Is Pennsylvania Turning Democratic?

Photo by Derek Hatfield/Shutterstock.com

Good morning, Philadelphia, and happy National Scrapple Day. Here’s what you need to know today.

Some surprising news from last week’s statewide election: Dems didn’t need Philly to win.

“It long has been the Republican mantra that Democrats only can win statewide if there is a large voter turnout in Philadelphia, a Democrat bastion. But this time, if you deduct all of the Philadelphia vote totals from the Supreme Court candidates, the three Democrats still win,” Joseph Sabino Mistick writes for TribLive.

And that win could have huge effects on the future politics of a state where Republicans win elections and Democrats win the votes. Mistick adds: “The politics of the court will matter more after the next national census. Then, the Supreme Court likely will appoint the chairman and tie-breaking vote of the legislative reapportionment commission. Democrats believe that this will put them in position to undo the gerrymandering that has kept Republicans in solid control of the Legislature, in spite of a million-vote deficit.”

A Pa. Senate committee will begin today to consider whether to boot Attorney General Kathleen Kane from office.

The committee was created after Kane had her law license suspended in the wake of charges she leaked secret grand jury information for political gain. “The hearings center on the state constitution’s requirement that the elected attorney general should have a law license, as well as whether it allows the Republican-controlled Senate to directly remove officeholders through a two-thirds vote,” Reuters reports. Kane contends the Senate panel is overstepping its authority — that the only way to remove her from office is through full impeachment involving indictment by the House and trial in the Senate.

State officials are predicting Pennsylvania can get a state budget by Thanksgiving.

“Wolf’s press secretary, Jeff Sheridan, said Saturday that there are serious negotiations and a light at the end of the tunnel,” AP reports. “That followed an upbeat note Friday by House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, to rank-and-file Republicans saying progress in talks could lead to the passage of a budget by Thanksgiving.” Negotiators still have a number of differences work through, they say, but quick work might be appreciated: Social service agencies are increasingly feeling the pinch from the budget standoff — the budget was originally due in June.

Mayor-elect Jim Kenney and Council President Darrell Clarke are vowing a close relationship. Will it last?

Clarke and Mayor Nutter had a famously fractious relationship. “Kenney and Clarke are clearly starting on better footing, having been colleagues on Council for 15 years before Kenney – after Clarke chose not to run – resigned to run for mayor. Clarke endorsed Kenney in the primary. Both have the backing of John Dougherty, the powerful head of the electricians’ union. At least publicly, they have had no major feuds,” the Inquirer reports. But former Councilman Bill Green weighs in: “”I think they will, for as long as possible, project an outward image of a unified team. And for the city’s sake, I hope it lasts. But inevitably there’s going to be conflict, and that’s when it will get interesting.”

Kathy Change’s tragic 1996 self-immolation at Penn is now the subject of a play in New York.

“Self-immolation is how the real Kathy Change extinguished her life, in front of a peace sign sculpture on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, one morning in 1996,” The New York Times reminds us. The play wants to document her life without romanticizing her suicide, the reviewer says, and ultimately fails — ”Onstage, the conflagration is visual poetry: not real flames, but a combination of costume … and whirling movement.”

For confidential support if you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Learn about the warning signs of suicide at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

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