We pulled together smart people from all over PA to cover local races we each had an eye on as well as the results from the PA-wide judicial elections. We, too, fell into the trap of not waiting for all the votes to be counted. Since this was recorded, Judge Lori Dumas has pulled ahead in the race for Commonwealth Court, and auto recounts will happen in that race, as well as the one for Supreme Court. (https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2021/11/pa-commonwealth-court-recount-lori-dumas-drew-crompton/)
We avoided some of the far too-pat media frames that depicted 2021 as a clear referendum on national political dynamics. Whether all local races are nationalizing or not seems an open question. What rural Dems, be they in Tioga County or in the rural parts of key counties like Bucks or Luzerne, can and should do is not an easy question to answer.
Join our superstar smorgasbord (Thanks Taylor for the Swedish vocab!). Our new guests included Dana Greenwood-Jones, Nurse and Union Leader from Scranton (Luzerne County) and Cyril Mychalejko of the Bucks County Courier Times and Intelligencer (that’s two papers.) (https://cyrilmychalejko.substack.com/).
Jessica Brittain (https://twitter.com/msbrittain524) of Action Together NEPA (https://www.actiontogethernepa.org/) (and HUB for Progress facilitator). Also from Columbia County
Dwayne Heisler of SEIU Healthcare (https://seiuhcpa.org/) (another HUB for Progress facilitator, too). Also from Columbia County.
Stephen Caruso, plucky and accurate reporter for PA Capital Star (please support them!) (https://www.penncapital-star.com/donate/). From all over PA?
Jenna Henry of A Better PA (http://www.betterforpennsylvania.org/) and also the Keystone Progress Education Fund (https://www.kpef.info/)
Photo Credit.
