Here’s the latest news today out of Pennsylvania courtesy of F&M College’s latest poll:
John Fetterman remains the first or second choice of about one-quarter (27%) of Democrats in the US Senate Primary, followed by Connor Lamb (17%). The Republican primary field has no clear front-runner at the moment, with Sean Parnell (10%), Kathy Barnette (6%), and JeffBartos (6%) each garnering similar shares of Republicans’ first or second preferences. Figure 4shows the first and second preferences for US Senate candidate in each party. Two in five (37%)Democrats and three in four (78%) Republicans are undecided about who their first choice forUS Senate will be. Neither primary has shown any substantive change in voter preferences sinceAugust.
Click here for the full results.
Friendly reminder about the GOP’s top candidate:
Sean Parnell in Pennsylvania: Parnell is in a tough primary battle for the nomination for an open seat in the U.S. Senate, a race crucial to Republicans’ hopes to take back the chamber.
A few years ago, the former Army captain was ordered by law enforcement to leave his home and give up his guns. He is in the process of a divorce as he runs for the Senate, and we’ve learned that Parnell’s wife had called 911 in relation to a domestic dispute and filed two protection-from-abuse orders against him that were lifted after a few days.
Now he’s in a custody battle over his three children — prompting one Republican operative to remark that they’ve never heard of a top Senate candidate losing custody of children midrace.
The trouble in Parnell’s personal life blew into the open days after Trump endorsed him. Another top Republican candidate, Jeff Bartos, is running ads talking about all this. Parnell has accused Bartos of lying.
Things could get worse for Parnell. He went to court to seal divorce records and to order his wife not to talk about the prior restraining orders. But a judge recently ruled that much of that information can become public and that his wife can talk about what happened.
Pennsylvania is already a political hot spot, especially with the upcoming judicial races. Speaking of which:
The Republican candidate for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has revised an ad attacking his opponent after the state bar association notified him it ran afoul of its judicial campaign advertising standards.
A top campaign aide to Commonwealth Court Judge Kevin Brobson said Thursday the modified version of the ad critical of Brobson's Democratic opponent, Superior Court Judge Maria McLaughlin, has begun to air.
The adviser, Bob Branstetter, said it was changed in response to communication from the bar association's Judicial Campaign Advertising Committee but that confidentiality agreements between the candidates and bar association group prevented him from going into details.
"The bar association asked us to do some things," Branstetter said. "We agreed to do what they asked us to do."
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday that the bar committee directed the Brobson campaign to withdraw the ad or issue a release clarifying portions of the ad that violated the bar's advertising guidelines. The bar guidelines say problematic ads can also be revised.
The amended version of the ad provided to The Associated Press by the Brobson campaign deletes a claim that "one of her largest donors is indicted by the FBI for political bribery" and adds more context about her role in a 2020 appeals ruling to say she cast the deciding vote and sided with the author of the majority opinion rather than the dissenting judge, who would have let the guilty plea stand.
Democracy and Health are on the ballot this year (Pennsylvania Supreme Court Elections) and next year and we need to get ready to keep Pennsylvania Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Fetterman and his fellow Pennsylvania Democrats campaigns:
Governor
Josh Shapiro for Governor
U.S. Senate
Conor Lamb
John Fetterman
Val Arkoosh
Malcolm Kenyatta
Pennsylvania Courts
Maria McLaughlin for Supreme Court
Timika Lane for Superior Court
David Spurgeon for Commonwealth Court
Lori Dumas for Commonwealth Court
Maraleen Shields for Court of Common Pleas Judge
Lt. Governor
Brian Sims for Lt. Governor
Mayor
Ed Gainey for Pittsburgh Mayor
District Attorney
Larry Krasner for Philadelphia District Attorney
Pennsylvania Organizations
Pennsylvania Democratic Party
Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee
Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Campaign Committee
Draw the Lines PA
Committee of Seventy
Congress:
Chris DeLuzio for Congress
Eugene DePasquale for Congress
Jerry Dickinson for Congress
Matt Cartwright
Susan Wild
Chrissy Houlahan
Madeleine Dean
Dwight Evans
Mike Doyle
Mary Gay Scanlon