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Tag: Weekend Reads

  • How to have a Perfect Philly day, according to Pulitzer-winning writer Quiara Alegría Hudes

    How to have a Perfect Philly day, according to Pulitzer-winning writer Quiara Alegría Hudes

    Quiara Alegría Hudes grew up on the little street of South Saint Bernard near West Philly’s Baltimore Avenue, but her family spanned the city and its borders. As a child, she shuttled between her home and her mother’s extended Puerto Rican family in North Philly, while regularly visiting her father’s white, Jewish family on the Main Line.

    Her writing is often rooted in Philly, though it spans borders and mediums, too. She cowrote the Tony-award winning musical In The Heights with Lin-Manuel Miranda, and won a Pulitzer in 2012 for her play Water by the Spoonful. Her 2021 memoir, My Broken Language, told the story of growing up in West Philadelphia and being the first in her family to attend college, at Yale.

    Now Hudes, 48, is experimenting once again with a new form: her debut novel, The White Hot, is out this month. It’s a fever dream fantasy about a young mother from North Philadelphia escaping her predetermined life — and her child — in order to reckon with the “white hot” rage that sometimes consumes her and the women in her family. It’s a gem of a book, poetic and propulsive at the same time.

    “Was my leaving a seed that might bear fruit?” April, the main character, wonders. “The possibility cracked open like a slitted envelope, that fleeing the stovetop and laundry machine could big-bang a new universe.”

    Here’s how Hudes, who now lives in New York City, would spend a perfect Philly day.

    Quiara Alegrí­a Hudes (center) with her cousin and daughter at the top of the Art Museum steps on Christmas morning. The family started the tradition in 2020.

    7 a.m.

    It starts on Christmas morning. Our across-the-street neighbors, Tracy and Charlie, bring over their pound cake.

    The main event of the morning is that we head over to the Art Museum steps. The city’s empty, you can double-park on the street.

    We climb up to the top of the steps in our pajamas and just hang. It’s magical and sleepy. The city has that wintery, cold air, blue-silver look to it. You’re looking through your crystallized breath.

    9 a.m.

    We walk through Center City to Sam’s Morning Glory Diner. (We’re definitely doing some time travel: Now it’s a more temperate fall day.)

    Of course, this is all on foot because, no shade, in my experience SEPTA just doesn’t come. This is how I became a reader as a kid, because I had to do something while waiting for SEPTA.

    At Morning Glory, they make their own ketchup. This is of utmost importance. Also, their biscuits are the best biscuits I’ve ever had, but even that pales in comparison to the homemade ketchup.

    It’s never fancy with me — just give me two scrambled eggs and home fries, and some rye toast.

    10:30 a.m.

    We go on a Black history tour of Philly, with tour guide Mijuel K. Johnson of the Black Journey. He’s wonderful.

    Even as a middle schooler, walking over the old cobblestone bricks of Old City, there was that sensation that 20 feet below, history is literally buried. It’s nice getting new layers of the historical story.

    Some walking tours can be: fact, fact, fact, and my eyes gloss over. But Mijuel is not just rattling off facts, he’s really contextualizing stories.

    1 p.m.

    After all that walking, you want to sit down. The best bet is to go over to the Landmark Ritz Five and see what’s playing. Just go to the next show and enjoy it.

    4 p.m.

    We head south, and stop at Garland of Letters on South Street. It’s the O.G. New Age bookstore.

    They’re always burning some great-smelling incense, they always have a huge amethyst geode that costs $5,000. They have a fountain with water trickling. It’s just peaceful — let the vibes center you.

    4:30 p.m.

    I go to Fante’s Kitchen Shop, a kitchen supply store. It’s the splurgy place. They’ve got copper pots and knives and kettles that looks so fancy. I’ll look for whatever I can afford.

    Then we swing around the corner to John’s Water Ice. I always have the same conversation with them: I say, “Once upon a time I had a flavor called Tutti Frutti here,” and they say “No, such a flavor never existed.” I describe it, and they’re like, “Well, would you like a mixed cherry and pineapple?” And then I have it, and it’s amazing.

    Quiara Alegrí­a Hudes marshaling the Puerto Rican parade in New York City in 2022.

    6:30 p.m.

    For dinner we go to Marrakesh. We’re walking, we have not taken a taxi. If the bus has gone by, we popped on it, but we don’t wait for it.

    This is either with an old friend who you need to spend hours catching up with, or date night. It’s all covered in blankets, and it’s candle-lit. It’s very romantic and magical in there. You’re leaning against pillows, you might be sitting on the floor.

    They have a set menu, it’s Moroccan food. The dish I remember most is the B’Stella: it’s kind of like scrambled eggs and very finely diced chicken inside a flaky pastry that’s got sugar on top, so it’s sweet and salty.

    You just gab the night away as they bring you food.

    9 p.m.

    For our next stop, we are going to rely on the bus. It’s just too far to walk at this point.

    We go to Taller Puertorriqueño, the Puerto Rican culture workshop in North Philly. They have literary and musical events there. Maybe they have a Nuyorican author in town, or a Philly-Rican poet reading their work.

    They also have an in-house bookstore called Julia de Burgos Bookstore. It’s fantastic: they have English books, Spanish books, and local artworks and jewelry.

    11 p.m.

    It’s way past my bedtime. I catch an Uber, or drive home.

  • Lakeside glamping, a presidential home, and international eats in Lancaster | Field Trip

    Lakeside glamping, a presidential home, and international eats in Lancaster | Field Trip

    Lancaster, Pa., is technically a city, but it’s packed with the charm of a Hallmark movie town: strollable streets lined with boutiques, Instagram-worthy late-fall foliage, and — yes — even the occasional Amish couple riding in a horse and buggy just beyond the city limits.

    Located about 70 miles west of Philadelphia, Lancaster is where centuries of Amish and Mennonite farm traditions meet (and often support) an up-and-coming restaurant scene with some of the best farm-to-table food and cocktails in the United States. It’s a place where tourists can learn how to churn butter the old-fashioned way and then end the night at a Brooklyn-cool listening bar. That’s exactly what an Inquirer reporter did when she took a last-minute trip to Lancaster.

    To get your weekend started, take a 90-minute drive past picturesque farms on I-76 and U.S. Route 222, or hop on Amtrak’s Keystone line, which drops you at the edge of downtown.

    @pennsylvaniajunkie 📍Lancaster, PA is so much more than horse and buggies. Downtown Lancaster is so one of my favorite cities to walk, wine and dine, especially during the holidays. 🎄✨🥂 @Discover Lancaster COMMENT your favorite place to visit in Downtown Lancaster and TAG who you’re bringing along on your next LancLanc getaway. 🥰 📍Places featured in video ✨ C’est La Vie ✨ Ream Jewelers ✨ Shot and Bottle ✨ The Belvedere Inn ✨ Lancaster Central Market ✨ Details ✨ Plough Don’t forget to follow me for all things Pennsylvania travel, adventure and lifestyle. 💙 #lancasterpa #lancasterpennsylvania #lancasterpagetaway #downtownlancaster #downtownlancasterpa #pennsylvania #pennsylvanialife #pennsylvaniacheck ♬ original sound – Pennsylvania Junkie

    Stay: Red Run Resort or Lancaster Arts Hotel

    Hear us out: This upscale campground is 30 minutes outside of Lancaster by car, but it has the vibe of an all-year summer camp for adults. Red Run Resort’s 21 lakeside A-frame studios and cabins are homey yet luxurious, with spa-style bathrooms with soaking tubs, plush king-size beds, and private firepits. The campground also has an on-site pumpkin patch and occasional line dancing and bingo pop-ups, so guests don’t have to go far for a bit of countryside flair.

    The living room of one of the A-Frame cabins at the Red Run Resort in New Holland, Pa., which overlooks a lake. The upscale camp ground is roughly 30 minutes outside of Lancaster by car.

    If you’re looking to stay in the city, the boutique Lancaster Arts Hotel transformed an 1800s tobacco warehouse into a living art gallery, displaying $300,000 worth of art from local artists across its 63 guest rooms. It’s walking distance from downtown and earns bonus points for free parking and complimentary bikes to explore the city.

    📍 877 Martin Church Rd., New Holland, Pa. 17557 (Red Run Resort) ; 300 Harrisburg Ave., Lancaster, Pa. 17603 (Lancaster Arts Hotel)

    Caffeinate: Square One Coffee

    After checking in, fuel up at Square One Coffee, a local micro-roastery whose Ethiopian blend beat out more than 2,000 entries to win a Good Food Award for best coffee. Their flagship Duke Street cafe is a solid pick for both coffee snobs and “little treat” connoisseurs, specializing in single-origin espressos and aromatic lattes in flavors like orange blossom honey or Blue Zen, a sky-colored concoction of butterfly pea powder, jasmine syrup, and chamomile tea.

    Home baristas can detour to Square One’s Elizabeth Avenue warehouse for public tastings or an Espresso 101 class.

    📍145 N. Duke St., Lancaster, Pa. 17602

    Thrift: Basura, Space, BUiLDiNG CHARACTER

    Take your coffee to go and spend the afternoon exploring a trio of downtown Lancaster’s curated thrift and vintage boutiques. This reporter’s advice is to pack light, because it’s easy to bring an outfit (or two) and a suitcase full of tchotchkes home.

    Start at Basura for racks of salvaged denim and leather, colorful sweaters, and quirky tees before heading over to Space, which specializes in mid-century modern wares that feel like they were ripped from a Mad Men set. Then, close out your shopping spree by heading to BUiLDiNG CHARACTER, a vintage and artisan marketplace with 80-plus vendors selling everything from butterflies preserved in glass and the occasional fossil to old school suits and antique jewelry.

    📍106 E. King St., Lancaster, Pa. 17602 (Basura); 24 W. Walnut St., Lancaster, Pa. 17603 (Space); 342 N. Queen St., Lancaster, Pa. 17603 (BUiLDiNG CHARACTER)

    Just a portion of the pick-n-mix candy selection from Sweetish Candy at 301 N. Queen Street Lancaster, Pa., which has been importing Scandinavian candies since 2019.

    Pick-and-mix: Sweetish Candy

    Lancaster’s Sweetish Candy was importing Scandinavian sweets long before pick-and-mix bags were all the rage. Sweetish Candy owner Tyler Graybeal started selling Swedish treats in 2019 and now stocks more than 70 colorful candies for shoppers to dump into customizable bags and buckets. Graybeal’s selection includes still hard-to-find BUBS gummies, plus varieties of licorice tubes, pastel marshmallows, and chocolate eggs. This sugar rush doesn’t come cheap, though: Two pounds of candy cost $47.

    For snacks that don’t cause a toothache, Lancaster Pickle Company is across the street with barrels of assorted pickle chips, dill pretzels, and — yes — even half-sour lip balm.

    📍301 N. Queen St., Lancaster, Pa. 17603

    Stroll: Conestoga Greenway Trail

    This 2.6 mile out-and-back trail wraps a horseshoe around the scenic Conestoga River and has three access points with parking lots at Duke Street, Broad Street, and Conestoga Drive. The greenway winds its away around the water and through the trees, so it’s perfect for late-fall leaf peeping and serene nature walks. The river is a favorite of duck flocks, turtles, and deers stopping for a drink.

    Learn: James Buchanan’s Wheatland

    Built in 1828 as a prominent lawyer’s mansion, Wheatland changed hands several times before landing in 1848 with James Buchanan — then secretary of state and later, by many historians’ accounts, one of America’s worst presidents. Buchanan lived there until his death in 1868.

    Preserved by the nonprofit LancasterHistory, the home offers guided tours of Buchanan’s original furnishings and 19th-century décor. From Nov. 16 through Dec. 20, the tours take on a festive twist for Yuletide at Wheatland, exploring the family’s holiday traditions.

    📍 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster, Pa. 17603

    Imbibe: Hi-Fi Izakaya

    Tucked in the back of noodle bar Issei is Hi-Fi Izakaya, a speakeasy-esque listening lounge where DJs spin vinyl jazz, soul, and pop records until last call. The space is sleek and sexy, with a cocktail menu that adds Asian flair to standard drinks, like a gimlet mixed with matcha syrup, a Thai iced tea-infused espresso martini, and an old fashioned made with aged Japanese whiskey.

    📍 40 W. Orange St., Lancaster, Pa. 17603

    Dine: Quips Pub

    Tourists dine at Passerine, the French-inspired farm-to-table brasserie that landed on the New York Times’ best restaurant lists in 2024. Locals head to Quips Pub.

    The cozy British watering hole has been serving oversize platters of crispy fish and chips and traditional bangers and mash since 1984. Regulars come by often, bartenders said, for hefty burgers and sarnies (British slang for sandwich), plus an extensive list of imported German, Irish, and English beers.

    📍 457 New Holland Ave., Lancaster, Pa. 17602

    Rows of seasonal ice cream flavors from Fox Meadow Creamery in Leola, Pa.

    Indulge: Fox Meadow Creamery

    Fox Meadow Creamery’s Leola location is exactly halfway between Quip’s Pub and your cabin at Red Run, making it the perfect place to cap off a day of gallivanting in the city. Fox Meadow churns its ice cream on-site with milk from cows raised on the creamery’s dairy farm in nearby Ephrata, resulting in ultra-thick and and rich scoops.

    Fox Meadow’s flavors change with the seasons, so the late fall comes with vats of apple cream pie, pumpkin patch cheesecake, and venetian tiramisu ice creams, among others. And — before you ask — yes, they carry pints for you to take on the road.

    📍 193 E. Main St., Leola, Pa. 17540

  • ‘More needs and less money’: Philly’s collar counties are preparing for tight budgets, tax increases

    ‘More needs and less money’: Philly’s collar counties are preparing for tight budgets, tax increases

    Across the Philadelphia suburbs, county leaders are tightening their budgets, and looking toward potential tax increases.

    Counties are required by law to complete their budget for next year by Dec. 31. But they entered this year’s budget season facing uncertainty with federal funding and a lack of clarity over state dollars as lawmakers remained locked in a monthslong budget impasse that ended only Wednesday when the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Gov. Josh Shapiro approved a $50.1 billion budget.

    “We were preparing for more needs and less money,” said Josh Maxwell, a Democrat who chairs the Chester County Board of Commissioners. And even as Washington and Harrisburg resolved their budget woes this week, they did little to resolve concerns at the county level.

    The state budget included no funding for transit, a 2% cut to mental health spending, and stagnant funding on other services like 911 fees — frustrating local officials.

    “I don’t think if the General Assembly had sent us a gold-plated demand or invitation to raise property taxes it could have been any clearer,” said Delaware County Council member Christine Ruether, a Democrat.

    Counties in Pennsylvania can only increase their revenue by raising property taxes. By failing to provide additional funds for social services, county officials argued, the state had created a situation where counties would immediately or eventually have to raise property taxes.

    “The people we serve … all their problems don’t suddenly go away because there’s a lack of funding to address the problem,” said Bob Harvie, a Democrat who chairs the Bucks County Board of Commissioners and is running for Congress.

    “It will likely mean that this county will have to consider a tax increase because we need to meet the needs of those people.”

    Bucks County has not yet released its proposed budget for 2026. But residents in Montgomery and Delaware Counties are likely facing tax increases.

    On Thursday morning, Montgomery County unveiled its proposed budget for 2026, which included a 4% property-tax increase.

    Delaware County’s executive director Barbara O’Malley told the all-Democratic council last week that the county would need to increase property taxes 19% to eliminate the county’s structural deficit. A healthy financial setting, she argued, was especially important as state and federal funding streams have become less reliable.

    Both budgets were crafted before the state budget was released but county officials said they wrote the documents assuming stagnant funding from the state despite inflation.

    “We kept it status quo,” said Dean Dortone, Montgomery County’s chief financial officer.

    Chester County officials said they’ve taken a similar approach. The county, Maxwell said, had also looked for budget cuts throughout the year as federal grant cancellations created uncertainty.

    “We’ve been cutting all year because we know that the federal and state governments are going to be flat or less funding,” Maxwell said, but if the state continues to leave funding flat for social services it will eventually have an impact.

    “Over time it’s going to mean property taxes are … going to go up more than they would have otherwise.”

    Meanwhile, counties have spent the last several months backfilling for state funds that did not come during the impasse.

    In Montgomery County, officials estimated the county had spent between $40 and $50 million from budget reserves to maintain services. Chester County officials estimated the county spent $40 million, while Delaware County officials reported spending $12 million monthly until October when the county was forced to reduce payments to social services providers.

    Counties expect to be reimbursed by the state for those expenses, but it’s unclear how quickly those payments will come.

    Delaware County declared a state of emergency Wednesday allowing them to more quickly distribute funds to local food pantries while the organizations wait for state and federal dollars to come through.

    “It’s going to take a while for the money to trickle down and in the meantime if somebody can’t get food on the table it’s an issue,” Reuther said during the county’s board meeting.

    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.

  • How two Philadelphians’ remains ended up at the Mütter Museum

    How two Philadelphians’ remains ended up at the Mütter Museum

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    The Mütter Museum is a 162-year-old medical history museum. It contains countless mysteries.

    Amid recent debates about the ethics of displaying human remains at museums worldwide, the Mütter has been mired in controversy over the acquisition and provenance of its vast collection of specimens. Most were obtained from fellows of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the Mütter’s parent organization, between 1883 to 1918.

    During the past two years, researchers have embarked on a project called Postmortem: Mütter Museum.

    Staff invites public feedback on these contentious issues as they uncover new information about the typically anonymous individuals whose body parts are on view. But when it comes to this history, there are no easy answers.

    A Tale of Two Philadelphians

    The Mütter Museum holds the remains of thousands. These are two of their stories.

    Published

    This is Thomas Jeff. He was a Black child born in 1875 with hydrocephalus, a condition that causes one’s head to swell due to a buildup of excess fluid in the brain.

    Jeff’s skull has a circumference of about 27 inches, roughly the size of a cantaloupe.

    “I would hear children making fun of his skeleton because of the shape of his skull,” said Giselle Makler, the Mütter’s collections research specialist.

    Makler’s research aims to foster greater empathy and develop storytelling that focuses on people, not just their disabilities.

    The museum’s de-anonymization efforts started with Jeff.

    During his short life, Jeff was frequently put on display as a “freak” in unsavory sideshows across Philadelphia.

    His final performance was reportedly at a theater on Walnut Street where he sang “Yankee Doodle” and “Rule, Britannia!” alongside a five-legged rabbit and two-headed calf.

    Jeff’s earnings supported his impoverished family.

    His parents, Letitia and Thomas Jeff Sr., lived near Fifth and East Passyunk Streets in the historic Seventh Ward, a predominantly African American neighborhood, with their three sons.

    Thomas Jeff Jr., died on April 2, 1882 at the age of 7.

    The family had 18 hours with his body before doctors took him away.

    His rare condition made him a target for curious medical students.

    Mrs. Jeff received a $20 offer to buy her son's body. Today, that price amounts to about $650.

    The family needed the money; Mrs. Jeff's other son was partially paralyzed and required specialized care. Days after Jeff’s death, she told The Times, a local newspaper, that the doctors refused to pay more.

    Eventually, she made the devastating decision to sell her son's body.

    The reporter quoted her with a tone of derision and prejudice in the story …

    “I sooner sell ‘im fo’ dat dan hab ‘im dug up outen his grabe by med’cal fellers an’ toted away widout me gittin’ a picayune.”

    Mrs. Jeff's fears were valid: grave robbing was a rampant practice, particularly at African American cemeteries.

    Just months later, in December 1882, it was reported that “body snatchers” had been stealing thousands of corpses from South Philly’s Lebanon Cemetery for years.

    The intent was to dissect them at Jefferson Medical College (now called Sidney Kimmel Medical College under Thomas Jefferson University).

    “There’s hard evidence that bodies of Black people were deliberately preyed upon and taken for specimens, traded amongst professional physicians, used to teach medical students, and, of course, put on display,” said Rana Hogarth, a professor of medical history at University of Pennsylvania who studies slavery, race, and colonialism.

    “I wonder if [Mrs. Jeff] had heard rumors that if her son’s body even got to the cemetery — if they could afford that — that he was going to end up on a table, taken in the middle of the night.”

    On April 6, 1882, Mrs. Jeff sold her son’s body to Richard Harte, a renowned surgeon and Penn alum.

    Years later, Harte would become president of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

    The college is the oldest private society of doctors in the country. It was founded in 1787 by a group of physicians, including Declaration of Independence signatory Benjamin Rush.

    In the late 1800s, the Jeff family couldn't afford access to a dedicated physician, whereas wealthy white families typically received medical care at home.

    On the opposite end of that medical care spectrum was Mary L. Caley, the woman to whom this enlarged kidney belonged.

    Caley, a notable Quaker woman, was a revered minister in Philadelphia. She lived her entire life unaware that she had been born with only one kidney.

    A mother of four, she frequently spoke publicly at Quaker meetings and advertised sermons in local newspapers, inviting working-class audiences to attend.

    Caley, her children, and her husband, Samuel, were treated at their Center City home by the family physician, Francis G. Smith.

    She died on May 28, 1862 at the age of 53 following years of cognitive decline.

    Smith performed an at-home autopsy.

    The autopsy revealed that Caley previously experienced a stroke and had two unique organs …

    … an exceptionally large kidney and a uterus with a structural anomaly.

    Two weeks after her death, Caley’s kidney, uterus, and bladder were presented and discussed at a meeting of the Philadelphia Pathological Society.

    There is no documentation regarding whether Caley (or her husband) gave her organs to their doctor or the college. Mütter leaders speculate that the Caleys “may have shared ideas with these elite physicians about the importance of medical inquiry and progress.”

    Caley was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, which was eventually where Smith was also laid to rest.

    One jar = 60 specimens

    A year later, college fellow Thomas Mütter founded the eponymous museum with 1,700 objects and specimens for medical education.

    Today, the Mütter Museum houses 6,483 human remains.

    The staff has so far researched a dozen case studies of about 480 specimens on view.

    Jeff’s and Caley’s stories are only two out of thousands represented in the Mütter’s current collection.

    While the Postmortem project has concluded, the Mütter will continue its efforts to learn more about the individuals in the museum and share their stories with the public as a way to better contextualize their bodily autonomy and agency — or lack thereof, in many cases — in the history of medicine.

    What does the museum do now?

    “Collections like this have typically been interpreted in the past [with a primary focus on] the biological and pathological facts of that specimen,” said Sara Ray, Mütter’s senior director of interpretation and engagement.

    “… which is, inherently, untethered from the human story of it.”

    “The more information that we have about who a specimen is, the more intentional we can be about the type of storytelling we do … We're able to foster a conversation that feels more relevant to [visitors] and humanizes [the people on display].”

    Staff Contributors

    • Design and development: Charmaine Runes
    • Reporting: Rosa Cartagena
    • Editing: Bedatri D. Choudhury, Sam Morris
    • Illustration: AJ Dungo
    • Copy Editing: Brian Leighton

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    Topics mentioned in this story

    Mütter Museum

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  • After big wins Tuesday, Democrats think they can oust Brian Fitzpatrick. But the Bucks Republican is resilient.

    After big wins Tuesday, Democrats think they can oust Brian Fitzpatrick. But the Bucks Republican is resilient.

    Should last week’s election results make Brian Fitzpatrick nervous?

    Bucks County Democrats think so.

    The Republican lawmaker has been like Teflon in the 1st Congressional District, which includes all of Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County. He persistently outperforms the rest of his party and has survived blue wave after blue wave. First elected in 2016, he has remained the last Republican representing the Philadelphia suburbs in the U.S. House.

    But Democrats pulled something off this year that they hadn’t done in recent memory. They won each countywide office by around 10 percentage points — the largest win margin in a decade — and for the first time installed a Democrat, Joe Khan, as the county’s next top prosecutor.

    Now they are looking to next year, hopeful that County Commissioner Bob Harvie, the likely Democratic nominee, succeeds where Fitzpatrick’s past challengers have failed.

    “This year was unprecedented, and sitting here a year before the midterm, you have to believe that next year is going to be unprecedented as well,” State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, who is also the county party’s chair, said Wednesday.

    Eli Cousin, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, predicted a “perfect storm brewing for Democrats” to beat Fitzpatrick. “He and Trump’s Republican Party are deeply underwater with Bucks County voters; he has failed to do anything to address rising costs, and we will have a political juggernaut in Gov. Josh Shapiro at the top of the ticket,” Cousin said.

    There are several reasons Democrats may be exhibiting some premature confidence: Despite a spike in turnout for an off-year election, far fewer voters turn out in such elections than do in midterms. Fitzpatrick is extremely well-known in Bucks, where his late brother served before he was elected to the seat. He has won each of his last three elections by double digits.

    Just last year, President Donald Trump narrowly won Bucks County, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to do so since the 1980s, and Republicans overtook Democrats in voter registrations last year.

    But Tuesday was a sizable pendulum swing in the bellwether. Some of the communities, like Bensalem, that drove Trump’s victory flipped back to blue.

    The last time Democrats had won a sheriff’s race in the county was 2017, a year after Trump was elected the first time. That year, Democrats won by smaller margins, and a Republican incumbent easily won reelection as district attorney. The following year, Fitzpatrick came the closest he has yet to losing a race, but still won his seat by 3 percentage points.

    This year’s landslide, Democrats say, is a warning sign.

    “There were Democratic surges in every place that there’s a competitive congressional seat, and that should be scaring the s— out of national Republicans,” said Democratic strategist Brendan McPhilips, who managed Democratic Sen. John Fetterman’s campaign in the state and worked on both of the last Democratic presidential campaigns here.

    “The Bucks County seat has always been the toughest, but it’s certainly on the table, and there’s a lot there for Bob Harvie to harness and take advantage of.”

    Bucks County Democratic Commissioner Bob Harvie speaks during an Oct. 5 rally outside the Middletown Township Police Department and Administrative Offices in Langhorne.

    Harvie, a high school teacher-turned-politician, leapt on the results of the election hours after races were called, putting out a statement saying, “There is undeniable hunger for change in Bucks County.”

    “The mood of the country certainly is different,” Harvie said in an interview with The Inquirer on Thursday. “What you’re seeing is definitely a referendum.”

    Lack of GOP concern

    But Republicans don’t appear worried.

    Jim Worthington, a Trump megadonor who is deeply involved in Bucks County politics, attributes GOP losses this year to a failure in mail and in-person turnout. Fitzpatrick, he said, has a track record of running robust mail voting campaigns and separating himself from the county party apparatus.

    “He’s not vulnerable,” Worthington said. “No matter who they run against him, they’re going to have their hands full.”

    Heather Roberts, a spokesperson for Fitzpatrick’s campaign, noted that the lawmaker won his last election by 13 points with strong support from independent voters in 2024 — a year after Democrats performed well in the county in another off-year election. She dismissed the notion that Harvie would present a serious challenge, contending the commissioner “has no money and no message” for his campaign.

    Fitzpatrick is also a prolific fundraiser. He brought in $886,049 last quarter, a large amount even for an incumbent, leading Harvie, who raised $217,745.

    “Bob Harvie’s not going to win this race,” said Chris Pack, spokesperson for the Defending America PAC, which is supporting Fitzpatrick. “He has no money. He’s had two dismal fundraising quarters in a row. That’s problematic.”

    Pack noted Harvie’s own internal poll, reviewed by The Inquirer, showed 57% of voters were unsure how they felt about him.

    “An off-off-year election is not the same as a midterm election,” Pack said, adding he thinks Fitzpatrick’s ranking as the most bipartisan member of Congress will continue to serve him well in Bucks County.

    “He’s obviously had well-documented breaks on policy with the Republican caucus in D.C., so for Bob Harvie to try to say Brian Fitzpatrick is super far right, no one’s gonna buy it,” Pack said. “They haven’t bought it every single election.”

    On fundraising, Harvie said he had brought in big fundraising hauls for both of his commissioner races, and said he would have the money he needed to compete.

    Of the four GOP-held House districts Democrats are targeting next year in the state, Fitzpatrick’s seat is by far the safest. That raises the question: How much money and attention are Democrats willing to invest in Pennsylvania?

    “Who’s the most vulnerable?” asked Chris Nicholas, a GOP consultant who grew up in Bucks County. The other three — U.S. Rep. Scott Perry and freshman U.S. Reps. Rob Bresnahan, in the Northeast, and Ryan Mackenzie, in the Lehigh Valley — won by extremely narrow margins last year. “If you’re ranking the four races, you have Rob Bresnahan at the top and Fitzpatrick at the bottom,” Nicholas said.

    National Democrats seldom invest as much to try to beat Fitzpatrick as they say they will, Nicholas said. And he pointed to 2018, a huge year for Democrats, when they had a candidate in Scott Wallace who was very well-funded, albeit far less known than Harvie, and still came up short.

    Democrats see Harvie as the best shot they have had — a twice-elected commissioner, with name ID from Lower Bucks County, home to many of the district’s swing voters. And the 1st District is one of just three in the country that is held by a Republican member of Congress where Vice President Kamala Harris won last year.

    And then there’s Shapiro, who Democrats think will give a boost to candidates like Harvie as he runs for reelection next year. Shapiro won the district by 20 points in 2022.

    Following the playbook used by successful candidates this year, Democrats are likely to argue to voters that Fitzpatrick has done little to push back on Trump — while placing cost-of-living concerns at the feet of the Republican Party.

    “A lot of people are, you know, upset with where we are as a nation,” Harvie said. “They grew up expecting that if you worked hard and played by the rules, you’d be able to have all the things you needed and have a good life. And that’s not happening for them.”

    The Trump effect

    Democrats won races in Bucks County, and across the country, this year by tying their opponents to Trump — a tactic that was especially effective in ousting Republican Sheriff Fred Harran, who partnered his office with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In recent cycles, that strategy has not worked against Fitzpatrick.

    “The big thing Democrats throw against Republicans is you’re part and parcel of Trump and MAGA, and Fitzpatrick voted against Trump,” Nicholas said.

    Over nearly 10 years in Congress, Fitzpatrick has been a rare Republican who pushes back on Trump, though often subtly. Fitzpatrick, who cochairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, was the lone Pennsylvania Republican to confirm former President Joe Biden’s electoral victory in 2020. A former FBI agent who spent a stint stationed in Ukraine, he is among the strongest voices of support for Ukraine in Congress, consistently pushing the administration to do more to aid the country as it resists a yearslong Russian invasion.

    Fitzpatrick was also one of just two House Republicans to vote against Trump’s signature domestic policy package, which passed in July. He voted for an earlier version that passed the House by just one vote, which Democrats often bring up to claim Fitzpatrick defies his party only when it has no detrimental impact.

    “He’s good at principled stances that ultimately do nothing,” said Tim Persico, an adviser with the Harvie campaign. “That is what has allowed him to defy gravity in the previous cycles. … Now the economy is doing badly. … People feel worse about everything, and Fitzpatrick isn’t doing anything to help with that. I think it makes it harder to defy gravity.”

    Trump has endorsed every Republican running for reelection in Pennsylvania next year except Fitzpatrick. While the Bucks County lawmaker has avoided direct criticism of the president, in an appearance in Pittsburgh over the summer, Trump characterized the “no” vote on the domestic bill as a betrayal.

    Fitzpatrick has faced more conservative primary challengers in the past, but no names have surfaced so far this cycle, a sign that even the more MAGA-aligned may see him as their best chance to hold onto the purple district.

    Keeping his distance from Trump, and limiting Democrats’ opportunities to tie the two together, may remain Fitzpatrick’s best path forward.

    “Anybody who wants to align themselves with an agenda of chaos and corruption and cruelty ought to be worried,” said Khan, Bucks County’s new district attorney-elect.

    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.

  • Party soul-searching, the Latino vote, and a South Jersey strategy: Takeaways from Tuesday’s election

    Party soul-searching, the Latino vote, and a South Jersey strategy: Takeaways from Tuesday’s election

    A Navy pilot in New Jersey. A democratic socialist in New York City. Three Pennsylvania jurists who never wanted to hit the campaign trail in the first place.

    The Democrats who scored big wins in Tuesday’s elections came from across the political spectrum and succeeded in disparate campaign environments.

    Blue wave? Democrats build momentum with a sweep of high-profile races in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia.

    The results were momentous for a party hungry for wins in President Donald Trump’s second term. But they are also likely to revive longstanding debates on how the party should present itself to the American people going into the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential race.

    Should Democrats embrace a bold vision and tack left? Are left-of-center candidates with bipartisan appeal still the way to win statewide races? Or could the party simply embrace the reality of being a big-tent party?

    Here are five takeaways from Tuesday’s elections, including the state of play for both parties’ soul-searching exercises.

    Democrats gained momentum, but received no clear signs about the future of the party

    The energy is clearly there.

    Turnout soared on Tuesday, despite being an off-year election, and Democrats won by surprisingly large margins up and down the ballot.

    Even Montgomery County, where there were no competitive elections for county offices, saw its highest-ever off-year turnout at 50.7% of registered voters, and Democrats flipped every contested school board race.

    Turnout is brisk in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as voters sound off on Trump, crime, and taxes

    At the top of the ticket, New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill and Virginia’s Abigail Spanberger, both U.S. representatives with national security backgrounds, ran up the scores in their gubernatorial races while portraying themselves as pragmatists.

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    Zohran Mamdani, meanwhile, handily defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayor’s race by promising radical change and progressive policy solutions.

    So where does that leave Democrats as they try to find a recipe for success in next year’s congressional races?

    For Philadelphia’s progressive District Attorney Larry Krasner, who won a third term Tuesday, the answer is clear.

    “There’s a new politics,” Krasner said Wednesday. “It’s pretty clear that the American people, Philadelphians, are tired of insiders who promise them things they don’t do. They’re tired of political dynasties.”

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    Democratic strategist Brendan McPhillips, who has worked for progressive candidates as well as Joe Biden’s and Kamala Harris’ campaigns in Pennsylvania, said the party should embrace the ideological diversity of its constituencies.

    “People have tried to ask this question of who represents the soul of the party, and I just think it’s a bad question,” he said. “The party is a huge tent, and last night proves you can run for Democratic office in New York City and New Jersey and Bucks County and Erie, Pa., and each of those races can look entirely different.”

    Democrats made gains with Latino voters

    One of the more worrying signs for Democrats in the Trump era has been the president’s increasing popularity among Latino voters.

    They flipped that narrative Tuesday.

    After 10 months of aggressive U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids under Trump that are seen by many in the Latino community as indiscriminate and cruel, Democrats appear to have undone some of Trump’s gains in what has long been a blue constituency.

    In New Jersey, the two counties where Sherrill made the biggest gains compared with Harris in the 2024 presidential election were Passaic and Hudson, both of which are more than 40% Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census.

    Mikie Sherrill was underestimated. So was the extent of anti-Trump sentiment in New Jersey.

    Sherrill won Hudson by 50 percentage points, which represents a 22-point swing from Harris. And she won Passaic by 15 percentage points after Trump surprisingly carried the county with a 3-point margin in 2024.

    In Philadelphia, Krasner won eight wards that the more conservative Patrick Dugan — Krasner’s opponent in both the general election and the Democratic primary — had won in their first round in May.

    All were in or near the Lower Northeast, and the biggest swing came in the heavily Latino 7th Ward, which includes parts of Fairhill and Kensington. Krasner’s share of the vote there grew from 46% in the primary to 86% in the general.

    It’s really hard to unseat Pennsylvania judges

    Only one Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice since 1968 has failed to win a retention election, in which voters face a yes-or-no decision on whether to give incumbents new 10-year terms, rather than a choice between candidates.

    Tuesday’s results will be discouraging for anyone hoping to increase that number soon.

    All three Pa. Supreme Court justices are retained following a historically expensive race

    Hoping to break liberals’ 5-2 majority on the state’s highest court, Republicans spent big in an attempt to oust three justices who were originally elected as Democrats. Democratic groups then poured in their own money to defend the incumbents.

    In the end, Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht all won by more than 25 percentage points.

    Ciattarelli’s South Jersey strategy failed

    In his third attempt to become governor, Republican Jack Ciattarelli bet big on South Jersey, the more conservative but less populous part of the Garden State.

    It didn’t work.

    In his 2021 campaign against Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, Ciattarelli carried Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties with a combined 56.8% of the vote. Trump then went on to sweep all five counties last year.

    But on Tuesday, Ciattarelli performed 8 percentage points worse in the region, giving Sherrill a narrow lead in South Jersey, where she won three of the five counties south of Camden.

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    Republicans now face their own soul-searching question: How to win without Trump?

    In 2024, Trump’s coattails helped Republicans win control of Congress and other elected offices across the country — including in two Pennsylvania swing districts.

    With the president in his second and final term, how will the GOP win without him on the ballot?

    For Jim Worthington, the Trump megadonor and owner of the Newtown Athletic Club in Bucks County, Tuesday’s results show that the GOP needs to do more work on the ground if it wants to succeed without the man who has dominated Republican politics since 2015.

    Elections, he said, are “not about the policies as much they’re just turnout. Red team, blue team.”

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

    The blue team won Tuesday, he said, because the red team didn’t do enough of the legwork needed to get its voters to cast mail ballots and to drive in-person turnout on Election Day. Worthington said the results left him concerned about Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity’s chances of unseating Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro next year.

    “If we don’t get a robust vote-by-mail, paid-for program, it’s going to be very difficult, very difficult, if not impossible for Stacy Garrity to win,” Worthington said. “During this whole 2025 year when we could have been building this toward 2026, we lost a year because we didn’t do it.”

    Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.

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

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

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

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

    But 2025 feels different.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Money, money, money

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    The Trump factor

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

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

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

    Republicans are striking a different tone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Nevertheless, the effort is groundbreaking.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    “I want to handle it with grace.”

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

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

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

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

    Impact on voters

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

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

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

    Episodes like this are relatively rare, Deuso said

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Rich Bryant is running as a Republican for Downingtown mayor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • SEPTA train inspections: How many are left?

    SEPTA train inspections: How many are left?

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    SEPTA train inspections: How many are left?

    Tracking progress on Silverliner IV inspections and when Regional Rail service will return to normal

    Rail cars inspected
    Published Oct 27, 2025

    SEPTA is rushing to inspect 225 Silverliner IV rail cars that make up about two-thirds of the Regional Rail fleet following an emergency order from the Federal Railroad Administration.

    The transit agency has until Oct. 31 to complete the inspections, which were recommended after the National Transportation Safety Board released a report investigating five fires that occurred on the Silverliner IVs this year.

    As of Oct. 9, SEPTA said that crews can handle about six Silverliner IV cars a day, with a goal of ramping up inspections to handle 12 cars a day with five-person crews per car.

    Although SEPTA is rotating cars in and out of service for the inspections — instead of yanking all 225 from service at once — riders have experienced significant delays and some trains have been outright canceled. Without a full fleet, SEPTA says it is unable to respond as easily to typical delay-causing events, such as power outages and bad weather.

    Riders should check the SEPTA app for real-time updates on how trains are running.

    As the deadline approaches and delays persist, The Inquirer is tracking SEPTA’s inspection progress.

    Mon., Oct. 27, 2025

    95 inspections complete

    Rail cars inspected

    Days until deadline: 4

    Fri., Oct. 24, 2025

    88 inspections complete

    The number of SEPTA's 225 Silverliner rail cars that have been inspected as of Oct. 24.

    Days until deadline: 7

    Wed., Oct. 22, 2025

    78 inspections complete

    The number of SEPTA's 225 Silverliner rail cars that have been inspected as of Oct. 22.

    Days until deadline: 9

    Mon., Oct. 20, 2025

    66 inspections complete

    The number of SEPTA's 225 Silverliner rail cars that have been inspected as of Oct. 20.

    Days until deadline: 11

    Fri., Oct. 17, 2025

    58 inspections complete

    The number of SEPTA's 225 Silverliner rail cars that have been inspected as of Oct. 17.

    Days until deadline: 14

    story continues after advertisement

    Wed., Oct. 15, 2025

    46 inspections complete

    The number of SEPTA's 225 Silverliner rail cars that have been inspected as of Oct. 15.

    Days until deadline: 16

    Thurs., Oct. 9, 2025

    12 inspections completed

    The number of SEPTA's 225 Silverliner rail cars that have been inspected as of Oct. 12.

    Days until deadline: 22

    Mon., Oct. 6, 2025

    Inspections begin

    Cars began undergoing inspections in SEPTA’s four regional maintenance facilities.

    Greg Buzby, manager of Regional Rail vehicle engineering, shows some of the work being done for the safety inspections at the SEPTA Overbrook Maintenance Facility.
    Greg Buzby, manager of Regional Rail vehicle engineering, shows some of the work being done for the safety inspections at the SEPTA Overbrook Maintenance Facility.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    “We’re looking for any signs of overheating or damage to any of the circuits, physical damage, making sure the bolted connections are tight,” said Greg Buzby, manager of Regional Rail engineering. “There’s also electrical testing that we have to do to make sure the insulation has its integrity.”

    Inspections remaining: 225

    Days until deadline: 25

    Wed., Oct. 1, 2025

    NTSB releases report

    Noting that the Silverliner IV cars’ “outdated design … represents an immediate and unacceptable safety risk,” the National Transportation Safety Board urged SEPTA to sideline all the Silverliner cars immediately and to retrofit or replace them as soon as possible. The Silverliner IVs went into service between 1974 and 1976, with technology that was designed even before that time.

    The NTSB’s findings are advisory.

    More than 300 passengers were safely evacuated after a SEPTA Regional Rail train caught fire in February in Delaware County.
    More than 300 passengers were safely evacuated after a SEPTA Regional Rail train caught fire in February in Delaware County.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer

    The Federal Railroad Administration, which regulates freight and passenger railroads, ordered SEPTA to undertake the inspections, concluding “that SEPTA’s maintenance and operation of its passenger rail equipment requires additional oversight and corrective action.”

    Inspections remaining: 225

    Days until deadline: 30

    story continues after advertisement

    Talk to our transportation team.

    Do you have questions about what’s happening on Regional Rail? Ask here or share how your rides on Regional Rail have been impacted in October.

    Staff Contributors

    • Reporting: Thomas Fitzgerald and Erica Palan
    • Graphics: John Duchneskie
    • Editing: Lizzy McLellan Ravitch
    • Digital Editing: Erica Palan

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    Topics mentioned in this story

    Delaware CountyOverbrookSEPTA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    As funds dry up, limited options for families

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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