Northeast
DAVID MARCUS: Election shenanigans show Dems' fear of Pennsylvania turning red
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DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – The crowd lined up waiting for the meeting of the Bucks County Election Commission earlier this week was angry. The only thing missing was the pitchforks.
The hullabaloo was caused when one of the commissioners, Diane Ellis-Marseglia, announced the week before that state Supreme Court rulings don’t actually matter, and she was going to count illegal ballots in the Keystone State’s U.S. Senate race, anyway.
DAVID MARCUS: PENNSYLVANIA VOTERS TO SEN. CASEY: ‘IT’S OVER, BOB’
On Wednesday, she sort of apologized to the frothing crowd demanding her resignation, then on Thursday Democratic Sen. Bob Casey conceded his loss to challenger Dave McCormick. For all intents and purposes the controversy was over, but why had it happened in the first place?
“This is all about 2026,” Nick told me outside the government offices.
In his late 20s or early 30s, Nick is one of those Gen Z conservative men you keep hearing so much about, hair slicked back, sunglasses just so. “Casey isn’t gonna be the senator, but they want these ballots to count next time,” he said.
A crowd gathers ahead of a meeting of the Bucks County Election Commission in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. (David Marcus/Fox News Digital)
This all speaks to a warranted fear among Democrats that Pennsylvania, long the swingingest of the swing states, could be moving, like Ohio and Florida before it, solidly into the Republican column.
While the race between McCormick and Casey was supposedly close enough to merit a recount, the race atop the ticket between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris was not. It wasn’t a blowout, but like the national tally, at about a two-point lead, Trump’s win was decisive.
Even in Philadelphia, the bluest corner of the commonwealth, Trump improved upon his 2020 vote totals while turnout lagged for Harris and the Democrats. That is a loud warning alarm for what used to be the party of Jefferson and Jackson.
Swing states don’t tend to stay swing states forever. Oregon, for example, which is now so far left that Chairman Mao would say, “tone it down a bit,” was a toss-up 30 years ago, but times and parties change.
Sen. Bob Casey and Sen.-elect Dave McCormick (AP/ Reuters)
For now, Pennsylvania still has one Democratic senator in John Fetterman, who at times seems to chart his own centrist course against the leftist headwinds of his national party, and Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro, who also seems circumspect about abject progressivism.
But if the Democrats nationally fail to see what Fetterman and Shapiro see, that unchecked wokeness and far-left policies are roundly and soundly rejected by the voters, then even they won’t be able to keep Pennsylvania purple.
“If it wasn’t for double standards, the Democrats would have no standards at all,” one man with a Trump sign shouted outside the election commissioner’s meeting on Wednesday, and his point was easily taken.
For four years we heard little else about Trump other than his election denialism, and we were told it was a grave and grievous threat to the country. Yet here was an elected Democratic official promising to break the law and count illegal ballots, just to put one of her own in office.
Democrats in Pennsylvania face a dangerous crossroad looking forward. Fetterman and Shapiro can continue to at least gesture towards a more centrist approach, but if the national party continues its lurch to the far left, it might not matter much.
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If in four years the Democrats once again nominate a far-left San Francisco liberal such as Gavin Newsom, there is every reason to believe that Pennsylvanians will continue their march to the right.
These were always Joe Biden and Ed Rendell Democrats, they were never Nancy Pelosi Democrats.
For Republicans, the lesson of Pennsylvania couldn’t be simpler. Just stay the course, simply embody what President-elect Trump rightly refers to as common sense.
If Republicans can turn Pennsylvania reliably red, it will be a sea change in national politics, the kind that fundamentally transforms what our political parties advocate and stand for.
That is really why Casey tilted at the impossible windmill of a recount. It’s not about him, it’s not about now, it’s about next time. It’s about maintaining that wiggle room in ballot counting that so often nudges Democrats across the finish line.
But this time, the people noticed, this time they came out to protest, and next time, they may be poised to hand Republicans the key to generational power.
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New Hampshire
Man killed in NH snowmobile crash
An Alton man is dead after a snowmobile crash in New Hampshire’s North Country Thursday afternoon.
The New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game says 63-year-old Bradford Jones was attempting to negotiate a left hand turn on Corridor Trail 5 in Colebrook when he lost control of his snowmobile, struck multiple trees off the side of the trail and was thrown from the vehicle shortly before 3:30 p.m.
Jones was riding with another snowmobiler, who was in the lead at the time of the crash, according to the agency. Once the other man realized Jones was no longer behind him, he turned around and traveled back where he found Jones significantly injured, lying off the trail beside his damaged snowmobile.
The man immediately rendered aid to Jones and called 911 for assistance, NH Fish and Game said. The Colebrook Fire Department used their rescue tracked all terrain vehicle and a specialized off road machine to transport first responders across about a mile of trail to the crash scene.
Once there, a conservation officer and 45th Parallel EMS staff attempted lifesaving measures for approximately an hour, but Jones ultimately died from his injuries at the scene of the crash, officials said.
The crash remains under investigation, but conservation officers are considering speed for the existing trail conditions to have been a primary factor in this deadly incident.
New Jersey
Police investigate fatal stabbing in Mercer County
EWING TWP., N.J. (WPVI) — Police are searching for a suspect who fatally stabbed a man in Mercer County, New Jersey.
It happened around 5:20 p.m. Thursday on the unit block of New Hillcrest Avenue in Ewing Township.
When police arrived, they found a 40-year-old man lying in the street with several stab wounds to the torso.
He was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he later died.
The victim has been identified as Jimmy Chase from Philadelphia.
So far, no arrests have been made.
Anyone who has any information on this case is asked to call Mercer County detectives at 609-989-6406.
You can also submit an anonymous tip online at MercerCountyProsecutor.com.
Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Pennsylvania
Man charged after over 100 human skeletal remains found in Pennsylvania home – National | Globalnews.ca
A Pennsylvania man has been arrested and is facing more than 500 charges after he was accused of stealing human skulls and “numerous” skeletal remains from an abandoned cemetery on Philadelphia’s outskirts, according to police.
Bones and skulls visible in the back seat of a car near the cemetery led police to the home and storage unit of Jonathan Gerlach, 34, after police had been looking into a string of burglaries.
Investigators checked Gerlach’s licence plates and found that he had been near the cemetery repeatedly during the period when the burglaries occurred.
Officers say the Jan. 6 arrest culminated a months-long investigation into break-ins at Mount Moriah Cemetery, where at least 26 mausoleums and vaults had been forced open since early November.
After searching Gerlach’s home and storage unit, investigators reported finding more than 100 human skulls, long bones, mummified hands and feet, two decomposing torsos and other skeletal items.
“They were in various states. Some of them were hanging, as it were. Some of them were pieced together, some were just skulls on a shelf,” Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said.
Most of the findings were in Gerlach’s basement, authorities said. They also recovered jewelry believed to be linked to the graves, and a pacemaker that was still attached.
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“Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life in that home. It is truly, in the most literal sense of the word, horrific. I grieve for those who are upset by this, who are going through this, who are trying to figure out if it is, in fact, one of their loved ones,” Rouse added.
Police say Gerlach targeted mausoleums and underground vaults at the cemetery, which was established in 1855. Gerlach was arrested as he walked back toward his car with a crowbar, police said.
He also had a burlap bag in which officers found the mummified remains of two small children, three skulls and other bones.
Gerlach then told investigators that he took around 30 sets of human remains and showed them the graves he stole from, police said.
Police believe the remains were also taken from other cemeteries in the region. They are investigating the Human Bones and Skull Selling Group on Facebook, where Gerlach was reportedly tagged and pictured holding a skull.
He was charged with 100 counts each of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property, along with multiple counts of desecrating a public monument, desecrating a venerated object, desecrating a historic burial place, burglary, trespassing and theft.
Mount Moriah Cemetery released a statement on its Instagram Stories following Gerlach’s arrest, thanking Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, the Yeadon Police Department and the Philadelphia Police Department for “their hard work and dedication to this case.”
“Our team has been working alongside all parties involved and will continue to do so throughout the remainder of the investigation. Please direct any specific questions regarding this case to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office,” it said.
“Mount Moriah is the largest abandoned cemetery in the United States. Its historic grounds are cared for by a dedicated group of approximately 12 volunteers who show up week in and week out to preserve this space.”
Gerlach is being held on $1-million bail, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20.
— With files from The Associated Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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