PENNSYLVANIA – We all think our state deserves to be the best – but do the stats match our hometown pride?

U.S. News & World just ranked all 50 states in its 2024 “Best State Rankings,” and the Delaware Valley’s rankings may surprise you.

Evaluated by crime and corrections, economy, education, health care, and more; here’s how Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware fared:

Pennsylvania

The No. 40 spot goes to Pennsylvania! 

• 16th in Crime and Corrections
• 41st in Economy
• 39th in Education
• 11th in Health Care

“Pennsylvania has been one of the nation’s most important industrial centers for coal, steel and railroads, especially before World War II. The state is today among the country’s largest producers of canned fruit and vegetable-specialty products, chocolate and cocoa products, potato chips and pretzels, and is home to the “Snack Food Capital of the World.”

New Jersey

The Garden State earned the top ranking in the Delaware Valley at No. 14:

• 5th in Crime and Corrections
• 24th in Economy
• 4th in Education
• 4th in Health Care

“The home of native musical legends such as Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston, New Jersey is known for more than producing popular hit-makers. It has world-class universities, leading technology and biological science firms and one fast turnpike.”

Delaware 

Drop a couple of spots, and you’ll find Delaware at No. 21:

• 32nd in Crime and Corrections
• 21st in Economy
• 33rd in Education
• 9th in Health Care

“Known as the First State, Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution in 1787. Delaware, which hugs the Atlantic coast, runs only 96 miles long and 39 miles wide and has just three counties: New Castle, Kent and Sussex.”

Top 10 Best States

1. Utah
2. New Hampshire
3. Nebraska
4. Minnesota
5. Idaho
6. Iowa
7. Vermont
8. Washington
9. Florida
10. Massachusetts

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HARRISBURG — For the first time in at least 16 years, the Democratic and Republican parties in Pennsylvania are within half a million registered voters of one another.

Since 2008, Democrats’ registration edge over Republicans has steadily shrunk — from a 12% advantage in April 2008 to about a 4% advantage in April 2024, according to a Spotlight PA analysis of Department of State data.

The number of people registered as independents or under a third party has also grown, from 11% of total registered voters in 2008 to 15% this year.

Political consultants who spoke with Spotlight PA said that while registration trends can signal an electorate’s moods, they can’t tell you everything about how a closely divided state like Pennsylvania will vote.

Stephen Medvic, a government professor at Franklin & Marshall College, said 2010 was a high water mark for Democratic registration in recent Pennsylvania history and that there was “nowhere to go but down” from there in terms of registration numbers.

The party’s relatively lower registration rate is “not good [for Democrats], but I’m not sure it spells doom,” said Medvic.

Beyond that, consultants say Pennsylvania has undergone a political realignment in the last decade and a half. Anne Wakabayashi, a Democratic political consultant with public relations firm BerlinRosen, said registration is “catching up more with the behavior of the electorate.”

That behavior, she said, includes working-class voters in Western Pennsylvania who have historically been part of labor unions changing their registration to Republican in recent years, coupled with an influx of highly educated and wealthy transplants establishing themselves in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Sam Chen, a GOP political consultant based in the Lehigh Valley, pointed to the same dynamic and noted that it can be seen in the commonwealth’s changing registration geography. Democrats used to dominate counties in the industrial and rural parts of the state, particularly in the southwest and northeast. Now those areas are redder, while Democrats have consolidated support in suburbs, particularly in the populous southeast.

“The Republican Party has shifted away from traditional conservativism into a more populist version of it, which speaks to traditional Democratic values like made-in-America union labor,” Chen said. “On the Democratic side, I think you see that shift away from traditional liberalism over to a little bit more of a progressivism.”

Wakabayashi noted that registration doesn’t always keep pace with quickly shifting political preferences.

In her experience, voters can be slow to change registration even as their political opinions change. Sometimes they vote across party lines, opt to split their ticket and vote for candidates in both parties, or just don’t turn out to cast a ballot.

For example, despite a dwindling advantage in the party’s number of registered voters in Pennsylvania, Democrats won top-of-ticket races for president in 2020, and U.S. Senate and governor in 2022.

However, in the latter year, Republicans Stacey Garrity and Tim DeFoor won statewide races for state treasurer and auditor general — flipping those offices.

Political consultants and academics also say the increase in independent and third-party voters is significant and could indicate a growing disdain for the major political parties and a wider apathy that results in low voter turnout, such as during the 2024 primary election.

This is particularly notable as Pennsylvania is one of 10 states with a closed primary system, which excludes independent and third-party voters from choosing which major party candidates will end up on the November general election ballot.

Some experts noted that this system could lead to fewer voters who consider themselves politically independent registering as such. Plus, voters can switch their party registration up to 10 days before the election, which they may do close to a primary so that they can participate in choosing a major party candidate, before switching back.

“As our partisans are getting increasingly more partisan, there are a lot of people that are heading to either third parties or the middle of the road,” said Wakabayashi. “Some of that is disillusionment with the parties on both sides.”

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NEWTOWN, Pa. (CBS) — An iconic local jeweler is under new management after the previous owners turned over the business Monday to several longtime employees for free.

“Harvey and Maddy, so generous,” said Stephen Berman of Harvey and Maddy Rovinsky, who handed over the keys to their 62-year-old business, Bernie Robbins Jewelers.

They didn’t hand them over to just anybody.

“It’s really exciting,” said Berman, who managed the Newtown location.

He joined an ownership group with four other longtime employees, including those from the Somers Point, New Jersey, location. Berman learned of his new role last November.

“Shocked, because I couldn’t even imagine,” Berman said. “You work, and you work, and you do it for the right reasons, and you just don’t see this coming.”

Berman said the new leaders are committed to keeping the tradition started by Maddy Rovinsky’s parents, who founded the business in 1962.

“We don’t want to change the menu. We want to be the same and just go forward,” Berman said.

Harvey Rovinsky said he trusts the new owners because they have each worked for the jeweler between 20 to 30 years.

“They’ve been running the company for all this time, anyway. Now, they’re going to own it,” he said. “So, it’s a pretty good thing.”

Harvey added that while he is turning over the reins, he will stay on as advisor.

“And these people are great people. They’re going to be able to be running this themselves, and I’m here to help them if and when they need me,” he said.

Berman and his new co-owners said the Rovinskys are like family, and he is ecstatic to have a new role in this family business.

“It’s just a wonderful opportunity,” Berman said. “I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m so fortunate.”