It appears Democrats are sweeping all statewide judicial races in Pennsylvania. Dan McCaffery earned nearly 53-percent of the vote to defeat Republican Carolyn Carluccio in the race for state Supreme Court. Democrats Jill Beck and Tamika Lane are the top two vote getters in the four person field for two open seats on the state's Superior Court and Democrat Matt Wolf holds a 112,000 vote lead over Republican Megan Martin in the Commonwealth Court race.
It looks like Democrats have won all four seats in the race for Lehigh County Commissioner. Dan Hartzell, Shiela Alvarado, April Riddick and Jon Irons are all out in front. Democrats also won the races for Lehigh County controller and coroner. In Northampton County, Democrats appear to have won both positions up for grabs on County Council. Ken Kraft and Jeff Warren hold sizable leads after Tuesday's in-person voting. By a margin of nearly five-to-one, Northampton County voters also approved measures to slap term limits on the county executive, county controller and county council members. Effective in 2026, the county executive will be limited to two consecutive four-year terms. Come January, the county controller will be eligible to serve two straight four-year terms as well and County Council members will only be able to serve three consecutive four-year terms. In a ballot question, it appears Allentown voters have approved pay raises for both city council members and the city controller.
Election Day did not go without a hitch in Northampton County, where voters were being asked judicial retention questions. Numerous voters say votes were flipped between the machines and printed paper receipts. The issue appears to have popped up when a voter chose 'yes' for one candidate and 'no' for the other. In those cases, election officials had the voter fill out a provisional ballot, which is set aside to be reviewed by the county before an election result is certified. The Pennsylvania Department of State says the problem appears to be limited to Northampton County only.
Pennsylvania seems to clearly be the best state in America in which to retire in. U.S. News & World Report's 2024 list of Best Places to Retire in the country lists seven Pennsylvania cities in the top ten. Harrisburg claimed the top spot in the survey, Reading was number two, Lancaster was third and Scranton was fourth and Allentown was fifth. York was listed at number seven and Pittsburgh was ranked tenth. The digital media company based its findings on factors such as affordability, health care, desirability, retiree taxes, job market, and overall happiness.
Gas prices continue heading lower in both the Lehigh Valley and across the state. According to AAA East Central, the average price for a gallon of gas in the Lehigh Valley stood at $3.42 as of Tuesday, about five cents lower than the prior week and 62 cents less than one year ago on the same date. Across Pennsylvania, the average price is $3.65, now four cents from a week earlier and 42 cents cheaper than one year ago.
Gas prices are continuing to fall across the Garden State. Triple A reports gas prices are down by more than 20 cents over a month ago and nearly 60 cents over this time a year ago. New Jersey motorists are paying about three-dollars-30 cents for a gallon of regular gas.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman says he will vote not to confirm Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health. In a statement, Fetterman says, "Right now, we are facing a crisis in this country. Big Pharma is ripping off the American people and forcing them to pay thousands of dollars for medicine that they need to survive. While I believe Dr. Bertagnolli is highly qualified to serve in this role, I'm not convinced that she will take on Big Pharma and for that reason, I will vote against her confirmation."
A new ad from a political action committee is calling on New Jersey's U.S. Senator Bob Menendez to resign. The group called Hold Them Accountable has launched its Menendez Must Go campaign, releasing a two minute add based on the trailer from the 1991 comedy "What About Bob." Menendez and his wife, Nadine, have been indicted on federal bribery charges, accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of bribes in exchange for favors for the Egyptian government. The 69-year-old Democrat has refused to step down from his post.
The top teams in the latest College Football Playoff rankings have remained unchanged. Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan and Florida State are still the top four schools ranked in the nation. Penn State moves up one spot to ninth.