Northeast

DAVID MARCUS: Election shenanigans show Dems' fear of Pennsylvania turning red

Published

1 year ago

November 23, 2024

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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Pittsburg, PA

Emotional 2026 Pittsburgh Marathon saw multiple new records set

Published

41 seconds ago

May 3, 2026

Press Room

Emotional 2026 Pittsburgh Marathon saw multiple new records set

This year’s Pittsburgh Marathon is one for the record books. More than 52,000 runners crossed the finish line, with more than 300,000 spectators cheering them on.

“We’re welcoming people from around the world,” P3R CEO Troy Schooley said. “This event has turned into an international event for our city. We’re going to show it off today. The runners will run through 14 neighborhoods. We have 33 different countries represented today and all 50 states.”

Mohammed El Youssfi claimed the men’s division of the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, crossing the finish line and immediately wrapping himself in the Moroccan flag.

“This is my first time in Pittsburgh, but the special moment for me today is the people here cheering me on,” El Youssfi said. “That helped me to win the race.”

Emotions ran high for Pittsburgh’s very own Will Loevner. The Winchester Thurston graduate has run the Pittsburgh Marathon multiple times, finishing as the runner-up in 2024 and fifth in 2025. But in 2026, he took home top honors, crossing the finish line first at 2:14.

“I’ve now won the Philadelphia marathon, the Cleveland marathon twice,” Loevner said. “To win Pittsburgh, I feel like it was the trifecta and the most special one for me. I mean, being in the hometown, nothing even compares.”

Buze Diriba Kejela is 2026’s women’s Pittsburgh Half Marathon champion, setting a course record for women and crossing the finish line at 1:08:39.

“I’m happy to set the course record. I like it,” she said.

Before the runners crossed the start line, the handcyclists got a head start. Marshall Tempest of Monroeville came out on top in the Pittsburgh Marathon Handcycle Division, finishing at 1:40:16.

“I’ve done 13 Pittsburgh marathons, and this is my 5th time winning it, in a row,” he said. “It feels good. It was a rough one, but I was determined to get that 5th one.”

“I love running,” said Will Henry Lawrence, who ran the half-marathon. “I love being able to have breath in my lungs and let my feet hit the pavement. I had a stroke six years ago, and so I give all glory to God for being able to get out and exercise.”

Tickets for the 2027 Pittsburgh Marathon are on sale for 48 hours, starting at 3 p.m. on May 3, 2026. You can register at thepittsburghmarathon.com

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Connecticut

Scammers use AI images of injured pets to target owners, Blumenthal warns Connecticut residents

Published

1 hour ago

May 3, 2026

Press Room

Scammers use AI images of injured pets to target owners, Blumenthal warns Connecticut residents

In a new and rapidly expanding scam, swindlers are using images generated by artificial intelligence to tap the wallets of desperate and heartbroken owners of lost pets.

In a press conference on Friday, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, warned state residents about a fraud that is becoming “more and more rampant.”

Scammers manipulate photos of lost pets posted by owners on social media to make it appear the animal has been hurt, according to media reports from around the nation.

In Florida and Texas, for example, scammers have told owners of missing dogs that their pets were hit by cars, with an accompanying image of a dog that looks like theirs on a veterinarian’s operating table, WESH 2, a Hearst TV station affiliate in Florida, reported recently. The scammer then demands payment for the surgery.

An urgent demand for money is a red flag, Blumenthal said, along with the claim that a lost pet has been hurt and images of an injured pet. The Federal Trade Commission, as the nation’s consumer protection agency, should issue a formal warning about the scam, the senator said.

Numerous reports of lost pet scams have surfaced recently, Popular Science reported in March, describing a few common scenarios, including the one in which the owner is sent an image of what appears to be their injured pet at a veterinary hospital and another, in which the owner is sent images of what appears to be their pet at a shelter, about to be euthanized. But, the article states, these images are false.

Other types of lost pet scams involve an offer of fake pet-finding services, according to the Better Business Bureau.

“You may receive a message from someone on social media about drone technology and search parties that can help you find your pet,” the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization reported. “The person will ask you for payment up front and will likely ask you to send it through a peer-to-peer payment app. Before paying for services, always search for the business on BBB.org or check BBB Scam Tracker.”

All types of cyber-scams have been proliferating in the nation, according to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report. Since the agency’s Internet Crime Complaint Center was launched about 25 years ago, complaints have surged, the FBI reported, with a current average of about 3,000 complaints each day.

In 2025, losses reported to the center continued to climb, surpassing $20 billion, the FBI reported. Investment-related fraud once again made up the largest part of the losses, followed by business email compromises and tech support scams, the agency reported.

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