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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.

  • 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.

  • Shapiro stumps for N.J. gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill

    Shapiro stumps for N.J. gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill

    On the first day of early in-person voting in New Jersey, and with U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, showing a slim polling edge over her Republican opponent, Democrats called in the popular governor from neighboring Pennsylvania to drum up some enthusiasm among Garden State voters.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro stumped for Sherrill at a senior center auditorium and an African Methodist Episcopal church, targeting two groups seen as necessary for Sherrill to beat Republican Jack Ciattarelli.

    “Thank you for getting off the sidelines,” Shapiro said to the crowd at the senior center, several of whom said they either voted by mail already or were on their way to the polls. “Thank you for doing your part. Thank you for being in this game. I am grateful.”

    Outside the Monroe Township senior center, Shapiro was a big draw among the crowd that lined up early Saturday to get through security.

    “He’s very well liked,” said Connie Hamlin, 71, of Monroe Township, who sipped coffee to stay warm “Number one, he’s handsome. He’s young. That’s very important.”

    Equally important, she said, is that Shapiro is “for democracy” and “a decent person,” two traits she said President Donald Trump lacks.

    Shapiro got standing ovations and roaring applause, but Sherrill was the main event. The Navy veteran and former federal prosecutor finds herself in a tight race with Ciattarelli, a business owner and former state lawmaker. A recent Rutgers-Eagleton poll found Sherrill with a five-percentage-point lead.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro on the campaign trail for NJ gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill (left) Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025.

    At the two campaign stops, Sherrill ripped into Trump, saying that while the prices of consumer goods like coffee have skyrocketed, “Trump and his family are making billions.”

    Sherrill said her opponent would rubber-stamp Trump administration policies that are unpopular with many in New Jersey — such as his cancellation of $16 billion in funding to build two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River.

    “It’s about opportunity and affordability,” Sherrill said. “We’re fighting for our kids, to make sure they have a better future.”

    Ciattarelli hit the campaign trail as well Saturday, stopping in Passaic, Bergen, and Morris Counties with a message of “a stronger, safer, and more affordable New Jersey,” according to Facebook posts.

    Friday evening, Trump held a tele-rally for Ciattarelli, in which he said Sherrill would “be a travesty as the governor of New Jersey” and urged Republicans to take part in early voting.

    “You got to make sure the votes are counted, because New Jersey has a little bit of a rough reputation, I must be honest,” Trump said.

    There is no evidence of mass voter fraud in New Jersey or anywhere else in recent elections, but Trump still claims the 2020 election was rigged against him and has appointed a notorious Pennsylvania election denier to a federal position monitoring elections. On Friday, the Department of Justice said it will send federal observers to monitor elections in New Jersey and California.

    At a news conference Saturday, Sherrill said she is proud that New Jersey’s elections have been “open, transparent, and free.”

    “And we’re going to continue to do that, and ensure we don’t have any voter intimidation,” Sherrill said.

    At the senior center, Hamlin said she supports Sherrill’s plan to lower energy costs, likes that she’s a woman, and feels it’s important that the next governor is a Democrat. “She’s soft-spoken, but she has meaningful things to say,” Hamlin said.

    Shapiro spoke about how he was raised and how his faith teaches him that “no one is required to complete the task, but neither are we free to refrain from it.”

    The message wasn’t lost on Steve Riback, who said Trump has given antisemites and other extremists “license to come out of the woodwork.” Riback, who is Jewish, said that Shapiro would be his top choice for president in 2028, above Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

    Shapiro urged voters frustrated with Trump to send a message to the rest of the country “that here in Jersey, we value our freedom, we cherish our democracy, and we love our country.”

    And Shapiro held up Sherrill as someone who would get things done in New Jersey. Sherrill has cited Pennsylvania as an example of a state with more efficient business licensure rules and better-managed energy costs.

    Shapiro, who has not officially announced his reelection campaign, has long been floated as a presidential hopeful by Democratic insiders and national pundits. Shapiro’s soon-to-be-released memoir will likely add to speculation about his 2026 intentions.

    After the senior center visit, Shapiro and Sherrill hit the turnpike up to New Brunswick, where a packed Mount Zion A.M.E. Church — congregants had come in on buses from around the state — was waiting for him.

    Shapiro said it was up to Democrats to keep, and build upon, what the founders created. “We are those people, and this is a moment where we have to do this work. We’ve got to stand up for our rights,” he said. “We’ve got to keep perfecting our union.”

    Pheobie Thomas, an A.M.E. member who traveled from Trenton for church, said Shapiro and Sherrill offered promising signs that they support “equitable access for all people, including Black people.”

    Thomas, 48, said there is a long history of Democratic politicians courting Black churches for votes, and for good reason.

    “The Black church is extremely important,” Thomas said. “We do go to the polls. We do show up.”

    As for Shapiro, she said he was speaking to New Jersey — but at the same time, he hinted that he was speaking to a broader audience.

    “You just know that there’s that potential of, you know, ‘I may come back again to ask for your vote.’”

    Staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article.

  • $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.

  • Penn releases letter rejecting Trump compact

    Penn releases letter rejecting Trump compact

    The University of Pennsylvania on Friday afternoon released the letter that President J. Larry Jameson sent to the U.S. Department of Education last week, explaining why the school rejected the compact proposed by President Donald Trump’s administration.

    Several other schools, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College, and Brown University, already have released their letters rejecting the compact.

    “Our university policies and practices are already aligned with many of the core principles of the Compact…” Jameson wrote. But “we find that significant portions of the Compact and its overarching framing would undermine Penn’s ability to advance our mission and the nation’s interests.”

    The “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” was the latest attempt by the Trump administration to force changes in the way universities operate as the president tries to reshape higher education to match his vision. It offered colleges that sign preferential consideration for federal funding. It’s still not clear what penalty, if any, Penn — which receives about $1 billion annually in federal funding — will face for not signing.

    “Institutions of higher education are free to develop models and values other than [those in the compact], if the institution elects to forego federal benefits,” the compact states.

    Penn last week declined to release its letter, but Jameson in a message to the campus community Friday afternoon said “in the spirit of transparency” he would share it. He said he’d received many requests for its release.

    Billionaire Marc Rowan quietly donated to Penn and still leads Wharton advisory board, while helping with Trump’s university compact

    The university has not had further discussions with the government since rejecting the compact, Jameson said, noting “we believe there remains opportunity to advance the long-standing relationship between American higher education and the federal government which has greatly benefited our community, nation and world.”

    But he also was clear that Penn’s greatest partnership is with the public.

    “America’s great universities already have a compact with the American people,” he said. “It is built on the open exchange of ideas, merit-based selection and achievement, and freedom of inquiry to yield knowledge. It affirms that knowledge should serve the public good, that education should remain a ladder of opportunity, and that discovery should make life better, richer, and freer.”

    Jameson highlighted seven areas where he said Penn and the compact appear to be in alignment and five areas that pose concerns.

    Philly-area colleges see dips in Black, Latino students post Supreme Court decision on race-conscious admissions

    Areas of agreement include hiring and promotion standards and “merit based admissions” that comply with the law, including the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that banned the use of race-based admission, Jameson said. The university also has reinstituted a standardized test score requirement for admission; Penn like many others had paused the requirement during the pandemic. And, its undergraduate student body is 13% international, Jameson said. That’s under the 15% mark that the compact would require.

    Penn also is in compliance with federal foreign gift regulations and has “viewpoint-neutral rules” governing protests and expression, he said.

    The university last year adopted an “institutional neutrality” policy, which states that the school will no longer make statements about world events unless they have a direct effect on Penn’s operations; the compact calls for schools to adhere to institutional neutrality.

    Penn faculty senate overwhelmingly votes to urge university leaders to reject Trump compact

    While the university hasn’t agreed to freezing tuition for five years as the compact asks, the school has taken steps to make education more affordable, Jameson said, noting that its aid is all grants and no loans and is need based. Nearly half its students receive aid, he said.

    And, Jameson said, Penn officials “share concerns about grade inflation and believe there may be an opportunity to engage the higher education community to seek a broader solution.”

    But Penn objects to federal funding being meted out based on signing a compact, Jameson said.

    “Research and our nation are better served by competition that rewards promise and performance,” he said. “Penn seeks no special consideration beyond fair and merit-based funding.”

    The compact fails to promise or even mention academic freedom, which is “the bedrock of our national system of higher education,” Jameson said. It seeks to protect conservative thought alone, he said.

    “One-sided conditions conflict with the viewpoint diversity and freedom of expression that are central to how universities contribute to democracy and to society,” Jameson wrote.

    He also objected to the compact mandating free tuition to students in the “hard sciences.”

    “We celebrate the sciences,” Jameson wrote. “However, we focus our financial aid efforts on those who cannot afford to pay, ensuring that a Penn education is accessible to those who are offered admission.”

    Jameson also called out the compact’s financial penalties for failing to comply “based on subjective standards and undefined processes.” That could endanger teaching and research, he said.

    “Universities must be accountable for their actions,” he wrote. “We believe that existing laws and policies suffice to achieve compliance and accountability.”

    Many groups on campus had spoken out against the compact and were watching closely, given that the university had struck an agreement with the Education Department in July over the participation of a transgender athlete on the women’s swim team.

    Penn’s announcement that it would reject the compact brought praise from local and state officials, including Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.

  • 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.

  • Massive Bucks data center spurs call to protect consumers from getting hit with power grid costs

    Massive Bucks data center spurs call to protect consumers from getting hit with power grid costs

    An independent monitor has asked federal officials to ensure consumers don’t get stuck with the bill if the electric grid can’t handle power needs of a massive data center planned for Bucks County.

    The monitor, Joseph Bowring, filed comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week, asking that a Sept. 23 transmission service agreement between Peco and Amazon Data Services be rejected.

    The agreement is regarding the 2 million-square-foot “digital infrastructure campus” Amazon plans for the Keystone Trade Center, an 1,800-acre property once owned by U.S. Steel, according to Falls Township. The data center, meant to handle computing needs of the wildly increasing demand for AI, has been heralded by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and the Trump administration.

    But Bowring, the independent market monitor for the region’s grid operator PJM, questioned the agreement, which is designed to protect power customers from economic risks associated with the cost of upgrading systems to handle the new load.

    In the agreement, Peco sought to ensure, among other things, that consumers don’t get stuck with the bill for grid upgrades if Amazon never builds the data center.

    However, Bowring said that the agreement does not “address the key question of whether there is sufficient capacity to serve the identified large new data center load without imposing significant and unacceptable reliability- and capacity-related cost impacts on all PJM customers.”

    He’s not alone in concerns about the cost data centers could impose on homeowners and other power customers. Many have already seen utility bills rise rapidly in the past few months.

    PJM, Peco, and the grid

    Montgomery County-based PJM manages the electric grid for all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia. PJM is responsible for maintaining grid reliability, coordinating electric flow, and assessing capacity. It is the largest regional transmission organization in the U.S.

    The data center lies in Peco’s service territory within the PJM grid.

    The capacity and reliability of electrical grids across the United States has emerged as a major issue as data centers rush to go online.

    David Mills, chair of the PJM Board of Managers, wrote in an August letter to stakeholders that PJM is forecasting peak load growth of 32 gigawatts by 2030. Of that, 30 gigawatts is projected to come from data centers.

    Grid operators and power companies like Peco are scrambling to evaluate whether they can provide continuous electricity with the massive new loads without expensive upgrades such as new transmission lines and substations — costs that advocates fear will be passed onto consumers.

    Map produced by the National Resources Defense Council estimates electricity capacity costs to utility companies based on PJM forecasts through 2032.

    Protecting consumers

    Making sure power consumers don’t get stuck with the cost of upgrades has been a key point of consumer advocates.

    Bowring wrote that while the agreement does include some important provisions to protect energy customers from risk, it does not go far enough.

    “The Market Monitor recommends that the agreement not be approved unless Peco can demonstrate that the referenced new data center load can be served reliably and economically,” Bowring wrote to FERC.

    The Falls Township data center is one of two big projects Amazon has planned in Pennsylvania, Shapiro announced in June.

    Amazon will spend $20 billion to build two data centers in Pennsylvania

    The company plans to invest at least $20 billion in the construction of data center complexes in Pennsylvania, in what officials called the largest private-sector investment in the state’s history. The second complex would be built alongside a nuclear power plant in Luzerne County.

    Both would require enormous amounts of power.

    For example, FERC has already rejected one Amazon “behind-the-meter” power connection of 480 megawatts for the Luzerne County data center. That’s more power than is consumed by some small cities.

    Bowring addressed the data centers during a summit on PJM at the National Constitution Center in September that was attended by multiple governors, including Shapiro.

    “PJM has a problem: Capacity,” Bowring said at the summit. “There’s no extra capacity, and there’s lots of data centers that want to join. … It cannot be handled by the market as it exists.”

    PJM has said it does not have the authority to deny the interconnection of new data center loads even if it does not have the capacity. Bowring disagrees but is asking FERC to clarify the matter.

    Peco’s ‘extensive planning’

    Greg Smore, a Peco spokesperson, said the utility is working with Amazon.

    “We have done extensive planning to ensure we can deliver the energy needed to power this data center through our transmission and distribution system,” Smore said. “That data center, like any other large customer, is responsible for procuring electric supply, through an energy supplier or the existing PJM energy market.”

    Smore said that knowing there’s “an adequate supply of energy to serve all our customers at a reasonable price is a real concern.”

    So Peco, which is owned by Exelon, is working with stakeholders, he said, to add more generation to the grid while ensuring reliability and help address rising energy supply costs.

    He said the agreement with Amazon “protects all customers in Southeastern Pennsylvania from bearing greater transmission service costs if the data center does not make the sizable contribution to our system costs that would be expected.”

    Advocates fear costs to public

    The nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental advocacy group, estimates Peco could pay $9.1 billion in costs by 2033 related to the need for greater capacity.

    “The projected demand from data centers is vastly outstripping the amount of new supply in PJM,” said Claire Lang-Ree, an advocate with NRDC.

    “It will cause power bills to rise and stay high for the coming decade, mainly through capacity cost increases,” Lang-Ree said.

    The NRDC estimates cumulative costs could result in a $70 monthly rise in average electric bills in coming years across the PJM grid.

    In addition, she said it would lead to a decline in reliability and an increased risk of blackouts for the general public. And, she said, the power demand could undermine states’ clean energy and air quality goals.

    “It’s really hard to overstate what’s at stake here,” Lang-Ree said.

    Clara Summers of Consumers for a Better Grid, a nonprofit watchdog, said states should impose tariffs to be paid by data centers to support the large power loads they require and ensure that costs of new utility infrastructure doesn’t fall unfairly on consumers. And data centers should provide their own electric supply.

    Summers likened not taking action to allowing the wealthiest acquaintances at a restaurant gathering to order the most expensive food, then, “dining and dashing.”

    “Unless something is done, everyday people will be left holding the check for some of the wealthiest companies in the world, and that’s unacceptable,” Summers said.

    This story has been updated to reflect comments from Peco.

  • 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.

  • The Pa. Senate GOP approved a budget bill that Democrats say won’t even cover the state’s obligations

    The Pa. Senate GOP approved a budget bill that Democrats say won’t even cover the state’s obligations

    HARRISBURG — The Republican-led Pennsylvania Senate sent a $47.9 billion spending plan to the state House on Tuesday, but the proposal was dead on arrival and deemed “unserious” in the Democratic-controlled chamber, marking the latest chapter of the nearly four-month-long budget impasse in the state’s bitterly divided legislature.

    The Senate GOP plan, which passed the chamber by a 27-23 vote along party lines, included a $300 million, or 0.6%, total increase over last year’s budget that is intended to cover the state’s debt service and pension obligations, in addition to cutting operational spending for the legislative body by 5%, said Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana).

    The Republican senators’ spending plan amended a bill that passed with a narrow bipartisan majority in the House earlier this month to spend $50.25 billion for the 2025-26 fiscal year, allow for significant increases in public education spending, and cover increased Medicaid expenses.

    Now 100 days late, the Pa. House OK’d a $50.3 billion budget but still no agreement with Senate as tempers flare

    The House Democrats’ $50.25 billion spending bill was a slight decrease from the $51.5 billion budget proposal Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro pitched in February. And it was an attempt by House Democrats at reaching a compromise — decreasing their proposed spending by 2.4% over Shapiro’s initial pitch — after encouragement from Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) for legislative leaders to bring the usually closed-door budget negotiations into the public eye.

    But the Senate GOP’s counteroffer passed Tuesday included little compromise and little increase in spending. However, it is a budget that would fund Pennsylvania’s needs rather than wants, several top GOP senators said during floor debate on the bill.

    “All it takes is one day and one vote to end this ‘Shapiro Shutdown,’” Pittman said in his floor remarks in support of the GOP budget bill.

    Several GOP senators noted the state’s fiscal outlook as the reason lawmakers cannot afford to spend much more over last year, as Pennsylvania is on track to bring in $46.4 billion during the 2025-26 fiscal year, which is significantly less than Shapiro and House Democrats want to spend.

    Pennsylvania is sitting on approximately $10 billion in reserves, from its leftover balance from the 2024-25 fiscal year and its hefty Rainy Day Fund. Democrats want to tap into those reserves and reinvest them in the state, while Republicans believe it is critical to protect those funds to maintain the state’s bond rating or cut taxes as a way to reinvest those surpluses back into taxpayers’ pockets.

    Top Senate Republicans on Tuesday urged the state House to return to session and pass their $47.9 billion spending plan as the most responsible way to protect Pennsylvania taxpayers in future years. And some offered criticism of Shapiro, who has continued to host news conferences around Pennsylvania during the 113-day budget impasse, accusing the governor of failing to lead in Harrisburg on budget negotiations.

    “If you want to have an honest conversation about how to get this budget done, a governor gallivanting across the state taking potshots at members of this caucus doesn’t help,” Pittman said.

    What was not mentioned Tuesday among Senate Republicans was that $47.9 billion is the highest number that the most conservative members of the GOP Senate caucus have pledged to spend. Sen. Dawn Keefer (R., Cumberland), who led the House Freedom Caucus before her election to the state Senate last year, even went as far as to take a flamethrower to a replica of Shapiro’s budget proposal in a social media video earlier this year while promising viewers through a rhyme that she would “hold the line at $47.9″ billion.

    Pennsylvania’s state budget is months late. Leaders still can’t agree on the basics.
    Sign posted by the PA Senate at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg Aug. 26, 2025, reminds visitors of the state’s “multi-billion dollar structural deficit.”

    Senate Democrats firmly rejected the GOP plan as a farce that would not cover the state’s obligations for this fiscal year or make critical increases to public education funding needed to improve Pennsylvania’s school funding system. The top Senate Democratic leader, Sen. Jay Costa (D., Allegheny), tried several legislative maneuvers to try to get the Senate to vote on the House Democrats’ bill instead of the GOP proposal, all of which failed.

    “They thumbed their noses and they said, ‘Go to heck,’” State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Philadelphia), the minority chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said of his GOP colleagues’ response to the House bill ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

    Senator Vincent Hughes, speaks at the Round table with Pennsylvania lawmakers, stakeholders, health systems to discuss potential cuts to Medicaid and ACA at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.

    Shapiro, following a news conference in Allegheny County on Tuesday, voiced a similar sentiment when he told reporters the Senate’s proposal was “a joke” and “not designed to be serious or get the job done.” He again urged top GOP Senate leaders to begin meeting with top House Democrats to finalize a budget deal.

    Budget talks have largely stalled since August, when the urgency for a deal seemed to dwindle after Shapiro and Democrats agreed to remove mass transit from the negotiation table, a top Democratic priority.

    Why there was no deal for SEPTA in Harrisburg after all

    “I’m sorry transit didn’t get funded. But just because your top priority didn’t get addressed doesn’t mean that our priorities are no longer relevant, and that’s a hard truth,” Pittman, who has been critical of Pennsylvania’s mass transit systems and was a major roadblock in finalizing a deal, said Tuesday.

    And, as evidenced by Tuesday’s vote, leaders still do not agree on how much Pennsylvania should spend for the current fiscal year, now almost in its fifth month. Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation without any spending plan. North Carolina, which passed a six-month budget in early summer, returned to session this week to finish budget negotiations.

    During the stalemate, schools, counties, and service providers have had to lay off staff or take out significant loans to stay afloat in the absence of any state payments. School districts have had to make up more than $3 billion in expected payments from the state during the monthslong impasse.

  • Gov. Josh Shapiro will release a memoir in 2026

    Gov. Josh Shapiro will release a memoir in 2026

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will release a memoir next year detailing his career and personal life, including when a man firebombed the governor’s mansion while Shapiro and his family slept inside and his place on the short list for Kamala Harris’ vice president.

    On Tuesday, Harper — an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing — announced the release of Shapiro’s forthcoming memoir, Where We Keep the Light: Stories From a Life of Service, which will hit shelves on Jan. 27, 2026.

    Shapiro is the latest potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender to announce a book deal, another step in building and defining a national profile.

    Shapiro, 52, has worked in some level of government for his entire career: on Capitol Hill as a staffer, in Montgomery County as a commissioner, and in Harrisburg as a state representative, attorney general, and now governor. He has noted that he has never lost an election, going back to his election as student body president his freshman year at the University of Rochester. Along the way, elected officials have whispered about his talents as a politician, orator, and rumored presidential ambitions.

    Josh Shapiro’s rise wasn’t accidental. Just ask those who helped him get here — or felt betrayed along the way

    The Montgomery County native has become a key player in the national Democratic Party, touting a brand as a governor of a split legislature in the most sought-after swing state. His administration’s motto is “Get Stuff Done,” which he defines as bringing Democrats and Republicans together to accomplish long-delayed reforms, or restarting residents’ trust by improving their interactions with state government. (Pennsylvania still has not finished its state budget, which was due July 1, as legislators from the Democratic-controlled House and GOP-controlled Senate cannot agree on how much they should spend this fiscal year and causing school districts, counties, and nonprofits to take out significant loans to continue offering services during the 113-day budget impasse.)

    Shapiro’s rise through the Democratic Party ranks skyrocketed last year, when he became a front-runner for vice president during Harris’ whirlwind, 107-day presidential campaign, in which she ultimately chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Harris also released a book this year, which includes stories from her interview with Shapiro for the role.

    ‘Overly ambitious’: New book about the 2024 election details why Kamala Harris passed over Gov. Josh Shapiro for VP
    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago.

    While book deals are often signifiers for officials hoping to take another step up in government, Shapiro still faces reelection next year. He will likely face Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a Republican who has already captured the state GOP’s endorsement. Garrity is a retired U.S. Army colonel, and has focused some of her criticisms of Shapiro thus far on his presumed eye for higher office. However, Shapiro still maintains a high approval rating in Pennsylvania, a state President Donald Trump won last year.

    Shapiro’s memoir will also detail the arson attack on the governor’s mansion, in which, just hours after Passover earlier this year, Cody Balmer set the home ablaze with incendiary devices. Balmer pleaded guilty last week to attempted murder.

    The arson at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion erupted within minutes. The impact lingers.

    Shapiro, who was born in Kansas City, Mo., before moving to Montgomery County, has credited his upbringing by his parents — his father a pediatrician, and his mother an educator — as laying the foundation for his life in public service. Shapiro has four children and is married to his high school sweetheart, Lori. He and his family still live in Abington Township and split their time between their family home and the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg.