PA Could Swing Congressional Control. This is the PoliticsPA Playbook.
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What We’re Listening To. We’re now just days away from the 2026 Midterm Elections. Pennsylvanians will go to the polls to elect Governor, 25 Senate races, 203 local State Representative races, and 17 elected officials to the United States Congress. Today on Voices of Reason, Steve Ulrich will speak with the editorial staff of the Fideri News Network, made up of Broad & Liberty, Bucks Independence, Lancaster Independence, and PoliticsPA about what they are looking for as we head into the 2026 general election.
Tips. PoliticsPA is Pennsylvania’s premier source for nonpartisan political news and analysis. Tips or press releases can be sent to steve@politicspa.com.
The PoliticsPA Playbook is compiled by Steve Ulrich. For the web version, click here. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.
Top Story
“Democrats have the momentum, but each district has also seen twists that have arguably made their races more competitive in the final weeks ahead of the midterms.
Upwards of $121 million in ads. Investments from President Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s political organizations. Accusations of criminal wrongdoing and subterfuge. Tension-filled or canceled debates.” | Philadelphia Inquirer
Elsewhere
Sabato’s Crystal Ball Moves Two More Pennsylvania Congressional Races Left. “The closely-watched 1st Congressional District contest between Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-01) and Bucks County commissioner Bob Harvie is now a toss-up according to the group. And the 8th Congressional District race between Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-08) and mayor of Scranton Paige Cognetti shifts from toss-up to leans Democrat.” | PoliticsPA
2026 Election Preview: 8th Congressional District. It’s a NEPA showdown as Rep. Rob Bresnahan looks for reelection against Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti.| PoliticsPA
2026 Election Preview: 7th Congressional District. The Lehigh Valley will decide between sending Ryan Mackenzie back to Washington or sending a new face in Bob Brooks. | PoliticsPA
GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie Sends Cease-and-Desist to Bob Brooks Over Ad in Heated PA Congressional Race. “For the second time in less than two weeks, a candidate in the Lehigh Valley’s highly competitive race for Congress has called on their opponent to take down a television ad they consider false and defamatory. And for the second time, the other one has refused.” | Philadelphia Inquirer
Republicans Emphasize Transgender Ads, Putting Cultural Issues Over Voters’ Economic Anxiety. “Republicans have spent an estimated $183 million on television ads focused on transgender-related attacks against Democrats in the final phase of this year’s midterm elections, betting that struggling GOP candidates can leverage the divisive cultural issue to overcome voters’ concerns about President Donald Trump’s leadership and the state of the economy.” | AP
State
“Several school leaders agree with limiting cellphone use at school; many have implemented their own policies in recent years. But some are frustrated by the mandate that requires current policies to change and that could cause parental pushback.
“I [see] both sides of it,” Hempfield superintendent Mark Holtzman said. “I don’t think there’s poor intention. I think it means well and it sounds really good on the surface, but when it’s put out to be implemented with no flexibility, it makes it very, very challenging for the people on the ground floor.”” | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Elsewhere
Where Garrity, Shapiro Stand On Childcare, Vaccines, and Other Issues Affecting Kids. “Josh Shapiro has fought the Trump admin’s efforts to curtail vaccine access and undermine the state’s measles response, while Stacy Garrity says she would work with the feds.” | Spotlight PA
PA-10: Perry Filmed a Campaign Video in His Congressional Office, Liberal PAC Files Ethics Complaint. “Number one on the U.S. House Committee on Ethics’ top 10 list for things to remember about campaign activity states, “You may not conduct campaign activities in official buildings or using official resources.”” | WITF
PA-11: GOP Campaign Ad Attacking Smucker Opponent Nancy Mannion For Bankruptcy Points to Phone Sex Line. “A campaign mailer paid for by the Pennsylvania Republican Party attacking U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker’s Democratic challenger includes the number for what sounds like a toll-free phone sex service.” | LNP
Democrat James Malone Faces First Test Of Support In Red 36th District Since 2025 Win. Can He Beat Republican Tom Jones? “Democrat James Malone’s narrow 2025 special election victory in Lancaster County’s deep red 36th Senate District is akin to a hero’s journey, at least to voters from his own party.” | LNP
Campaign Spending Takes Off in Airport-Area PA House Race. “Three of Allegheny County’s most hotly contested state House races in next week’s midterms have drawn more than $3 million in spending, new financial disclosures show.” | Public Source
Around The Commonwealth
“While the progressive faction is primed to expand its footprint on Capitol Hill, local scholars are skeptical that a major political shift is on the horizon in the area.” | PhillyVoice
Elsewhere
Two Blocks in Pennsylvania Show Why It’s So Hard to Reach Voters. “In a competitive House district, residents get their election news from under-the-radar sources – or no sources at all.” | New York Times
AI Generated Attack Ads Are New. But They Build on Decades of Targeted Direct Mail. “Conservative pioneers in the 1970s revealed that incendiary direct mail targeting specific slices of the electorate and arousing their emotions could motivate voters and raise funds.” | Philadelphia Inquirer
Parker Unveils New Details About Philadelphia-Backed Mortgages. “Mayor Cherelle Parker’s One Philly Mortgage program could make homeownership more affordable for first-time buyers who might otherwise struggle to qualify for traditional loans.” | Axios Philadelphia
PA’s Election Official Turnover Has Skyrocketed Since 2020 — And It Isn’t Letting Up. “For decades, the roster of county election directors in Pennsylvania didn’t change much from cycle to cycle. Then it did, and Forrest Lehman took note.” | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Editorial
1 Thing
“It’s perhaps the most consequential map in American history. And it could be yours.
The hand-drawn chart of the Mason-Dixon Line that eventually divided the free from the slave states is going up for auction. Remounted on backing made of Japanese rice paper, the document will go on sale Thursday in a livestreamed auction.
Brunk estimates it could fetch anywhere from $800,000 to $1.2 million for the anonymous seller.
The survey by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon was originally meant to settle a border dispute between the then-colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania. But when it was used in the 1820 Missouri Compromise to establish the limits of human bondage in the still adolescent United States, it became synonymous with the fundamental divisions that exploded into civil war four decades later.” | AP
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