Pennsylvania
Josh Shapiro wasn’t on the ballot this year, but still spent millions campaigning. Here’s where the money went.
HARRISBURG — His name wasn’t on the ballot in 2024, but Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro still spent more than $5.5 million campaigning this year. Much of that money, however, didn’t go directly to the Democrats up for election in the commonwealth.
A review of Shapiro’s campaign finance reports for the year shows that he spent almost $1.3 million on pricey consultants, and almost $1 million on a combination of private airfare, hotels, and event planning in 13 states, including Pennsylvania, alongside smaller expenditures on new cameras and online clothing retailers.
Shapiro’s spokesperson, Manuel Bonder, said these expenses were all for the good of Democrats inside and outside Pennsylvania.
“Throughout the 2024 election cycle, Governor Shapiro was a top surrogate for candidates up and down the ballot and campaigned tirelessly across the Commonwealth and in key swing states — working to defend every single seat of the State House Democratic majority and elect pro-freedom candidates at every level,” Bonder said in a statement.
Shapiro raked a lot of donations into his already strong campaign account during and after his time as a vice presidential contender this summer. Newly filed reports show that he ended November with more than $10.6 million on hand.
Recent big donors included former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, California developer and stem cell research advocate Robert Klein, and Los Angeles-based talent manager Scooter Braun.
The cash puts Shapiro in a strong financial position heading into what could be a competitive 2026 reelection race while allowing him to continue to build a national brand.
Where exactly did Shapiro’s money go?
Shapiro spent more than $5.5 million out of his campaign account this year.
Of that, about $1.7 million went to Pennsylvania candidates. The rest went toward consultants, private flights, hotels, events and meals for his campaign in 13 states including Pennsylvania, among other expenses.
Of the $1.3 million the campaign put toward consulting, the biggest chunks went to Denver-based political advertising firm Ascend Digital Strategies and to California fundraising advisor Cooper Teboe. Each received $570,000 in fees.
Teboe, who connects major Silicon Valley donors to Democratic candidates, has worked with Shapiro previously. The governor’s financial reports routinely show millions of dollars from tech moguls like Reid Hoffman, who co-founded LinkedIn. He also receives donations from Hollywood producers and celebrities, and other West Coast megadonors like Karla Jurvetson and Jennifer Duda, who are both physicians.
Of the almost $1 million Shapiro spent on travel and accommodations, the majority — $641,000 — went toward private flights. He also spent at least $121,000 on hotels and $27,000 on meals.
Some of those expenses, such as $180 at an Michigan gastropub and $725 at Atlanta’s Ritz-Carlton, illustrate his frequent stops in other swing states in the lead-up to the presidential election.
Shapiro also spent at least $185,000 to attend the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Nearly 80% of that tab went toward renting an event space at a renovated church where he hosted attendees during the four-day affair.
Shapiro also spent $18,000 on hotels in California and $14,000 on lodging in Florida. Most of the latter paid for time at the five-star Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, which advertises that “guests are welcomed with champagne, breathtaking ocean views and cooling tropical breezes.”
His campaign also spent more than $34,000 on hotels in Philadelphia — though he lives just outside of the city — including $13,000 at the swanky Four Seasons, where guests can “revel in breathtaking, unobstructed views” of the city from the 60th floor of the Comcast Center.
Bonder told Spotlight PA that the Four Seasons expense was related to Shapiro hosting an annual policy conference for the Democratic Governors Association.
How did Shapiro help Pa. Dems?
Many of the candidates down the ballot foundered in the commonwealth this year.
While Democrats narrowly kept their majority in the state House and didn’t lose ground in the GOP-controlled state Senate, Republicans easily won races for Pennsylvania’s three row offices — attorney general, auditor general and treasurer.
Democrats told Spotlight PA that they don’t blame Shapiro, or any other single person, for those losses. However, several operatives for the party said they wished the governor had used some of the millions he still has on hand to boost state candidates a little more.
Most spoke on condition of anonymity because of Shapiro’s power within the party.
The money Shapiro donated to state-level Democrats on the ballot in 2024 amounted to about 30% of his total campaign spending for the year.
He gave $1.25 million and $350,000 to the state House and Senate campaign committees, respectively. He also gave $100,000 to attorney general candidate Eugene DePasquale and $25,000 to auditor general candidate Malcolm Kenyatta.
Shapiro’s predecessor, Democrat Tom Wolf, spent just $210,000 on down-ballot Pennsylvania races in 2016, though he ended the year with much less on hand than Shapiro — $1.7 million.
But in 2020, without a reelection race to run, Wolf poured $2.6 million into lower-level Democratic general election campaigns, particularly for legislative seats in the then GOP-controlled General Assembly.
Chuck Pascal, who chaired the campaign of Democratic treasurer candidate Erin McClelland and runs the Armstrong County Democratic Committee, told Spotlight PA that additional money from Shapiro likely would have made little difference given the party’s weak performance across the board.
Shapiro gave no money to McClelland, a political outsider. She raised far less than Kenyatta, for instance, but ultimately got only 20,000 fewer votes than he did.
But Pascal, who noted he was speaking for himself and not McClelland, does think there’s at least one area where Shapiro could have done more.
“The one glaring thing in the results was that turnout was down in the Southeast, and particularly in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties,” he said.
Shapiro is from Montgomery County. He previously represented a state House district there and served as county commissioner.
“Given the governor’s political strength in the southeast,” Pascal added, more spending there to increase voter engagement “could have been a place where he could at least have saved Bob Casey.”
Casey, Pennsylvania’s senior Democratic U.S. Senator, lost his race by just more than 15,000 votes.
According to Shapiro’s campaign, the governor appeared at 25 public events in Southeast Pennsylvania between late July — when President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid — and Election Day.
The extent of the work that a governor, or any other political figure, does for their party during an election doesn’t all show up in public reports. A governor can join fundraising calls to help persuade donors, appear at national events to talk about important races in their state, or share intelligence about likely donors with various campaign committees — among other intangibles.
Bonder, Shapiro’s spokesperson, said that’s what Shapiro was doing. “His work to make key endorsements, stump at events, raise money, film digital and TV ads, and more was unmatched in Pennsylvania,” he said.
For instance, the Saturday before the election, Shapiro appeared at two canvass kickoffs for swing district Democratic candidates — one in Bucks County and one in Northampton County.
At the former, Shapiro warmed up the dozens-deep crowd gathered in a suburban park for state Rep. Brian Munroe, D-Bucks, extolling them that “you have the power in your hand” to ensure that Democrats win up and down the ballot before introducing Munroe to cheers.
Munroe would go on to win by 1,100 votes, one of the key wins that preserved House Democrats’ majority. He told Spotlight PA he thinks there were a number of reasons he came out on top — but having Shapiro in his corner definitely didn’t hurt.
When Munroe was knocking doors in the weeks leading up to the election, he got a strong sense of the governor’s broad appeal.
“I met a significant number of Republicans who said when (Shapiro) was in the running for vice president, they would have loved to see him in the role,” Munroe said.
Of complaints that Shapiro could have done more, Bonder said, “While I understand that some people in politics level bad faith criticisms in order to see their names in the paper, the reality is no one in this commonwealth worked harder than Gov. Josh Shapiro this fall to show up, raise money, film ads, and support and elect candidates who will protect real freedom and get stuff done.”
Jeff Coleman, a Republican operative, argued that Shapiro’s national visibility gave his donors exactly what they wanted: They wrote checks because they believe in his long-term political prospects.
“When you are writing a check to Gov. Shapiro, you are writing it to whatever the next chapter looks like,” Coleman said. “You are writing a check with the hope you are going to be part of history. That’s the type of brand his team built.”
Consultants also noted that the big cash reserve Shapiro has could allow him to put dollars into next year’s judicial retention elections, during which three justices elected as Democrats will run for new 10-year terms.
Kate Huangpu of Spotlight PA contributed reporting for this story.
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our newsletters at spotlightpa.org/newsletters.
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Pennsylvania
Continued Legacy: Central Pennsylvania Auto Auction gears up for 25th anniversary of Classic Car Auction
MILL HALL — This weekend, Central Pennsylvania Auto Auction, 41 Airstrip Dr., Mill Hall, will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its annual Classic Car Auction, welcoming thousands of collectors, buyers and enthusiasts from across the country for two days of bidding, entertainment and celebration. For President Doug Miller, however, the milestone represents far more than classic automobiles.
“It’s kind of like a milestone for us,” Miller said, as he reflected on the anniversary. “Because it’s my dad that started this. We lost him three years ago, and obviously we’re continuing on his legacy and things that he wanted to do. It’s not about the vehicles, it’s not about the auction. It’s just more of continuing on what he would want.”
The collector car event is an extension of the business founded by Miller’s father, Grant, and mother in 1987. While the company is preparing to celebrate 39 years of its weekly dealer-only auto auction in August, the annual collector auction has become a destination event in its own right.
“My father started the company 39 years ago in 1987,” he said. “Over the years, as our sales sort of grew, my father took an interest in antique and collector cars. He would go to other auctions and buy cars and thought, ‘Geez, we have our facility here. We should maybe try and do one of our own.’ So 25 years ago, we set up our collector car auction that we hold, and it’s always been the third weekend in July ever since.”
This year’s event will feature more than 400 collector vehicles crossing the auction block over two days, along with vintage memorabilia, gas pumps, signs, mini bikes and other automotive collectibles.
While many of the consignments come from Pennsylvania and neighboring states, Miller said the auction’s reputation now stretches far beyond the region.
“We have customers that come from all across the United States,” he said. “The consignments come out of Pennsylvania and the bordering states — New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware. We have customers that have sent cars from as far as North Carolina.”
The auction has also become much more than a place to buy and sell classic vehicles.
Thursday evening opens with a complimentary cocktail reception featuring live entertainment at Grant’s Place. The auction begins Friday morning with memorabilia before moving to the collector cars. Friday evening includes a VIP gala with dinner, live music and fireworks.
“It’s like a celebration, not just an auction,” Miller said. “We like to try to provide some entertainment because we’re obviously in a rural area and it gives the people something to do after the sale’s over.”
The event also brings a significant economic boost to the surrounding community. Hotels fill with visitors, restaurants welcome out-of-town guests and dozens of RV owners make a weekend of the festivities.
“We’ll have upwards to probably a couple thousand people come through our doors over the next three days,” Miller said. “We’ll probably have 30 or 40 RVs across the street that people will set up and spend the weekend camping in our parking lot.”
The celebration comes after months of planning by a team of employees who transform the auction grounds in just a matter of hours. Following Thursday’s regular dealer auction of roughly 750 vehicles, staff immediately begin clearing the lot and staging the hundreds of collector cars.
“We go home to shower and come back basically,” Shanan Miller said with a laugh. “We’re here around the clock.”
Behind the scenes, nearly 100 employees — full-time and part-time — work together on auction days to keep the operation running smoothly.
“It wouldn’t be possible without our employees,” he said. “It’s a lot of work.”
He added that once the first gavel falls Friday morning, everything falls into place.
“Once Friday morning at 9 o’clock hits, it just sort of takes off,” he said. “It’s on autopilot for the weekend.”
For Doug, the family business has always been about more than selling vehicles.
After graduating from high school in 1989, he briefly attended college before realizing his passion remained at the auction his father had built. His father insisted he learn every aspect of the business from the ground up.
“He said, ‘If you think for one minute that you’re going to leave school and come here and sit behind a desk and direct orders, that’s not happening,’” Doug recalled. “He said, ‘You’re going to learn every function in this business.’”
So he did.
He started detailing cars, transporting vehicles, picking up litter and plowing snow before eventually moving into management.
“And I still do,” he said with a smile. “If I need to go pick up a load of cars, I can do it.”
Today, he is passing those same lessons on to his son, Jack Miller, who joined the business full time after the passing of his grandfather.
“I’m doing the same thing with my son, Jack,” Doug said. “He started where I did too.”
In following in their footsteps, Jack hopes to preserve what generations before him have built.
“I just want to continue what my dad has done and my grandfather before him,” Jack said. “Do as good of a job as they’ve done and provide the same level of service that they’ve shown me to provide.”
He believes the relationships built over decades are what keep customers returning.
“I see how it makes our customers feel,” he said. “I believe that’s a huge part of what brings them back here, week after week if it’s for the regular sale, or every year for the classic auction. Just providing good service and working hard — it feels good to work hard and see a positive end result.”
Doug agreed that philosophy remains the cornerstone of the business his father founded nearly four decades ago.
“One thing my dad taught me is that you need to surround yourself with good people,” he said. “Whether it’s customers or employees, that’s what makes you successful.”
That commitment to service extends to everyone who visits the auction.
“We’re very customer-service driven,” Miller said. “You could sell popsicles, you could sell cars or whatever. It’s all about taking care of your customer. That’s what’s going to get them to come back.”
As Central Pennsylvania Auction celebrates 25 years of its Classic Car Auction, the event stands as both a showcase of automotive history and a tribute to the family legacy that continues to drive it forward.
For the Miller family, every collector car that rolls across the auction block is another chapter in a story that began with one man’s dream in 1987– and one they hope will continue for generations to come.
Pittsburgh sees unhealthy air quality from Canada, MN wildfire smoke
Wildfire smoke caused Pittsburgh’s air quality to deteriorate, prompting a code red air quality alert.
Pittsburgh was under a code red air quality alert on Thursday, July 16 as wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota settled across the city.
The city’s air quality was expected to deteriorate as smoke concentration at ground level increased throughout the day, with the day’s overall air quality forecast as unhealthy due to fine particles carried in smoke, according to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Here’s what to know about Pittsburgh’s air quality.
What’s the air quality in Pittsburgh today?
The morning of July 16, the air quality was moderate, with an Air Quality Index reading of 55, according to AirNow. But it was expected to hit unhealthy levels later in the day, with the overall daily air quality anticipated to reach dangerous levels with an AQI of 175, prompting Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to issue a Code Red air quality alert. The alert is based on the day’s expected overall air quality and not individual hour-to-hour readings.
Smoke was likely to continue to impact Pittsburgh into the weekend, with a forecast overall daily AQI of 140 on July 17, with the state department of environmental protection issuing a Code Orange air quality alert. This indicates that the air quality may be unhealthy for sensitive groups.
July 18 was likely to see improved conditions, with moderate air quality.
What does a Code Red air quality alert mean?
A Code Red air quality alert indicates that the overall air quality within a day is likely to be unhealthy, with an AQI reading of 151 to 200.
Because the alert is based on the overall air quality for the day, there may be periods of time with better air quality. It’s a good idea to check the current air quality before going outside.
If you have to go outside while the AQI is at unhealthy levels, AirNow recommends avoiding strenuous activities or limiting your time outdoors. It may be a good idea to move outdoor activities indoors.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection also encouraged residents to avoid using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment, reducing the use of fireplaces or wood stoves and avoiding the open burning of leaves, trash or other materials in an effort to reduce fine particulate matter air polution.
What does a Code Orange air quality alert mean?
A Code Orange air quality alert means that the overall air quality within a day is likely to be unhealthy for sensitive groups, with an AQI reading between 101 to 150.
Those with lung disease, older adults, children and teens should reduce their exposure by engaging in less strenuous activities or limiting their time outdoors when the current air quality is at its worst, according to AirNow.
Wildfire smoke impacting Pittsburgh’s air quality
There were more than 830 wildfires burning in Canada as of July 15, with over 100 considered out of control. Many of the fires impacting the Northeast’s air quality were in Ontario and Minnesota.
Smoke from the wildfires hit Pennsylvania on the evening of July 15, causing hazy skies in Pittsburgh. Conditions were expected to worsen on July 16 as more smoke entered the area, with smoke likely to linger through July 17.
Is Pittsburgh under a heat advisory?
While Pittsburgh was under a heat advisory on July 15, the advisory was no longer in effect on July 16. The high on July 16 was forecast at 93, though temperatures could possibly fall several degrees because of smoke cover, according to the National Weather Service.
Brandi D. Addison and Karina Zaiets contributed to this report.
Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Walker at FWalker@usatodayco.com. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.
Pennsylvania
Fifth Time’s The Harm: Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro Again Signed A Budget With No Money For Transit — Streetsblog USA
Another year, another blow to Pennsylvania transit riders.
Keystone State Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the annual budget into law last Sunday, and for the fifth year in a row, public transportation has been left to financially starve. The approved budget contains no funding for transit operations, continuing a streak that forces every agency to scrounge for its own money, to varying degrees of success.
“We’ve been left out for far too long,” remarked Connor Descheemaker, Statewide Campaign Manager for Transit for All, PA! The organization rallied transit riders to send more than 50,000 letters to state representatives and the White House-eying governor calling for transit funding, reaching every legislative district in Pennsylvania.
Those calls went largely unanswered. Riders in Lehigh Valley are now bracing for route eliminations and trip cancellations, despite already paying increased fares. Lancaster County paratransit riders will pay more as well, beginning next month.
Low-income, disabled, and rural Pennsylvanians will lose access to jobs, healthcare, and loved ones. That reality hasn’t stopped their governor from declaring victory.
In a speech at last week’s budget signing ceremony, Shapiro uttered a total of three words about the state-sponsored mobility crisis: “There’s more I want to do – like raising the minimum wage, funding mass transit, and expanding access to affordable housing,” he said.
Shapiro seems to understand the need for well-funded transit. Last year, he sent $220 million to Philadelphia to boost SEPTA’s barren maintenance fund following a series of onboard fires.
One-time relief won’t keep buses running, though.
Shapiro has failed, and failed, and failed again to pass his landmark transit policy. His initial proposal would increase the share of sales tax revenue going to public transit by 2 percent. The blame isn’t all his: Even after he watered down his proposal to a 1.75-percent increase, statehouse Republicans failed to support it.
Even if it had succeeded, it’s too little, too late: The sales tax change would still be $92 million short of the $384 million that Transit for All, PA! estimates is needed to prevent further service cuts in public transportation across the state.
Transit for All, PA! has previously lobbied for its legislative package, which would have increased taxes on car rentals and leases, and raised a new tax on ride shares.
Like Shapiro’s plan, that failed, too.
“The General Assembly has deferred action to invest fully in public transit,” state Sen. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia), who had authored the ride share component of the legislative package. “Despite the continued activation and involvement of tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians … we will once again face this issue in 2027.”
Pennsylvania’s last semblance of adequate transit funding ended in 2021 with the expiration of Act 89. The 10-year allocation covered statewide transportation expenses, including roadway maintenance and transit operations.
As soon as Act 89 money dried up, agencies turned to Covid relief grants to stay afloat. Those grants, provided through the American Rescue Plan, ended in 2024. Several agencies have gone so far as to pillage their own fixed-route budgets to continue federally mandated paratransit services.
Call it luck, a Band-Aid, or a bad omen; riders on Philadelphia’s SEPTA and Pittsburgh’s PRT are momentarily safe from service cuts and fare hikes. Following last year’s budget disaster, Shapiro permitted the two agencies to raid their own maintenance funds to temporarily pay for operations.
Now, both are pausing upgrades, deferring basic maintenance, and reckoning with the realities of operating – but not fixing – a large-scale transit system.
State highways, on the other hand, received $775 million in new funding from Shapiro’s budget deal.
Transit advocates in Pennsylvania are shifting strategies to preserve essential transit services. A June decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, allowed slot machines to be taxed at a higher rate.
Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers have shown interest in using revenue from the so-called “skill games tax” to fund transit. The legislature must agree on a tax rate and structure, but declined to do so before finalizing the budget.
“Anytime that there is a discussion of new revenue in Pennsylvania, it needs to include public transportation,” Descheemaker said. “We are losing public transportation actively, right now in Pennsylvania. Public transportation needs to be at the center of those conversations.”
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