PA Political Digest - Fetterman does better with GOP, Shapiro budget a dud & a big blow up in the St. Senate

Sharp analysis of PA politics and campaigns writ large

Welcome to the Friday End of the Week post here at PPD - I’m your guide, GOP political consultant Christopher Nicholas.

Note: As I did last year, I am taking a break next week, July 4th week…so the next PPD you’ll receive after this will arrive Tuesday, July 8th.

Also note that when I put (no paywall) or (gift link) after a quoted article, it means you’re able to read it even if you don’t subscribe to that publication - another benefit of reading PPD.

Enjoy the holiday.

For you today, we have:

• In the Round Up…Iranian attack polling, a big blow-up in the State Senate, Gov. Shapiro’s budget plan scores low, Fetterman has a new book? & he now polls better with GOP than Dems

• This Week in Pennsylvania interviews former GOP Cong. Charlie Dent and current Cong. Scott Perry (R-10)

• In Extras, down at the bottom, PA buffets rule, as it there was any question…plus digital whitewashing.

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Round Up

The President now controls U.S. Steel. Himself, apparently.

• As the AP reports, the “golden share” that controls the new Japanese-owned U.S. Steel now resides with Pres. Trump. After he leaves office, that power reverts to the Dept. of Commerce. This provision was vital to getting the deal done, which is set to bring more than $14 billion of investment into the company and keeps its HQ here in PA.

“Under the provision, Trump — or someone he designates — controls that decision-making power while he is president. However, control over those powers reverts to the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department when anyone else is president, according to the filings.” (no paywall)

• National polling out this week show that more Americans oppose the recent strikes against Iran than support them. Of course the party breaks on it are very telling:

Notice how the GOP and Dems are near perfect opposites of each other…but more Indies oppose the bombing which swings the overall national numbers.

• The President’s own approval numbers continue to be underwater - more voters disapprove of his job performance than approve. The Quinnipiac Univ. survey puts his approval at 41%, with 54% disapproving (-13%).

• New state polling out this week shows our always-newsy Sr. Sen. John Fetterman now has slightly better approval ratings among Republicans than with his own party…his overall approval is just slightly positive, at 41-37%.

Note that Fetterman’s approval rating is underwater (negative) in Philly, where Dems outnumber Republicans 7:1!

Fetterman has vocally approved of the military’s recent attack on Iran, all part of his vociferous support, and defense of, Israel.

• More findings from the same poll show that Gov. Shapiro’s budget proposal is seen unfavorably by 57% of PA voters - and several school choice proposals are favored by voters. Read those topline poll numbers here.

• They’ve popped up nearly everywhere across the state in the past 5-10 years: casino-like Skill games machines, which have been ruled legal by PA courts. They are not regulated or taxed at all…yet.

The sturm and drang over the legislative battle to do just that reached a crescendo this week. Several well-known Harrisburg lobbying shops dropped the maker and distributor of those machines, Pace-O-Matic, as a client, after a very public dust-up with Senate GOP leaders.

This story, by Stephen Caruso and Angela Couloumbis of SpotlightPA pulled the curtain back on the Skills games battle.

“An all-out political war is erupting in the state Capitol between the most powerful Republican lawmakers and a deep-pocketed company that has reshaped the gaming landscape in Pennsylvania.

“Hanging in the balance are hundreds of millions of dollars in potential state tax revenue — a key piece in closed-door budget talks as the June 30 deadline approaches with no deal in sight.

“The conflict escalated suddenly and bitterly over the past week, with skill games developer and distributor Pace-O-Matic now accusing the state Senate’s top two GOP leaders of intimidating its hired guns in the halls of the Capitol.” (no paywall)

There are competing legislative proposals with widely-divergent levels of taxation on the machine’s proceeds…plus who would regulate the machines and how? The state’s casino operators want the higher tax rate and also want the industry regulated by the same entity that regulates them, the PA Gaming Control Board.

• So, how do your media consumption habits and likes compare to other Republicans or Democrats? A fascinating interactive graph from PEW Research shows how American consume news, besides reading PPD, and which outlets are pre-eminent with different voter groups.

This chart shows media consumption habits among all adults in the country.

• A follow up from our Tuesday post: young, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, a state rep from Queens, easily bested a field of 9 other candidates to win the Dem nod for Mayor of NYC. The #2 finisher, disgraced former Gov. and scuzzball Andrew Cuomo, at first said he would not run in the fall as an Independent, but contradicted himself on that yesterday. The Ranked Choice Voting system used in the primary could take several weeks to come to its final conclusion, as Mamdani did not get 50% Tuesday.

Interestingly, while Mamdani won most Asian-majority precincts in the city, he lost the majority-black and -Hispanic precincts. The % of under 40 voters in the Dem primary increased exponentially since their 2021 mayoral primary, which boosted Mamdani.

The national Democrat’s frantic navel-gazing shifted into even higher gear as they fretted about what Mamdani’s win would do to their overall national image…while many Republicans, of course after “pouncing” on the results, rubbed their hands in glee. Fetterman, seemingly agreeing with Republicans, said of Mamdani’s win, “I’d describe it as Christmas in July for the GOP.” It’s still just June, but you get the idea.

• Apparently Fetterman and the Philly-based ghost-writer working on the senator’s upcoming memoir, Unfettered, due in the fall, are not getting along…another casualty of Fetterman’s evolving political ideology…

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