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Biden campaign holding State of the Union watch parties across Pennsylvania in a few unexpected places • Pennsylvania Capital-Star

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Biden campaign holding State of the Union watch parties across Pennsylvania in a few unexpected places • Pennsylvania Capital-Star


President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign will host watch parties for the State of the Union address in locations across Pennsylvania on Thursday, part of a broader national outreach to galvanize voters.

“On Thursday night, voters throughout Pennsylvania will get the chance to hear directly from President Biden on his vision for the future as well as the historic achievements from his first term, from creating millions of good-paying union jobs to lowering costs and capping cost of insulin at $35,”  Nikki Lu, the campaign’s Pennsylvania campaign manager, said in a statement. “In contrast, Donald Trump is a threat to our freedoms, our economy, and our democracy and the stakes of this election could not be higher. That’s the message we’re bringing to voters in every corner of the commonwealth.”

And while there are events in blue cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, there are also watch parties scheduled in areas of the commonwealth where Biden wasn’t victorious in his 2020 presidential run —  but which the campaign is targeting ahead of a November rematch with presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. 

“The Biden campaign has not only made it clear that Pennsylvania is a priority, but there is no part of the state that is being taken for granted,” said Stella Sexton, Vice Chair of Lancaster County Democrats. Trump won Lancaster County in the 2020 general election, taking 57.17% of the vote to Biden’s 41.34%.

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“Here in Lancaster County we are committed to making sure voters know this is a choice between a President who has delivered on lowering costs, creating jobs, and combating gun violence in his first term, versus Donald Trump, a MAGA radical who wants to tank the economy, attack reproductive rights, and threaten our democracy,” Sexton added. 

Lancaster has potential to flip blue in November if early signs are any indication; the county had the fifth-highest number of signatures on nominating petitions for Biden to appear on the 2024 ballot, at 1,300 signatures. That’s just behind the usual Democratic stronghold counties of Allegheny, Montgomery, Chester and Bucks — all of which Biden carried in 2020.

The campaign said attendees at the parties will have opportunities to volunteer for the reelection campaign and participate in more traditional organizing efforts like phone banks and door-knocking to reach out to potential voters,  or relational organizing where people mobilize their personal networks of friends and family to get involved.

Biden and Trump both racked up wins across the board in most of the states voting in Super Tuesday primary elections. The Biden campaign has its first post-SOTU event scheduled Friday in Philadelphia, with details still to be announced.

A look at some of the county watch party locations and how each county voted in 2020:

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  • Adams: Trump won 66.37% to Biden’s 32.20% in 2020,
  • Cambria: Trump 68.13%, Biden 30.79%; 
  • Crawford: Trump 67.99%, Biden 30.77%
  • Cumberland: Trump 54.53%, Biden 43.96%
  • Union: Trump 61.43%, Biden 37.16%
    Westmoreland: Trump 63.62%, Biden 35.24%
  • York: Trump 61.53%, Biden 36.95%

Other watch parties in counties where Biden won in 2020 — although not always in landslide victories — include: 

  • Delaware: Biden beat Trump 62.95% to 36.15%
  • Lackawanna: Biden 53.71%, Trump 45.35%
  • Montgomery: Biden 62.63%, Trump 36.35%
  • Philadelphia: Biden 81.44%, Trump 17.90%

Bucknell Democrats are holding a SOTU watch party, and Montour Democrats, a county where Trump won in 2020 59.81% to 38.59%, is holding a virtual watch party. The New Americans & Ethnic Coordinating Caucus is also holding a watch party on Thursday.

Six watch parties are scheduled in Allegheny County — an area where Biden has yet to campaign in 2024 but where he beat Trump 59.61% to 39.23% in 2020.  They include events hosted by Pittsburgh City Democrats, Allegheny County Democrats, the Steel City Stonewall Democrats, Pittsburgh college students, West Hills Women and an event in Mt. Lebanon.



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Update: Freeze warning for part of Pennsylvania until Sunday morning – temperatures to drop to 28

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Update: Freeze warning for part of Pennsylvania until Sunday morning – temperatures to drop to 28


On Saturday at 8:52 p.m. an updated freeze warning was released by the National Weather Service valid from 11 p.m. until Sunday 9 a.m. for Westmoreland Ridges, Fayette Ridges and Higher Elevations of Indiana as well as Mercer, Venango, Forest, Lawrence, Butler, Clarion, Jefferson, Beaver, Allegheny, Armstrong, Washington, Greene, Westmoreland, Fayette and Indiana counties.



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Could a gas tax holiday be imposed in Pennsylvania as prices at the pump continue to rise?

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Could a gas tax holiday be imposed in Pennsylvania as prices at the pump continue to rise?


Discussion continues about potentially suspending the Pennsylvania gas tax, one of the highest state gas taxes in the country, as prices at the pump continue to jump.

Lawmakers in both chambers are considering a gas tax holiday that would remove Pennsylvania’s gas tax for a limited period. The Senate proposal would last 60 days, while the House version would run for six months. Supporters say the move would provide needed help for people across the state, while opponents argue it is not sustainable.

The proposals would save drivers about 57 cents per gallon on gasoline and about 75 cents per gallon on diesel from the state gas tax.

Representatives of the Democratic senator Lisa Boscola, who proposed the Senate bill and is from the Lehigh area, said they will continue pushing the measure they believe is needed by families around the state and are optimistic it will pass.

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In the House, the effort is mostly being pushed by Republicans, though local Republican Rep. Jim Rigby said he does not support it because it is “not a real solution.”

Democratic Rep. Paul Takac agrees, saying state police and PennDOT road work are funded through the gas tax, and that suspending it would essentially defund both, and they would have to find money to fill those voids. Takac added that he has not heard any serious intention to move the bill forward.

Democratic Rep. Frank Burns said he believes that if the proposal came to a vote, a gas tax holiday would pass with bipartisan support and would provide at least a small break to struggling families.

The debate continues as gas prices continue rising, with another jump in the last week.

Chief economist Gbenga Ajilore of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says prices are unlikely to fall soon.

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“It seems like gas prices are going to go up, and even if there’s some sort of resolution in say the next couple weeks, it’s going to be difficult to see prices go down anytime soon,” Ajilore said.

The Senate is back in session on Monday and for the next few days after that, but not again until June. If the gas tax holiday is going to move forward anytime soon, that is when it would likely happen.

In the House, the proposal would need to clear the Democratic-led Transportation Committee before it could go to a vote.



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Pennsylvania unemployment rate remains at 4.2% for March: Report

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Pennsylvania unemployment rate remains at 4.2% for March: Report


PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2% for March, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) announced in its preliminary report Friday.

According to L&I, the rate in Pennsylvania was one-tenth of a percentage point below the country’s unemployment rate, which fell to 4.3% compared to February.

The civilian labor force, consisting of residents working or looking for work, increased by 6,000 to 6,593,000, and employment increased by 9,000 while unemployment decreased by 3,000 from February.

Nonfarm jobs also rose in March, to 6,189,600, while jobs in six industry supersectors increased. Trade, transportation, and utilities were up 5,100 during March.

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For more information about L&I, visit its website here.



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