Youth- and immigrant-rights allies called on Gov. Josh Shapiro Wednesday to immediately remove children from a Berks County center that they said harms those held there, including migrant kids who arrived at the U.S. border unaccompanied by parents.
Speakers at an afternoon news conference held near the Abraxas Academy in Morgantown, Pa., asked the governor to issue an emergency removal order ― typically enforced to protect children in imminent danger of physical or emotional abuse.
“Pennsylvania cannot continue to expose these kids to Abraxas’s abuse,” said Evan Feldberg-Bannatyne, an organizer with the youth-advocacy group Care, Not Control. “We need an ERO now.”
The Shapiro administration said Wednesday that the Department of Human Services will continue to closely monitor the situation to determine next steps and ensure the safety of those living there.
If DHS were to issue an ERO, it would not take custody of the young people or direct their placement. Instead, Abraxas would need to notify the federal government for immigrant youths, or the state court for Pennsylvania residents, to find other placements. DHS would monitor the wind-down of operations, which can take time, the administration said.
“The department’s top priority is ensuring the safety of youth in the facilities we license, and it is concerning whenever we receive a report or allegation that a young person was put at risk,” said DHS spokesperson Brandon Cwalina. “When that happens, the Shapiro administration works urgently to ensure that any allegations and potential violations are investigated and handled.”
Pittsburgh-based Abraxas Youth and Family Services said in a statement Friday that it was “aware of the concerns raised regarding Abraxas Academy in Morgantown,” and that “the safety and well-being of those in our care is our highest priority, and we take any allegation or concern seriously.”
“Programs like Abraxas Academy operate within a regulated system with established standards for care and accountability that are in alignment with our state and federal partners and their regulations,” the statement said. “We are committed to meeting those expectations and upholding the responsibilities entrusted to us by families and government.”
The agency website describes the Abraxas Academy as providing secure residential treatment and detention for male young people, ages 14 to 19, who face serious charges or have demonstrated delinquent patterns through multiple placements.
Since October, the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is responsible for “unaccompanied minors,” the migrant children who arrive at the border without parents, has held some teenage boys at the center, which has a documented history of staff physically and sexually abusing juvenile offenders, a Washington Post investigation found.
State inspectors documented at least 15 incidents since 2013 in which they said staff physically mistreated minors at the facility, which mainly holds juveniles facing or convicted of criminal offenses, The Post reported. In at least two incidents, officials documented allegations of staff sexually harassing or sexually abusing young residents, the newspaper reported.
After some incidents, Abraxas suspended or fired staff members and submitted correction plans to state regulators, The Post said.
DHS’s Cwalina noted that in November, the department revoked the license for Abraxas Academy’s Secure Detention Unit. Immigrant youths are not held there. Abraxas appealed and continues to operate the unit while the appeal goes forward.
Abraxas has two other licenses that remain in place, subject to periodic, unannounced inspections. The DHS Office of Children, Youth, and Families is on site weekly — including today — to monitor the center’s operations, he said.
“We do not want detention centers in our state,” said Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition. “We fight for the closure of immigrant detention. Our communities do not need more cages.”
Detention is particularly disturbing, she said, when it extends to children who have come to this country seeking shelter and safety.
By law, ORR must provide care for unaccompanied children, defined as those who have no legal immigration status, have not yet turned 18, and have no parent or guardian in the United States. ORR says it tries to find sponsors, most often a close relative in this country, and in the meantime provides care at one of nearly 200 facilities.
However, a 2025 rule change now allows ORR to consider a potential sponsor’s immigration status, and to share that information with enforcement agencies. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco says that discourages undocumented family members from becoming sponsors, leaving children in government custody longer and hurting their well-being.
“It is immoral and unimaginable that in our backyard, children are being held in such violence and unsafe conditions,” said Gaby Lopez, lead organizer in Reading for Make The Road, which works to help immigrants. “Children need to be with their loved ones.”
The United States needs an immigration system that welcomes those who come here to share their talents and be part of the American story, she said, not one that replicates the violence they experienced in their homelands.
“Gov. Shapiro,” she said, “Issue an emergency removal order now, and protect families across Pennsylvania now.”
Council President Kenyatta Johnson, a Democrat who controls the flow of legislation in the chamber, said he has scheduled a hearing to take place at 10 a.m. on April 6 before the Committee of the Whole, which comprises all 17 Council members.
That means every lawmaker will have the opportunity to question members of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, as well as immigration advocates, about the package.
The timeline means mid-April is the earliest that Council could pass the package. Fifteen of the body’s 17 members have expressed support, and that constitutes a veto-proof majority.
City Councilmembers Rue Landau, a Democrat, and Kendra Brooks, of the progressive Working Families Party, sponsored the legislation introduced in January, which prohibits ICE agents from wearing masks, bans them from staging raids on city property, and makes it illegal to discriminate against someone based on immigration status.
The legislation also clarifies how and when Philadelphia officials can coordinate with federal immigration enforcement.
Parker has said an executive order signed by her predecessor remains in place, limiting some cooperation between law enforcement and ICE. But the legislation that Council is considering goes further, codifying a prohibition on city officials assisting ICE and prohibiting data-sharing agreements.
Interfaith religious and community leaders prayer vigil outside the Philadelphia U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office at 114 N. 8th Street in Center City on March 2.
It comes as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is undergoing a revamping to its leadership structure. President Donald Trump on Thursday ousted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and said he intends to nominate U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R, Okla.) to replace her.
Several local officials said this week that they’re worried the federal government will surge enforcement efforts in Philadelphia in order to fill the centers, and that the city must move quickly to pass its legislation.
“I’m extremely concerned,” said City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, a Democrat whose North Philadelphia-based district has a large immigrant population. “We need to really figure out what our position is as it relates to working with ICE very closely. We have community residents that we should be protecting.”
Two are in Pennsylvania and could reportedly hold about 9,000 beds in total.
Spotlight PA reported Tuesday that ICE is referring to a facility in Tremont, located in Schuylkill County, as the “New ICE Philadelphia Mega Center” and one in Upper Bern Township in Berks County as the “New ICE Philadelphia Processing Center.”
Landau said Council is “paying close attention to these developments and the questions they raise about the expansion of detention facilities in our area.”
“The majority of Philadelphians are deeply disturbed by ICE’s tactics,” she said.
Johnson said in an interview last month that the detention centers are a reason to move swiftly on the ICE-related legislation.
The proposed laws, he said, are a means to “be out in front” of a potential surge of immigration enforcement in the city.
“Some people say, ‘Well, they’re not even here yet.’ But they just built a warehouse in [Berks County],’” Johnson said. “I believe that was strategic. It took some planning to say ‘We want to set up shop right in your backyard.’”
More than 800 former federal workers have been hired by the Pennsylvania government in the last year, as thousands of Pennsylvania-based federal government employees quit or lost their jobs.
Pennsylvania’s Office of Administration announced the count this week. It’s been one year since Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order streamlining the hiring of former federal workers to state-government positions.
“Federal employees bring world-class training and a deep commitment to public service,” Neil Weaver, secretary of the Office of Administration, said in a statement this week. “By tapping into their expertise, we’ve strengthened our workforce and improved the delivery of programs and services that Pennsylvanians depend on every day.”
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The 800 former federal employees who now work for Pennsylvania are in law enforcement, public safety, human services, health care, and other areas.
The Office of Administration said it had “moved at the speed of business to implement the executive order and capitalize on the opportunity to hire displaced federal workers to fill existing, funded vacancies in state agencies.”
Pennsylvania partnered with Civic Match, a job-seeking platform focused on state and local government positions, and which hosts virtual job fairs. The platform is managed by national nonprofit Work for America. Since it launched in 2024, the platform has shown almost 900 Pennsylvania job listings.
As of Thursday afternoon, Pennsylvania’s own online job board showed 657 vacancies. They include an aquatic biologist, police cadet, accountant, and an air monitoring equipment specialist.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro joined Democratic leaders from nearly two dozen states in challenging President Donald Trump’s latest global tariffs.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Shapiro and the other state leaders argue Trump’s plan to impose 15% tariffs, which comes after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked his last round of global tariffs, oversteps his powers.
“The Supreme Court got it right — but instead of following the law, Trump decided to double down,” Shapiro said in a statement.
“This President’s tariffs have done nothing but cause chaos and raise prices for our farmers, small businesses, and families,” Shapiro said. “I’ve gone to court before to protect Pennsylvanians from the costs of this disastrous trade war — and I’m ready to do it again.”
The suit, which is being led by the attorneys general of Oregon, Arizona, California, and New York, marks the 21st legal action Shapiro has filed or joined against the administration during Trump’s second term, including two suits he has led.
Trump’s first round of tariffs sent shock waves through the U.S. economy as prices rose. Exports, including Pennsylvania’s lumber sales, also suffered.
Shapiro, who is up for reelection this year, has long highlighted his willingness to go up against Trump in court. That record began during Trump’s first term, when Shapiro was state attorney general.
In Trump’s second term, Shapiro has repeatedly stepped in to sue on behalf of Pennsylvania when Republican Attorney General Dave Sunday has not.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, the only other governor signed onto the case, faces similar circumstances in his Republican-leaning state. Both Beshear and Shapiro are seen as likely contenders for the Democratic nomination in 2028.
New Jersey and Delaware, which have Democratic attorneys general, also joined the suit.
“Tariffs raise prices for hard-working families and businesses across New Jersey,” New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement. “I will keep fighting against the imposition of unnecessary and illegal costs on our consumers. We’re going to court to protect our state from these illogical and illegal tariffs.”
Trump criticized the high court during last week’s State of the Union address, calling the ruling “very unfortunate.” Trump said in the speech that his new tariffs would be “a little more complex but actually probably better.”
Section 122, which had never been invoked, allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 15%. They are limited to five months unless extended by Congress.
The states’ new suit argues that Trump cannot pivot to Section 122 because it was intended to be used only in specific, limited circumstances — not for sweeping import taxes. It also contends the tariffs will drive up costs for states, businesses, and consumers.
Many of those states also had successfully sued over Trump’s tariffs imposed under a different law: the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Four days after the Supreme Court struck down his sweeping IEEPA tariffs Feb. 20, Trump invoked Section 122 to slap 10% tariffs on foreign goods. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Wednesday that the administration would raise the levies to the 15% limit this week.
The Democratic states and other critics say the president cannot use Section 122 as a replacement for the defunct tariffs to combat the trade deficit.
The Section 122 provision is aimed at what it calls “fundamental international payments problems.’’ At issue is whether that wording covers trade deficits, the gap between what the U.S. sells other countries and what it buys from them.
Section 122 arose from the financial crises that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, when the U.S. dollar was tied to gold. Other countries were dumping dollars in exchange for gold at a set rate, risking a collapse of the U.S. currency and chaos in financial markets. But the dollar is no longer linked to gold, so critics say Section 122 is obsolete.
Awkwardly for Trump, his own Justice Department argued in a court filing last year that the president needed to invoke the emergency powers act because Section 122 did “not have any obvious application” in fighting trade deficits, which it called “conceptually distinct” from balance-of-payment issues.
Still, some legal analysts say the Trump administration has a stronger case this time.
“The legal reality is that courts will likely provide President Donald Trump substantially more deference regarding Section 122 than they did to his previous tariffs under IEEPA,” Peter Harrell, visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Institute of International Economic Law, wrote in a commentary Wednesday.
The specialized Court of International Trade in New York, which will hear the states’ lawsuit, wrote last year in its own decision striking down the emergency-powers tariffs that Trump did not need them because Section 122 was available to combat trade deficits.
Trump does have other legal authorities he can use to impose tariffs, and some have already survived court tests. Duties that Trump imposed on Chinese imports during his first term under Section 301 of the same 1974 trade act are still in place.
Staff writer Aliya Schneider contributed to this article, which contains information from the Associated Press.
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage hasn’t budged from the $7.25 federal minimum that was set in 2009. But the number of Pennsylvanians actually making that much per hour is small and shrinking.
That’s about a 9% decline from 2024. This group makes up less than 1% of all Pennsylvania workers. The state’s population of minimum-wage workers has dropped by roughly 42% in the last five years.
Still, hundreds of thousands who make more than minimum wage would see their wages rise if the Pennsylvania’s wage floor was set to $15 an hour.
Last year, 189,900 people in Pennsylvania (6.4% of hourly workers) earned at least $7.26 and up to $12 per hour.
Another 320,900 (10.8% of hourly workers) earned between $12.01 and $15 per hour.
Each of these groups making low wages in Pennsylvania — up to $7.25, up to $12, and up to $15 per hour — was smaller in 2025 than the year before.
That’s due in part to increasing wages across the state, the report said, as well as a lower number of hourly wage earners and a shrinking workforce overall. Pennsylvania’s median wage rose to $20.95 per hour last year — roughly a $1 increase from 2024.
The report is based ondata from a U.S. Census Bureau survey. Last year’s data is missing October figures due to the government shutdown, the report noted.
Some are exempt from federal and state minimum wage such as farmworkers, some seasonal workers, and newspaper delivery people. Workers who make much of their money in tips have a lower minimum wage. Workers from these categories were not excluded from data in the report.
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is not enough money to cover a person’s basic needs, according to a living wage calculator developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It estimates that the living wage for a single adult without a child in Pennsylvania is $23.32 per hour.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks during a rally in support of raising the minimum wage and also freeing the city to set its own minimum wage separate from the state, at City Hall, in Philadelphia, April 29, 2025.
Who actually made minimum wage last year?
In 2025, workers who made at or below the minimum wage in Pennsylvania were predominantly women. While they make up roughly 51% of the state’s workingpopulation, they represent a disproportionate 81% of workers who earned $7.25 or less last year.
Nearly 79% of these workers are white, and roughly half have a high school diploma or less education.
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Nearly three-quarters of them work in food preparation and serving jobs. Though it should be noted that tips and overtime for restaurant workers are not accounted for in the report’s data, and tipped restaurant workers’ minimum wage is $2.83 by law.
Unmarried people and young workers aged 16 to 24 also make up a disproportionately large segment of Pennsylvanians making minimum wage or less, the report says.
Working full time at the minimum wage, a worker would make $15,080 annually. But 80% of Pennsylvania workers who made minimum wage or less last year worked part-time.
Other sectors that employ these low-wage workers in Pennsylvania include hotels and lodging, retail, art and entertainment, hospitals, educational services, construction, and manufacturing.
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Pennsylvania’s neighboring states have higher minimum wages
Despite efforts to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, it lags behind that of neighboring states.
New Jersey’s minimum wage, which increased in January to $15.92per hour, is over double that of Pennsylvania’s, and 22 states are soon increasing their minimum wage or have done so already this year. In Delaware, the minimum hourly wage has risen from $9.25 in 2021 to $15 in 2025, thanks to legislation mandating the gradual increase.
A sign in support of an increase in the state’s minimum wage in the state Capitol Feb. 3, 2026.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has backed raising the minimum wage at every annual state budget address since he was elected. In February he called on the General Assembly to advance minimum wage legislation, adding that raising it to $15 an hour would save the state millions on entitlement programs like Medicaid.
“If you aren’t going to do this because it’s the right thing to do, or because it would let more families put food on the table for their kids, then do it because it’s going to save us $300 million, shrink our entitlement budget by growing our workforce and putting more money back in workers’ pockets,” he said.
Pennsylvania voters broadly oppose some of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics — but there’s a stark partisan split, according to a new statewide poll of registered voters.
Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research released a wide-ranging poll Thursday that tracked registered Pennsylvania voters’ opinions on America’s 250th anniversary, ICE enforcement tactics, and other issues facing the state and nation ahead of the midterm election.
Trump’s approval ratings have remained consistently low since returning to office last year, with a majority of Pennsylvanians disapproving of his job as president.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro maintains a 50% approval rating heading into the midterm elections later this year.
Pollsters at Franklin & Marshall College surveyed 834 registered Pennsylvania voters, including 353 Democrats, 347 Republicans and 134 independents. The sample error is +/- 4.1 percentage points.
Here are three takeaways from the poll of registered Pennsylvania voters, conducted Feb. 18 through March 1 by phone or online.
Trump is consistently unpopular in Pennsylvania
Trump’s approval ratings among registered Pennsylvania voters remain low, with 61% of voters rating him as doing a “poor” or “fair” job, according to the statewide poll, which also assessed Trump’s performance on immigration, the economy, and other issues.
Trump maintained a net negative approval rating throughout his first term in 2017-2021 and so far in his second term, according to the poll.
Despite winning the state in 2024, he remains divisive with 51% of respondents rating him as doing a “poor” job, and only 10% who rate him as doing a “fair” job. Approximately 39% of registered Pennsylvania voters view Trump as doing an “excellent” or “good” job, according to the poll.
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Trump’s low approval numbers could have a drag effect on Republicans’ performance in the midterm election, said Berwood Yost, the director of Franklin & Marshall’s poll.
“While there’s still a long way to go until November, [Trump has] got to figure out a way and his party has to find a way to prevent that and earn those voters back,” Yost said.
Trump’s low numbers align with those of former President Barack Obama or George W. Bush’s approvals at the same point in their second term, Yost added. Both of their parties lost seats in the midterms elections those years.
However, Trump’s approval ratings are not the lowest they have been in the state. His approval ratings dropped to their lowest, 70% disapproval, during his first term in September 2017.
Josh Shapiro is still popular
Gov. Josh Shapiro remains popular ahead of his reelection contest this year: 50% of Pennsylvania voterssayhe is doing an “excellent” or “good job,” while another 44% believe he is doing a “fair” or “poor” job leading the nation’s fifth most populous state.
Shapiro is the most popular governor since 2000, when comparing his approval ratings to those of other Pennsylvania governors at the same point during their first terms, Yost said.
Shapiro also maintains a significant lead over his likely GOP challenger, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity. If the midterm elections were to happen today, 48% of voters said they would reelect Shapiro, while 28% said they would vote for Garrity. Another 7% of voters said they would vote for a different candidate, while 17% were undecided or refused to answer the question.
Shapiro’s approval ratings have remained steadily high since taking office in January 2023. A Quinnipiac Universitypoll released last month found similar public opinion toward Shapiro’s reelection, while some voters said they were unsure whether they wanted the rumored 2028 presidential candidate to run for higher office.
Pa. voters broadly oppose some of ICE’s enforcement actions, but are split on others
Approximately three-fourths of Pennsylvania voters believe ICE should not be able to use deadly force against protesters or enter a home without a warrant, in a major pushback to Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics.
Pennsylvania voters’ opinions on immigration enforcement varies significantly based on a person’s political party: While nine in 10 Republicans support ICE tactics, only two in five independents and one in 10 Democrats support them.
Protesters march up Eighth Street, towards the immigration offices, during the Philly stands with Minneapolis Ice Out For Good protest at Philadelphia’s City Hall on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.
Republicans support ICE’s use of unmarked vehicles to detain people and their use of masks to hide an agent’s identity at much higher rates than Democrats, while independents are split. On the use of masks, 77% of Republican voters believe agents should be able to wear them, while 40% of independents and only 10% of Democrats do.
“There’s a lot of consensus about the fundamental principles that protect our individual rights like entering a home without a warrant or using force against protesters, whereas there’s a little more partisanship in others,” Yost said.
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There is also overwhelming support among Pennsylvania voters that non-citizens who are in the U.S. legally — whether by visa,green card, asylum or other protected statuses, or in the process of becoming a citizen — should not be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation, according to the poll.
However, a majority of Republicans and independent voters believe undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States illegally for any amount of time and have no criminal record should be targeted for deportation, while less than a quarter of Democrats believe they should.
Pennsylvania voters want the 250th anniversary to acknowledge the positives and negatives from American history
As Trump tries to reframe American history for the nation’s 250th anniversary, most Pennsylvanians want the celebrations to acknowledge its positive and negative parts.
Approximately 73% of Pennsylvania voters believe any retelling of American history should include the upsides and downsides of the nation’s founding, while 24% believe only positive aspects should be celebrated.
“Most people, they want to see historical interpretations that include the whole picture,” Yost said.
This finding is of particular interest in Pennsylvania, following the Trump administration’s removal of an exhibit that memorialized the enslaved people who lived in George Washington’s home from the historic President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park. A federal judge ordered the restoration of the exhibit, but the Trump administration is appealing the decision.
The first time Philly hosted a major presidential nominating convention was in 1848, when the Whig Party, meeting in Sansom Street’s long-gone Chinese Museum building, nominated Zachary Taylor, who went on to win the White House.
The 10th and most recent time, Democrats in 2016 made Hillary Rodham Clinton the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and other local leaders are hoping to make more history by landing Philly’s 11th convention in 2028. And part of the appeal is the promise of a boost to the local economy as thousands of conventiongoers buy up hotel rooms, spend money at restaurants, and visit the city’s attractions.
Philadelphia “would see substantial economic benefits,” Gov. Josh Shapiro recently wrote to the Democratic National Committee, which this week named the city as one of five finalists to host the party’s next convention, alongside Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Denver.
But how much do cities really benefit from hosting political conventions? Here’s what you need to know about what Philly stands to gain from hosting another DNC.
Conventions’ economic impact debatable
Tourism bureaus and convention planners often make lofty claims about the economic benefits of major events like political conventions.
Visit Philly, for instance, in 2016 commissioned the consulting firm Tourism Economics to examine that year’s DNC, and the firm found the event brought 54,300 visitors to the region and provided a $230.9 million injection into the local economy.
But economists who have studied conventions are skeptical of such claims. A 2018 study of both parties’ conventions in 2008 and 2012 found that “political conventions do not seem to have the large economic impact that is usually suggested by traditional economic impact studies.”
Officials at the time often claimed economic impacts north of $150 million for conventions. But estimates that high rely on unrealistic assumptions about how much money conventiongoers spend each day, according to the study, which was published in the journal Papers in Regional Science.
“Cities and states often tout mega events as vehicles for economic growth,” economists Lauren R. Heller, Victor A. Matheson, and E. Frank Stephenson wrote in the paper. “Hosting national political conventions generates a large inflow of overnight visitors and increases hotel revenue. However, the cumulative effect of approximately 29,000 additional room nights of lodging services and $20 million of hotel revenue imply that traditional economic impact estimates may be unrealistically large.”
Hotels are big winners
Although conventions’ overall economic impact is debatable, there is little disagreement about their benefits to one industry in particular: hotels.
“I’ve seen a lot of different large events come through [over] the years, and the DNC was one that definitely delivered,” said Ed Grose, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association. “I can think of a few of examples of hotels making their annual budget based on the DNC alone.”
Grose said the benefits are widespread in the lodging industry when a convention rolls into town.
“It’s not just Center City hotels, but the airport area, the suburban hotels — everyone benefits from the DNC,” Grose said. “It’s especially good for our frontline team members; it’s good for our restaurants; it’s good for our bars. It is an event that delivers a huge economic hype.”
Minimal tradeoffs
Debates over economic impact are often centered on situations in which officials must weigh tradeoffs, such as whether to provide tax breaks to businesses promising new jobs.
For cities, political conventions are a different story. While hosting another DNC would likely require taxpayer resources from the state and federal governments, there would be little downside for Parker and the city budget.
Conventions are funded primarily through private contributions. In 2016, the DNC host committee raised about $85 million — $10 million of which came from taxpayers in the form of a state grant.
Much of the cost incurred by local governments related to security is reimbursed by the federal government. Congress has appropriated grant funding for presidential nominating convention host cities since 9/11.
In 2024, the localities hosting both the DNC and the Republican National Convention were each eligible to receive about $75 million in reimbursements.
Beyond dollars and cents
For some, the value proposition of a convention coming to town is as much about getting attention as it is boosting the economy. The 2016 DNC drew roughly 19,000 media members from around the world, according to the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Labor leader Ryan Boyer, who heads the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council and is a close Parker ally, said conventions like the DNC that bring major donors and corporations to town have the potential to result in “longitudinal jobs,” meaning they could lay the groundwork for future investments by potential employers.
He said a convention is an opportunity to showcase spots of the city ripe for investment — such as the Navy Yard, the industrial hub known as the Bellwether District, and the life sciences corridor in University City — to corporate figures who might not otherwise travel here.
“It’s a chance to show off Philadelphia,” Boyer said. “We’re a good business proposition.”
Grose said there were indirect, long-term impacts from hosting conventions.
“We get a lot of exposure from being on TV for a week. There’s a lot of things that happen during the DNC that we can’t buy,” he said. ”It’s great to see we are back in the mix after a relatively short time since hosting the DNC. That just shows what a great job we did as a city.”
David L. Cohen, the longtime Democratic fundraiser who is leading the recently formed host committee called Pick Pennsylvania, noted another reason revisiting Philadelphia could be an appealing pick for Democrats: It allows the party to dominate the biggest media market in a critical swing state.
“You own the media market for the week that you’re there,” said Cohen, a former Comcast executive who served as U.S. ambassador to Canada under former President Joe Biden. “The party couldn’t afford to pay for the positive advertising the party would get for holding its convention in Philadelphia.”
Both schools would still close under the plan, which is now in the school board’s hands. Instead of merging into large neighborhood high schools, however, the small, selective-admission schools would be absorbed by magnets.
Watlington said the tweaks would still allow the district to bring more high-quality academic and extracurricular opportunities into neighborhood schools while acknowledging the need to manage limited resources.
Butstudents, staff, parents — and some powerful allies at both schools — say Watlington’s counter-proposalisn’t enough. Both communities are still fighting.
Under the revised plan, Lankenau would merge with Saul, not Roxborough, and Robeson would merge into Motivation, not Sayre.
State Rep. Morgan Cephas (D., Phila.) recently visited the Philadelphia Flower Show, where she and other officials marveled at Lankenau students’ exhibit, which examines abundance, roots, and connections through culturally important plants. The display won a gold medal and the prestigious Alfred M. Campbell Memorial Trophy.
The dichotomy struck Cephas, she said. Lankenau students “are at the Flower Show, and [the district] is trying to close the school?”
On Wednesday, students, parents, lawmakers, and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers officials gathered at Lankenau to drum up support for Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal. But really, it was another save-our-school rally.
A ‘prime example of a successful school’
Lankenau “is a prime example of a successful school,” said Messiah Stokes, an 11th grader at the Upper Roxborough school. The school has a 100% graduation rate, and is Pennsylvania’s only three-year agriculture, food, and natural resources career and technical education program.
The school itself sits on 17 acres,which district officials have proposed giving to the city — though a 1970s legal agreement could foil that plan. Lankenau is also adjacent to 400 more wooded acres via the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. The environmental center shares its land and its opportunities with students, who hold bird-watching clubs on breaks and hold classes outside when weather permits, and have abundant internship opportunities.
“My school is a prime example of a successful school,” said Stokes.
Watlington has said that Saul — the city’s agricultural magnet on a working farm on Henry Avenue — has a mission that’s closely aligned with Lankenau’s, but supporters say Lankenau’s success is closely tied with its wooded campus, its streams, and its ecosystems.
Councilmember Isaiah Thomas speaks at Lankenau High School during a gathering to support the efforts to fight closing recommendations on Wednesday.
Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, chair of City Council’s education committee, is incredulous that the district is attempting to close the school, which educates mostly Black students.
“I wonder if Lankenau did everything that it currently does: graduation rate … community involvement, the educators’ participation — I wonder if Lankenau was 98% white, will we be closing Lankenau?” Thomas said.
Still, “small schools are worth the investment,” said Amy Szymanski, a special-education teacher at the school. “Shutting down a school doesn’t just impact one community, it shakes other schools that have to absorb the impact as well.”
Szymanski urged district officials and decision makers to come up with different plans.
‘Culture is not transferable’
Robeson did everything the district asked it to do and then some, said Elana Evans, a longtime educator at the West Philadelphia school.
The school was heralded as a model for other Pennsylvania public schools by former Gov. Tom Wolf. It won citywide prizes and sent a student to Harvard University. Its students successfully petitioned district leaders for air-conditioning in their building. And its staff secured donations to have a major cafeteria renovation, though its building is still judged in “poor” condition by district standards.
“Why can’t Paul Robeson have a new school?” said Evans, who previously taught at University City High, closed by the district in 2013. “Haven’t we proved ourselves, haven’t the kids sacrificed enough? Haven’t they shown what they can do and what they’re willing to do?”
Students walk outside Paul Robseon High School with Elana Evans, a Robeson teacher (in blue) in this 2025 file photo.
And though moving to Motivation, in Southwest Philadelphia, may be slightly more palatable for some Robeson parents, for most, it won’t, said Evans.
“Students would still have to go to 60th Street, traveling a distance,” said Evans. “If those parents wanted them to go toMotivation, they would have picked Motivation.”
The district has said it wants to preserve the successful Robeson culture, just elsewhere, but Kyana Hopkins, said that won’t work.
“Culture is not transferable,” Hopkins said. “Make it make sense.”
Samantha Bromfield, president of Robeson’s Home and School Association, said the district will lose families if Robeson goes away.
“Understand that a parent like me will send my child back to being homeschooled” if Robeson closes, Bromfield said. “Your choice doesn’t fit my criteria of what I’m looking for my children.”
Inheritance, and questions
The Flower Show was abuzz Wednesday, with a crowd hovering around the Lankenau exhibit. “Inheritance” — a verdant wonderland showcasing plants grown from local seeds, set around a weathered wooden table — asked viewers to think of the question, “What tastes like home to you?”
Lankenau High senior Sasha John (blue hoodie) explains her prize-winning school’s Philadelphia Flower Show exhibit to visitors on Wednesday.
Several Lankenau students staffed the exhibit, answering questions — and showing visitors green “Keep LANK Open” fliers, encouraging passersby to share words of support for the school with the school board and City Council.
“It doesn’t make sense to me,” said Amelia Pennycooke, a Lankenau senior, of the proposed closing. “We have so many opportunities at Lank.”
Lankenau High School’s exhibit, which the school’s eco art class worked on all school year, won a gold medal and the Alfred M. Campbell Memorial Trophy at the Philadelphia Flower Show. “Inheritance” examines the question “what plants taste like home to you?” It was designed and built by Lankenau students.
Noel Alford, a Lankenau parent, said the school needs to remain open, its land not used for any other purpose. The amendment to Watlington’s plan falls short, she said.
“Saul is a mistake,” said Alford. “Saul is an agricultural school. They are two different magnet schools.”
While elected officials have no say in which schools close, Thomas said it’s up to them to keep pressuring the board to rethink some closures, including Lankenau’s.
“This is a legacy moment for us as elected officials,” said Thomas. No one “wants to add that black mark on their career that says you were the person that was in charge when this injustice took place.”
A Florida developer who is building data centers in Pennsylvania. A Chicago crypto trader whose company was sued by the Biden administration. And a Southwestern Pennsylvania coal magnate whose firm received a permit from state regulators last year to expand operations — and is now seeking approval to open a new mine.
Shapiro’s gubernatorial campaign raised at least $8.5 million last year from nearly 240 CEOs, founders, business owners, and other top executives, according to an Inquirer analysis of campaign-finance records that were made public last month.
That includes the single biggest donation to the campaign: $2.5 million from billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Shapiro’s haul from top executives represents 50.8% of the $16.8 million he raised from donors who listed their occupation in campaign finance filings.
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During his first three years in office, Shapiro, 52, has sought to build a profile as a pragmatic, business-friendly governor, focusing on speeding the permitting process and promoting economic development through government grants and tax breaks.
At the same time, the governor has proven adept at raising campaign cash from people who have business interests before state government in Harrisburg. Those include a skill game developer who staved off a major policy defeat this year and a waste coal power plant owner who gave $100,000 to Shapiro two days before the governor pulled out of a multistate program that requires such facilities to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s a contrast with the rising populism on both the left and right, marked by a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour by progressive leaders and the MAGA movement’s deep suspicion of elites.
It’s not unusual for corporate executives to make contributions to candidates from both parties. But the practice could invite scrutiny for Shapiro in a White House run — particularly among voters and activists who are dismayed by the role of money in politics.
“We are concerned about any elected leaders taking monetary donations from corporate interests, regardless of who they are,” said Ashley Funk, executive director of the Mountain Watershed Association, a nonprofit that opposes a Shapiro donor’s coal mining expansion.
“I think that it influences decision-making,” she said.
‘The speed of business’
For now, Shapiro’s pledge to make Pennsylvania’s government run “at the speed of business” appears to have won over many executives, helping him build a massive fundraising advantage in his reelection bid. Shapiro raised $23.2 million overall in 2025, compared with the $1.5 million reported by his likely Republican opponent, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity.
“I’ve long admired the way the commonwealth approaches economic development and innovation, and I have deep respect for Gov. Shapiro’s leadership,” said Bob Clark, executive chairman and founder of Clayco, a Chicago-based real estate and construction firm that is redeveloping a site at the industrial hub known as the Bellwether District in South Philadelphia.
Clark gave Shapiro’s campaign $100,000 last year. “I consider him both a trusted colleague and an effective leader,” he said.
In recent weeks, the governor has celebrated pledges by pharmaceutical companies to invest billions of dollars in new facilities in Montgomery County and the Lehigh Valley, secured with tens of millions of dollars in state incentives. And last year, Amazon said it would spend $20 billion in Pennsylvania to build two new artificial intelligence data centers, in what officials called the single largest private investment in state history.
Shapiro’s allies say he stands up to big business, too, highlighting how he successfully prodded PJM Interconnection LLC — the Valley Forge-based regional electric grid operator whose voting members largely consist of companies in the electricity industry — to impose and extend a price cap. He has also received support from organized labor.
Shapiro argues that the way to restore faith in institutions is not by railing against billionaires but by showing that the government can fix real problems — “get s— done,” in his parlance.
Garrity, the Republican state treasurer, says Shapiro’s actions don’t live up to the hype.
“Liberal national donors may be investing in Josh Shapiro’s political vanity project, but hardworking Pennsylvanians are seeing nothing in return,” she said in a statement.
Garrity received nearly $380,000 from more than 60 CEOs and other top business executives. That figure represents about 41% of her contributions from donors who listed their occupation in campaign-finance filings.
Shapiro’s campaign said his coalition is “reflective of a governor who is delivering for all Pennsylvanians — and of a campaign that is fighting to win up and down the ballot.”
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The governor has “focused on growing our economy and creating jobs, and he has delivered — creating tens of thousands of jobs, winning major deals, and building the only growing economy in the Northeast,” campaign spokesperson Manuel Bonder said in a statement.
Shapiro highlighted one such deal in July, when he appeared alongside executives at defense contractor Rhoads Industries at the Navy Yard in South Philly to announce the firm’s $100 million plan to build a new manufacturing facility, create 450 jobs, and boost production of submarine parts.
“One of the things that Rhoads is known to do is get things done. … We want to turn out product; we want to turn it around; we want to get it done,” president Mike Rhoads said.
Looking toward Shapiro, he said, “Somebody standing to my left has the kind of same attitude.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro (right) with Rhoads Industries CEO Dan Rhoads in July 2025 at the Navy Yard.
Taking his turn at a lectern that read “Rebuilding America’s Fleet,” Shapiro said Rhoads’ investment — with help from the state — would “ensure the future of submarine manufacturing, shipbuilding, and all things important to securing our freedom is going to run right through the Philadelphia Shipyard.”
Three months later, in October, CEO Dan Rhoads contributed $10,000 to Shapiro’s campaign — the single largest donation he made to a candidate for state office in the last decade, records show. Rhoads did not respond to requests for comment.
Data centers and ‘skill games’
Shapiro donors’ business interests include everything from data center construction to state regulation of slot machine-style games and approvals for a nuclear reactor.
Dan Hilferty, CEO of Philadelphia-based Comcast Spectacor — which owns the Flyers and the Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philly — gave $40,000. A political action committee affiliated with parent company Comcast also gave $50,000. Comcast Spectacor and the 76ers are building a new arena at the South Philadelphia sports complex, and Shapiro last year did not rule out offering state incentives. Hilferty, a former CEO of Independence Blue Cross, previously gave Shapiro’s campaigns $27,500 over the last decade. Other Comcast Spectacor executives contributed about $95,000 during that period.
Top executives at Pace-O-Matic, the Georgia-based developer of so-called skill games that have proliferated across convenience stores and bars, gave $50,000. Operators for Skill, a PAC affiliated with the firm, contributed $10,000. The company successfully fended off a push in 2025 by Shapiro and lawmakers to tax the games at a level the industry considered too high. The governor has renewed a push to regulate the games, which some Philadelphia lawmakers say they would prefer to see banned. Pace-O-Matic contributes to both parties and remains “committed to fighting for fair regulation and taxation of Pennsylvania skill games,” said Mike Barley, chief public affairs officer for Pace-O-Matic.
Joseph Dominguez, president of Baltimore-based Constellation Energy, gave $25,000. The company is seeking to restart a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island, just outside Harrisburg, and needs state and federal approvals. The plant would supply power to Microsoft to support the tech company’s data centers. “Constellation executives contribute to policymakers on both sides of the aisle who, like Gov. Shapiro, prioritize results and pragmatic solutions over politics,” a company spokesperson said.
Brian Patten, CEO of Next Generation Land Co. LLC, gave $10,000. He is a Florida data center developer who says he is pursuing projects in Pennsylvania. Data centers that power companies’ cloud storage and computing needs have drawn backlash across the U.S. over fears of rising electricity rates. In his February budget address, Shapiro said he wants data centers to supply their own energy and pay for any new generation they need. He has also said the U.S. needs to win the AI race against China.
Justin Thompson, CEO of Iron Senergy, a coal operator, gave $10,000. His firm owns the Cumberland Mine in Greene County. When Pennsylvania applied to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a $400 million grant, it mentioned several firms — including Iron Senergy — that could use the money for decarbonization projects, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported in 2024. The EPA awarded the grant, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is tasked with administering it. The state is now reviewing applications, which it says are confidential.
The Cumberland Coal Mine in Greene County seen in 2020.
Local and national donors
Shapiro drew on a mix of executives from local and national firms. In Pennsylvania, he raised money from health system CEOs (Joseph Cacchione of Thomas Jefferson University, $10,000), bankers (Richard J. Green of Philly-based Firstrust Bank, $125,000), and a home remodeler (Asher Raphael of Power Home Remodeling in Chester, $100,000). Josh Kopelman — founder of First Round Capital and chairman emeritus of The Inquirer’s board of directors — and his wife, Rena, each gave $50,000.
There were private equity investors (San Francisco billionaire John Pritzker, cousin of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, $50,000), Hollywood producers (Jimmy Miller of talent management and production firm Mosaic, $75,000), professional sports team owners (telecom billionaire Robert Hale, minority owner of the Boston Celtics, $50,000), and a Massachusetts sports betting executive (Jason Robins of DraftKings, $10,000).
For his part, Bloomberg is “a big fan of Gov. Shapiro and a big believer in his leadership, and thinks he’s done a great job for Pennsylvania,” adviser Howard Wolfson told Axios.
At least one donor had ties to President Donald Trump, whom Shapiro often criticizes.
Don Wilson Jr., CEO of Chicago-based trading firm DRW Holdings LLC, gave $10,000 to Shapiro in September.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against a unit of Wilson’s firm while President Joe Biden, a Democrat, was in office. The SEC accused it of operating as an unregistered cryptocurrency dealer.
Biden-era regulators said that firms were dodging that rule by claiming crypto was a commodity, not a security. The enforcers argued this exposed investors to extra risks associated with digital currencies.
Then last March, a couple of months after Trump took office, the new administration dropped the charges against Wilson’s firm. Nine weeks later, Wilson invested $100 million into a Trump bitcoin project, the Financial Times reported.
The company told the newspaper it engages in a “variety of strategies in the crypto ecosystem” and saw value in holding bitcoin. “This transaction was viewed purely through that lens,” it said.
Trump denies having conflicts of interest.
That didn’t stop the Democratic National Committee from flagging the news on its “CORRUPTION WATCH” page.
The Trump administration, the Democrats’ post said, “now appears to be engaged in blatant pay-to-play politics.”
Power plants and coal mines
Among corporate executives, two of the eight biggest donors to Shapiro’s campaign last year were the father-and-son owners of privately held Robindale Energy Services, which owns about 20 companies involved in waste coal reclamation, power generation, mining, and logistics. Robindale’s assets include multiple power plants fueled by waste products from abandoned coal mines.
CEO Scott Kroh and his son Judson, the Latrobe-based company’s president, gave a total of $271,000.
That included a $100,000 contribution from Scott Kroh two days before Shapiro signed the annual budget, which came after a monthslong stalemate. The deal with Senate Republicans included language pulling the state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate effort to generate cleaner power that Robindale had vocally opposed.
Robindale’s executives did not respond to requests for comment.
In June 2023, Judson Kroh spoke out against RGGI at a public hearing, telling Pennsylvania lawmakers that Robindale’s power plants have enough capacity to power 500,000 homes. “Our main concern is you’ll see a significant decrease in power exports out of the state due to RGGI, as well as a significant decrease in coal production,” Kroh said.
Other energy industry firms, Republican lawmakers, and building trades unions have also long opposed the initiative, which requires power plants to buy allowances to cover their carbon emissions. They call it a job killer and an electricity tax. Environmental groups say it has reduced pollution and led to investments in clean energy in other states.
Shapiro had for years expressed concerns about the greenhouse gas initiative, which Pennsylvania joined under his predecessor but never implemented due to litigation. Shapiro said in 2021 during his first run for governor that “it’s not clear to me” that the program protected jobs, addressed climate change, or ensured energy reliability.
The Kroh family donated a total of $55,000 to his 2022 campaign and $21,000 the following year. Judson Kroh was among the more than 300 people who served on Shapiro’s transition team.
Many of Robindale’s operations are regulated by the state, and the company spent $150,000 lobbying state government officials last year, records show. Company executives in recent years have largely donated to Republicans in Harrisburg, though they have also supported some Democrats, including Shapiro.
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In addition to its power generation business, Robindale owns coal mines that are subject to state inspections and oversight. When two people died in a Somerset County mine operated by subsidiary LCT Energy, DEP required the company to update its safety protocols. The deaths in 2022 and 2023 came during a time in which there were 20 coal mining fatalities nationwide, according to federal data.
Johnstown-based LCT is currently expanding.
About 30 miles west of Maple Springs, LCT opened another mine in 2018 in Westmoreland County called Rustic Ridge 1, which produces 600,000 tons of coal a year.
The state renewed the permit for the 2,800-acre underground mine in January last year, and from that month through March, the Kroh family donated $70,000 to Shapiro’s campaign.
In April, after a yearslong review, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection approved a permit authorizing LCT to expand its operations there, adding 1,400 acres under the Pennsylvania Turnpike — the equivalent of 93 Lincoln Financial Fields. The permit allows LCT to mine coal up to 600 feet underground. The company sells the coal for production of steel.
The nonprofit Mountain Watershed Association is appealing the DEP’s approval to the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board — whose judges are appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the state Senate — arguing that the expansion could harm groundwater and streams.
Others say the mine supports jobs and helps the local economy. Before opening, the company said in 2014 that it would invest $50 million to develop the mine, according to local news reports.
The state budget Shapiro signed in November expanded a program for expedited permitting involving approvals from the DEP, which reviews 40,000 permits a year. Introduced in 2024, the program is currently available for eligible permits such as air quality, dam safety, and oil and gas erosion and sediment control.
The budget legislation — cheered by Shapiro and GOP lawmakers — added more permit types, including one for mining, “which DEP is in the process of adding to the program,” a department spokesperson said.
Funk — the executive director of the watershed association, which has spent millions of dollars over the last 30 years repairing the environmental damage of legacy coal mining — said she is concerned the Krohs’ political giving “might be having an influence over Shapiro and his administration as we work to permit some of Robindale’s projects such as LCT Energy.”
Shapiro says permitting reform reflects his governing ethos.
“When you think about getting stuff done … it requires focus and speed,” he said in December at a National Governors Association event. “We’ve gotta be speedier as a country.”
It was at the end of last year in the hazy stretch between Christmas and New Year’s when time doesn’t feel real, and some of Philly’s top Democrats were huddled around a secret proposal, racing to meet a deadline.
The group — convened by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, her aides, and some key Philadelphia boosters — was preparing a lengthy bid to bring the Democratic National Convention back to the city in either 2028 or 2032, a potential economic boon and a chance to show off in front of lawmakers, celebrities, and international media.
The confidential proposal to the Democratic National Committee included everything from the city’s hotel space to police outfitting to nitty-gritty details about the electrical grid and voltage capacity at Xfinity Mobile Arena. SEPTA officials drafted a section about the public transportation Philadelphia could offer visitors, and tourism agencies chipped in with insights on hotels and restaurants.
David L. Cohen, a longtime Democratic fundraiser and the president of the recently formed nonprofit host committee called Pick Pennsylvania, said that while the mayor led the effort, the bid also emphasized the “unity of the region and the commonwealth.”
“She wanted it to be really clear this is more than a Philadelphia bid,” he said. “This is a unified Pennsylvania bid.”
It appears the Democratic National Committee was impressed. On Monday, the DNC announced that it is considering five cities, including Philadelphia, to host the 2028 convention, where a Democratic presidential nominee will be coronated. The party is also looking closely at Atlanta, Denver, Chicago, and Boston to hold the early August event.
What comes next is a campaign to lure the convention to Philly, complete with a carefully coordinated public relations effort and a significant fundraising push. Philadelphia’s host committee for 2016, the last time the city held a presidential nominating convention, raised more than $85 million.
The DNC has asked host cities to raise $5 million before being selected. Philly’s fundraising, Cohen said, “will be substantially higher than that number.”
In this 2021 file photo, David L. Cohen speaks as Philadelphia Soccer 2026, the city’s World Cup 2026 bid committee, launched an interactive exhibit at the Independence Visitors Center in Philadelphia. He is now heading an effort to bring the Democratic National Convention to Philadelphia.
Cohen, a former Comcast executive and erstwhile chief of staff to former mayor Ed Rendell, is leading the effort alongside Daniel J. Hilferty, now the CEO of Comcast Spectacor.
Hilferty and Cohen have worked together repeatedly over the last two decades to bring major events to Philadelphia, including a successful bid to become one of a handful of North American cities to host World Cup games this year.
Also involved in coordinating the DNC proposal was Erin Wilson, a Philadelphia native who was a top aide to former Vice President Kamala Harris. She was the national political director for former President Joe Biden’s campaign and planned his 2021 inauguration.
When the DNC comes to town
DNC officials are expected to make a final decision on the 2028 site later this year. That call will likely be made by chair Ken Martin in consultation with top advisers and the committee’s Technical Advisory Group, which assesses logistics and operational matters.
Philadelphia could also have an advocate in State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who represents parts of North Philadelphia and is a DNC vice chair. He is known to have a close relationship with Martin.
Committee officials and the advisory group will tour each of the five finalist cities for a yet-to-be-scheduled site visit this spring.
If history is any indication, the city will roll out the red carpet. In 2014, when 18 members of the DNC came to Philly to check out the city ahead of the 2016 convention, the host committee spent six figures to charm them.
The trip included a tour of Philly’s most popular sites, like Reading Terminal Market and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as a swanky rooftop party and a breakfast at the Comcast Center. Predictably, cheesesteaks were also involved.
“The site visits are as much about feel as they are about technical details,” Cohen said. “After site visits, the teams who are making choices leave here and they have their socks knocked off. They can’t believe how vibrant the city is.”
In this 2014 file photo, Congressman Bob Brady, left, talks with DNC CEO Amy Dacey, center, as they have lunch at Pat’s Steaks in South Philadelphia.
Ryan Boyer, the head of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council and a close Parker ally, said one of Philadelphia’s best assets might be its mayor. Parker is an unabashed cheerleader for the city and is leading preparations for several major events this year, including World Cup games, the MLB All-Star Game, and the commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary.
“She’s the most effective advocate for bringing people together,” Boyer said, “with just her level of passion, her love of the city, and her love of the job.”
Cohen said he spoke to Parker last year about the potential to bid for the convention, and when she asked him to lead the host committee, he said yes because the city has “a serious chance.”
“As a friend and longtime supporter of hers, if I didn’t think we had a legitimate shot, I would try to talk her out of it,” Cohen said. “If anything, I have poured gasoline on her flames of enthusiasm and said, ‘We should be all in for this.’
”I said, ‘Do what you do best,’” he added. “Get everyone excited about this.’”
That means there is a chance that Shapiro, who was raised in Montgomery County and whose family still lives there, could be nominated in what is essentially his hometown.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during the Democratic National Convention Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago.
In a letter to Martin, Shapiro wrote that Philadelphia “would see substantial economic benefits” from hosting the convention and vowed that the state would be “prepared to ensure our infrastructure, public safety agencies, workforce, and business community are equipped to host thousands of delegates and attendees.”
What’s next: a close look at security and logistics
Behind the pomp of the DNC’s spring site visit will be a serious evaluation of security, transportation, hotels, and arena logistics.
The DNC said in a statement Monday that it will value “new and innovative approaches” to hosting a large-scale event that is likely to bring thousands of tourists. In 2016, the convention drew more than 5,000 attendees and an additional 29,000 visitors — nearly 20,000 of whom were media members.
Nominating conventions are typically designated as National Special Security Events, meaning the federal government leads security because the event is deemed at high risk for terrorism or other criminal activity. That means planners need to know specifics about law enforcement staffing, gear, and other capabilities.
Placards promoting Philadelphia as the host city of the Democratic National Convention in 2016, while the Democratic National Committee was touring the city in August.
Support will also have to come from outside the city. During past conventions, federal law enforcement teamed up with Philadelphia police to secure the venue, and they were joined by officers from across the region.
The DNC also said in its announcement Monday that the committee would prioritize “the importance of forging a strong partnership between the DNC and the host city, including its community, political, and business leaders.”
To that end, the host committee and Parker asked elected officials and civic leaders from across the state to write letters of support that accompanied the city’s bid.
Authors ranged from City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, whose district includes the South Philadelphia stadium complex, to labor leaders to Democrats from the Philadelphia collar counties.
Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija, who wrote a letter to the DNC boosting the bid, said it is important for the committee to see that local governments and law enforcement agencies outside the city are willing to offer support, because “pulling something like this off requires a lot of cooperation on many different fronts.”
“A real concern now when you’re thinking about hosting a political convention is ‘How are we going to manage public safety and a threat environment?’” he said. “There are a number of reasons to point to our region and see a level of collaboration that inspires confidence.”
