yantorno’s commitment to public service and said that he does not deserve a “fabricated inference that has no basis in reality.”

    Jeff Jones, an Upper Darby real estate developer who has been a Republican candidate for the council in the past, defended Yantorno.

    “I read the tweets. They were comments made by a gentleman 35 years in law environment who’s seen criminals and victims at their worst, and the frustration came through in those tweets,” said Jones, who is Black.

    Melissa DiNofia-Bozzone, Yantorno’s Democratic opponent for the 3rd District seat, declined to comment on the posts, saying, “I’m focused on running a positive campaign.”

    Friends describe Yantorno, a veteran, as a gregarious person with a desire to help his community.

    In 2020, he biked across the United States to raise money for families of slain police officers. He also did the ride, he said, for the family of Daniel Faulkner, the Philadelphia police officer who was killed in 1981. Mumia Abu-Jamal received the death penalty for the shooting, which was later reduced to a life sentence without parole.

    Yantorno is also the author of a 1995 crime novel set in Philadelphia called Brutal Mercies. According to the publishing company, Trafford, the story opens with “a horrific act of mutilation” in Overbrook that “leaves the police asking, ‘Why?’”

    Staff writers Katie Bernard and Ryan W. Briggs contributed to this article.

  • Johnny Doc played a pivotal role electing his brother to the Pa. Supreme Court. Ten years later, things are different.

    Johnny Doc played a pivotal role electing his brother to the Pa. Supreme Court. Ten years later, things are different.

    As Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty knocked on doors in Northeast Philadelphia last month, a voter made a connection.

    Peering out his front door on a sunny September day, the man asked if the mild-mannered and smiling white-haired justice standing on his front porch was related to former labor leader John Dougherty. Widely known as “Johnny Doc,” the former head of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and a onetime kingmaker in state and local politics was sentenced last year to six years in federal prison on embezzlement and bribery convictions.

    Despite the public fall from grace, the voter said he missed John Dougherty’s leadership in Philadelphia, adding that he believed Dougherty had been good for workers in the city. They are brothers, Kevin Dougherty confirmed.

    Justice Kevin Dougherty (left) canvasses with his son, State Rep. Sean Dougherty (center) in Fox Chase Sunday Sept. 7, 2025, stopping at the home of a voter. The elder Dougherty is one of three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices up for retention.

    The justice had spent the day asking voters in his neighborhood to keep him and two other justices on the state’s Supreme Court for an additional 10-year term. At that stage, many voters were not even aware of the typically sleepy and nonpartisan contest on which both parties are spending millions in the lead-up to the Nov. 4 election.

    But in this year’s unusually high-profile state Supreme Court retention race, the connection has, in some circles, become unavoidable. Republicans seeking to oust Kevin Dougherty and two of his colleagues, all initially elected as Democrats, have sought to tie the judge to his brother’s misdeeds. The justice, a son of South Philadelphia who previously led Philadelphia’s Family Court, has sought to distance himself, and has seen the continued support of labor unions in his retention campaign.

    “Over the course of 25 years as a judge, including ten years as a Justice on the Supreme Court, Justice Dougherty has had the privilege and the benefit of meeting a multitude of Pennsylvanians including the working men and women of organized labor,” Shane Carey, Kevin Dougherty’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “Our campaign is proud to receive their support, as well as the support from almost 5,000 other individual donors.”

    How Johnny Doc helped elect his brother to the Supreme Court in 2015

    Kevin Dougherty didn’t choose to be related to one of the city’s most prominent power brokers, but he certainly benefited from his brother’s former union’s help, with significant support from the politically powerful Local 98 during his 2015 campaign for the state bench.

    Local 98, where John Dougherty was the longtime business manager, contributed more than $620,000 during Kevin Dougherty’s 2015 campaign for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Local 98’s spokesperson at the time also served as Kevin Dougherty’s campaign manager and appears from campaign finance filings that year to have been paid by Local 98. The union also spent more than $480,000 on in-kind contributions for “professional services,” mailers, merchandise, and more.

    Justice Kevin Dougherty talks with volunteers before they head out the canvass in Fox Chase Sunday Sept. 7, 2025. Dougherty is one of three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices up for retention.

    Kevin Dougherty is the only justice up for retention from Southeastern Pennsylvania. The other justices, Christine Donohue and David Wecht, live in Pittsburgh. They will each appear on the November ballot with no party and no home county. Voters will simply be asked “yes” or “no” whether each individual justice should be retained for another term.

    Republicans working to oust the three justices this year have tried to leverage Kevin Dougherty’s past support from his brother to encourage voters to oppose his retention.

    Scott Presler, an influencer aligned with President Donald Trump who has more than 2.4 million followers and runs a political action committee aimed at registering Republican voters, posted an AI-generated image of John Dougherty behind bars, tying, without evidence, Local 98’s contributions to Kevin Dougherty’s 2015 campaign to his brother’s convictions.

    “Coincidence?” Presler wrote.

    Johnny Dougherty, the former IBEW business manger, and his attorney Gregory J. Pagano as they leave the U.S. District Court, Reading, Pa. on the day he was sentenced to 6 years in prison Thursday, July 11, 2024.

    For months, the conservative influencer has posted on social media urging followers to vote against retaining Kevin Dougherty and his colleagues, citing the times his name was mentioned during John Dougherty’s trials, such as when prosecutors alleged the justice received free home repairs or snow removal on the union’s dime. Kevin Dougherty’s lawyer at the time of the embezzlement trial said the judge never knowingly accepted services paid for with union funds.

    While door-knocking in September, Kevin Dougherty dismissed attacks against him related to his brother as “misinformation,” noting his decades-long career as a judge.

    Kevin Dougherty, 63, spent more than a decade as a Common Pleas Court judge in Philadelphia before his election to the state Supreme Court. During his tenure on the state’s highest court, he has authored majority opinions and is leading a statewide initiative to improve how Pennsylvania’s judicial system interacts with people with behavioral health issues.

    “I spent close to a quarter of a century being a judge,” Dougherty said on a sidewalk in Northeast Philly. “I just don’t accept people’s comments and judgment. I want to know what the motive behind those comments are. Some of these comments are just partisan … and I believe in my reputation.”

    The justice should be vetted on his own merits, said John Jones, a former U.S. District Court judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania who was appointed to the bench by former President George W. Bush.

    “You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your relatives,” Jones, now president of Dickinson College, added. “You have to judge the justice on his own merits. This is not a country where we favor guilt by association.”

    This time on the campaign trail, Kevin Dougherty has new familial support. State Rep. Sean Dougherty, a Democrat who was elected last year to represent parts of Northeast Philadelphia, has joined his dad to stump for his retention.

    Kevin Dougherty still has broad union support, including from Local 98

    With John Dougherty no longer at the helm of Local 98, labor unions in Pennsylvania this year still overwhelmingly supported the justice for retention, contributing $665,000 to Kevin Dougherty’s campaign as of September. While trades unions contributed the most of any interest group to all three justices — for a total of $903,000 as of the latest filings — Kevin Dougherty is the largest beneficiary of that support.

    Among those contributors: Local 98. The union, which has reorganized and distanced itself from John Dougherty since he was first convicted in 2021, gave $70,000 to Kevin Dougherty’s retention campaign.

    “IBEW Local 98 does not support candidates based on personal relationships,” said Tom Lepera, Local 98’s political director, in a statement. “We support candidates who understand and stand up for the needs of working men and women in organized labor. Justice Dougherty, along with Justices Donohue and Wecht, have consistently demonstrated their commitment to protecting the rights and interests of middle-class workers across this commonwealth.”

    Kevin Dougherty’s campaign did not respond to several questions this week about his brother’s role in his 2015 campaign or whether his brother’s reputation has influenced the retention campaign.

    Anti-retention material featuring President Donald Trump as Uncle Sam was on display at Republican rally in Bucks County last month headlined by Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a candidate for governor. The material is from Early Vote Action, a group led by GOP influencer Scott Presler.

    Union leaders insist their support for Kevin Dougherty this year has nothing to do with his brother and is a reflection of his quality work in the judiciary. Labor unions often support Democratic candidates, who are often seen as more beneficial to unions and their priorities.

    “It’s about keeping good judges on the bench,” said Ryan Boyer, leader of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella organization of local trades unions once commanded by John Dougherty. This year, the building trades gave just over $33,000 to each justice.

    “We don’t live on Mars where we don’t know that sometimes familial connections can be there,” Boyer said, “and they try to exploit those things.”

    Nonpartisan and Democratic groups favor Dougherty’s tenure on the bench

    Like his colleagues running for retention, Kevin Dougherty has earned broad support from nonpartisan and partisan groups alike.

    Dougherty was recommended for retention by the Pennsylvania Bar Association, which is a rigorous, nonpartisan decision based on a jurist’s behavior on the bench, and endorsed by several law enforcement organizations.

    Lauren Cristella, CEO of the Committee of Seventy, the Philadelphia-based good-government group, noted that the justice was never charged or found guilty of wrongdoing.

    Justices David Wecht, Christine Donohue and Kevin Dougherty sit onstage during a fireside chat at Central High School on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 in Philadelphia.

    “The Committee of Seventy relies on the findings of law enforcement and professional oversight organizations, such as the Bar Association, when evaluating judicial candidates. This year, the Pennsylvania Bar Association has evaluated Justice Dougherty and recommended him for retention. Our focus remains on transparency, accountability, and maintaining public trust in Pennsylvania’s courts,” Cristella said in a statement.

    Dougherty and his fellow justices have also gained the support of Gov. Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s popular Democratic governor, who in a fundraising email to Pennsylvania Democrats on Thursday urged voters to mark “yes” on retaining Dougherty, Donohue, and Wecht.

    Justice Kevin M. Dougherty listens during a Courtroom Dedication Ceremony at the Supreme Court Courtroom in Philadelphia City Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 in Philadelphia.

    “The threats to our freedoms are coming from all directions, and we need a Court that stands up for what’s right,” Shapiro said in the email. “Justices Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht have proven that we can count on them to protect freedom, reproductive rights, and the rule of law.”

    In a statement to The Inquirer, Kevin Dougherty didn’t mention his brother by name.

    “With regard to my personal relationship I love my big brother. For obvious reasons, my brother is not participating in my Retention campaign,” he said.

  • More than 300,000 Pennsylvanians need help heating their homes. The federal shutdown has delayed that assistance.

    More than 300,000 Pennsylvanians need help heating their homes. The federal shutdown has delayed that assistance.

    More than 300,000 Pennsylvanians who struggle to pay their heating bills will need to wait longer for assistance from the state government due to funding stoppages caused by the federal government shutdown.

    The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services said in a news release Wednesday that Pennsylvania will delay the opening of this year’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) until at least Dec. 3 because of a pause in federal funding due to the shutdown. The program was originally scheduled to open on Nov. 3.

    The opening date for the program will be reassessed once the shutdown ends and is contingent on the state receiving the delayed federal funds, Brandon Cwalina, DHS press secretary, said in a statement Thursday.

    LIHEAP distributes benefits to utility companies or home heating fuel providers for Pennsylvanians who need assistance paying their heating bills. The state has received more than $200 million each of the last two years from the federal government to carry out the program.

    Pennsylvania Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh said in the news release that the program “is especially critical for older adults and low-income families” as colder months approach.

    Once DHS receives federal funding after the shutdown ends, the department will begin accepting LIHEAP applications and will continue processing applications that had been received during the shutdown.

    This announcement comes the same week that DHS said nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians will not receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) next month if the shutdown continues. The food assistance program provides $366 million a month to low-income people in Pennsylvania, including roughly 500,000 in Philadelphia.

    Joline Price, an attorney in the energy unit at Community Legal Services who works with clients to advocate for their access to water, heat, and electricity, said many of the same households could be affected by a lack of SNAP benefits and assistance in paying their heating bills, creating a “huge and devastating impact.” The program assisted 56,000 Philadelphia households last season, she noted.

    “Even if some of these benefits become available later in November, they’re gonna be making really serious choices between food and utilities,” Price said. “It’s gonna be — I don’t even know that I have the words — it’s going to be bad.”

    Other resources are available in the meantime — for instance, some electric and gas companies offer assistance programs — but there are gaps that remain with LIHEAP help beginning later than expected. For instance, Pennsylvania has an annual winter utility shut-off moratorium for qualified residents from Dec. 1 through March 31, though it does not eliminate any outstanding home heating bills, DHS said.

    Prior to Dec. 1, low-income Pennsylvanians who are already “drowning” in utility costs could see their electric or gas shut off, Price said.

    “Until then, folks are vulnerable to having their electric or their gas shut off, which would then bring them into the winter without safe heating sources,” Price said.

    Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and members of his administration are arguing that impacts to crucial services are on the shoulders of Republicans in Washington, who hold both chambers of Congress and the White House. Meanwhile, Republicans are blaming the shutdown on Democrats because the majority party cannot pass funding legislation in the Senate without at least seven Democrats crossing the aisle.

    Arkoosh echoed Shapiro’s messaging Wednesday, saying of LIHEAP: “Inaction from the Republican-controlled Congress now threatens access to this assistance.”

    “I urge Congress and the White House to recognize the serious consequences that limiting heating assistance will have on the health and safety of people in Pennsylvania. Congress must come together for a solution that protects people most at risk,” she said.

  • Gov. Josh Shapiro will campaign for Democratic governor hopefuls Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger this weekend

    Gov. Josh Shapiro will campaign for Democratic governor hopefuls Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger this weekend

    Gov. Josh Shapiro is hitting the campaign trail in two key states this weekend.

    With less than two weeks left until Election Day, Shapiro will campaign and raise cash for U.S. Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D., N.J.) and Abigail Spanberger, (D., Va.), two Democratic hopefuls in high-stakes gubernatorial races that could preview the national mood ahead of next year’s midterms.

    Shapiro will campaign with Sherrill Saturday morning in Monroe Township at an event to mark the start of early in-person voting in the Democratic-leaning state which has grown increasingly red. The pair will then attend a Souls to the Polls event at a church in New Brunswick, Shapiro For Pennsylvania spokesperson Manuel Bonder said.

    The governor is also expected to hold a fundraiser for the New Jersey Democratic State Committee to benefit Sherrill’s campaign later in the day.

    On Sunday, Shapiro will head to Virginia to attend events in Portsmouth and Norfolk with Spanberger.

    Sherrill has amped up her campaigning in recent weeks, and she’s brought out big Democratic names to help her. In the last three weeks, she’s campaigned with New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, and with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is planning a visit to New Jersey next weekend, and Sherrill’s campaign curtain call the Saturday before Election Day will feature a rally with former President Barack Obama.

    National Democrats see the Garden State governor’s race as a must-win, and despite polling showing Sherrill up in the race, nerves are high after President Donald Trump lost the state by only four points in November.

    Democrats have spent a record amount to win the New Jersey governor’s race. Why some insiders are still nervous.
    This combination photo shows candidates for governor of New Jersey Republican Jack Ciattarelli, left, and Democrat Mikie Sherrill during the final debate in governors race, Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (AP Photos/Heather Khalifa)

    Why Shapiro is involved in the New Jersey governor’s race

    Shapiro is a big draw on the campaign trail as he continues to build a national profile, and gears up for his own reelection campaign next year. The first-term governor, who is seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, announced the 2026 release of a memoir this week.

    His multi-state gubernatorial stumping follows investments in races in Pennsylvania. He donated $250,000 from his campaign fund to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party last month. And he’s appeared in ads for the judicial races in Pennsylvania, in which Democrats hope to retain three judges there.

    In a September poll by Quinnipiac University, 61% of respondents said they viewed Shapiro favorably, an unprecedented figure among recent Pennsylvania governors at the same point in their terms, pollsters noted.

    The poll also found that Shapiro is viewed favorably by some Republicans, an across-the-aisle appeal that appears to extend across the Delaware River.

    Shapiro’s been lauded by Sherrill’s Republican opponent in the New Jersey race, Jack Ciattarelli, a trend chronicled recently by Politico.

    Ciattarelli commended Shapiro’s willingness to criticize New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s past comments on Israel, and praised his handling of small businesses, energy and property taxes in Pennsylvania, contrastingly saying New Jersey faces a “crisis” in all three.

    Sherrill has said frequently that she wants to mimic Pennsylvania’s success in cutting the time it takes business owners to get permits from state government.

    This story has been updated to correct the location of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s first stop with U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill on the campaign trail Saturday.