Pennsylvania
This Pennsylvania House race could predict who wins the presidency
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Big-name politicians are descending on Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley in the closing weeks of the 2024 election, where voters in the swingy 7th Congressional District could determine which party controls the House next year — if not the White House.
On Wednesday, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., joined Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., here on a tour of Latino-owned small businesses. The next day, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., stumped for her GOP opponent, state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Hellertown, while Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., participated in a voting rights discussion with Wild in nearby Easton.
Next week, Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., will campaign for Wild at a reproductive rights event back in Allentown.
The race between Wild, a moderate Democrat, and Mackenzie, a Republican with a long family history in the district, is a “bellwether” for the presidential election, Wild said — a true swing district in a swing state that will play a critical role in deciding who occupies the White House.
“This is a district that has chosen the president, rightly or wrongly, for the last seven cycles, at least — and will again this year. I keep telling people from outside the area: On election night, watch Pennsylvania 7 if you want to know how the presidential is going to come out,” Wild said in an interview with NBC News after several campaign stops in downtown Allentown with Aguilar.
“This is not an exaggeration. This is not hyperbole,” she said. “I guarantee you … as the Greater Lehigh Valley goes, so goes the nation.”
The battleground district, in eastern Pennsylvania north of Philadelphia, is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans; and based on the updated congressional lines, President Joe Biden narrowly edged out former President Donald Trump here in 2020, 49.7% to 49.1%.
Not the Allentown of the ’80’s
In many ways, the district is a microcosm of the nation as a whole — a blend of urban, suburban and rural areas and a region that is becoming more diverse, thanks in large part to a fast-growing Latino community. Latinos are moving here from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala and Venezuela, but also from more expensive regions in New York and New Jersey.
With a boost from Aguilar and others, Wild has been working to turn out Latino voters in places like Allentown, the once-proud iron and steel manufacturing hub whose population is now 55% Latino, up from nearly 43% in the 2010 U.S. Census. Next door in Bethlehem, nearly a third of the population is Latino.
“People know the Billy Joel song. They think of Allentown as a post-industrial city. But the reality is that this is a city that’s continued to grow since the ‘80s — like, our low point was probably around that Billy Joel song — and we’ve mostly grown on the strength of a growing Latino community,” said Matthew Tuerk, who made history in 2022 as Allentown’s first Latino and Spanish-speaking mayor.
Tuerk caught up with Wild and Aguilar as they dropped by El Mercadito Grocery in downtown Allentown on Wednesday. Earlier, Wild and Aguilar visited El Tablazo Restaurant, a Dominican family-owned restaurant that serves up empanadas, Cuban sandwiches and oxtail stew.
They all ended up at La Cocina Del Abuelo (Grandpa’s Kitchen) for a wide-ranging roundtable discussion with a dozen local Latino leaders that touched on Vice President Kamala Harris’ long-term care proposal, cutting prescription drug prices and red tape for small businesses, and the need for more federal services.
Wild served as Allentown’s solicitor before she won a 2018 special election to succeed moderate Republican Rep. Charlie Dent, who, like Wild, had served as Ethics Committee chairman. She won re-election in 2022 by less than 2 percentage points. Polls now show Wild with a slim lead over Mackenzie but within the margin of error.
Though she is the incumbent and older than Mackenzie, Wild, 67, labeled Mackenzie, 42, a “career politician,” noting he has served in elected office for 12 years — twice as long as her. In Harrisburg, he serves alongside his mother, GOP state Rep. Milou Mackenzie.
Both Wild and Mackenzie are white.
Latino leaders at the roundtable said the congresswoman has spent the past six years building relationships with the community. “She’s been here,” said Greenberg Lemus, a Mexican American and the owner of La Cocina Del Abuelo, adding that he has Wild’s phone number and frequently texts her with concerns.
Aguilar, the No. 3 House Democrat and highest-ranking Hispanic member of Congress, told the leaders that as the Latino community in Allentown — and around the country — matures and learns to access “doors that weren’t open” before, there will be “growing pains.”
“But I can tell you,” he said, “as someone who works with her every day in D.C., Susan Wild has your back.”
A fight over immigration
Mackenzie and the Republicans have attacked Wild as weak on border security, saying that she repeatedly voted against Trump’s border wall and that she’s contributed to the number of unaccompanied migrant children in Lehigh Valley.
“She has a failed record on border security,” Mackenzie said in a Thursday interview after a rally with Johnson in Hellertown. “She is on the record calling a border wall ‘silly.’ She called sanctuary cities safer, and she has voted against border wall funding 10 different times.”
Wild pushed back on that narrative during a recent debate with Mackenzie, saying she voted for wall funding once before and knocked him for opposing the Senate’s bipartisan border security bill.
Johnson tossed even more red meat to 150 GOP faithful who gathered to see Mackenzie and the speaker at the Steel Club, a former spot for Bethlehem Steel executives and supervisors that is now a private golf club.
“Every state is a border state, as we say, because they opened the border wide, and ya’ll, they did it intentionally, OK? They wanted to turn these people into voters,” Johnson said, echoing a baseless conspiracy theory Trump has often raised, though it is already illegal and rare for noncitizens to vote. “Why else would they subject the country to these catastrophic results, the human trafficking, the violent crime, the known terrorists who have come into our country?”
Despite that tough border talk, Mackenzie’s campaign, like Trump’s, sees an opportunity to make inroads among Latino voters. A recent NBC News/Telemundo/CNBC poll found that support for Harris among Latino voters is at 54%, the lowest level in the past four presidential election cycles. Trump this week held a rally in nearby Reading, where nearly 7 out of every 10 residents are Latino.
Mackenzie said he’s attended Allentown’s Puerto Rican Parade and Dominican Festival. But he hasn’t shifted his messaging to court Latinos, specifically immigrants or Puerto Rican migrants.
“The issues in the Hispanic community are the same as the regular, larger community. … They talk about price of living. They talk about immigration. They see in their communities the crime and the drugs that are coming in across an open southern border as well,” Mackenzie said.
“The only thing that we do differently is we put it in Spanish,” he said. “That’s it. It’s the same message, same communications.”
Radio host and executive Victor Martinez, who owns Allentown’s popular Spanish-language station La Mega and participated in Wild’s roundtable, said he’s been “bombarded” by Democrats trying to get on his airwaves. He’s recently interviewed both Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, on his show, but he said he’s seen zero interest or outreach from Republicans this cycle. He endorsed Harris in a campaign video last month.
“If they are seen to be catering too much or reaching too much out to the Latino voter, I think that that could upset their base,” Martinez said. “‘Wait a minute: Here you’re telling us that they are the ones taking our way our benefits, and they are the ones to blame for a lot of things and, at the same time, there you are telling them to come out to vote for you and offering things to make their life better?’”
“I think they are having a hard time reconciling those two together, and that’s why we haven’t seen all-out marketing, advertising, trying to get the Latino votes — at least here in Pennsylvania. It’s been mute,” he added.
Abortion rights and trust
The candidates have clashed on other issues as well. Wild has sought to portray Mackenzie as bad for women voters. In her ads, she’s suggested he opposes in vitro fertilization and highlighted reports that he lied about his age by eight years in a Tinder dating profile.
She’s also taken aim at his past vote in the state Legislature to ban abortions after 19 weeks of pregnancy, with no exception for rape and incest.
Mackenzie said Wild is trying to “mischaracterize” his record and “deceive voters” — he is fully supportive of IVF, he said, adding he has voted for another bill allowing taxpayer dollars to be used to pay for some abortions in cases of rape, incest and life of the mother.
Mackenzie, who is now married and has a child, called the Tinder issue a “distraction,” saying not a single voter has ever mentioned this issue to him on the campaign trail. He said he’s focused on issues like inflation and border security.
“People want answers on what you’re actually going to do to help them and improve their lives,” he said.
Pennsylvania
An Outpouring of Frustration Over Pennsylvania’s Rapid Data Center Growth – Inside Climate News
The latest example of burgeoning opposition to rapid data-center development in Pennsylvania came at a town hall meeting overflowing with frustration about how the state is managing the surge.
As about 225 people watched, more than 20 speakers in the two-hour online forum late Wednesday spoke about resistance to an industry they blame for rising electricity prices, heavy water use, noise pollution and rural industrialization. Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has tried to thread the needle of welcoming data centers while proposing some guardrails, was a frequent target.
“This is a public trust and transparency issue,” said Jennifer Dusart, a small business owner and resident of Mechanicsburg, near the state capital. “Too many Americans are finding out about these projects after decisions have been made. We have been bulldozed over, and when citizens have raised concerns, they are often dismissed as uninformed, emotional or anti-progress.”
According to the Data Center Proposal Tracker, Pennsylvania has nearly 60 data centers that have been officially proposed, are in early planning stages, have received approval to build or are under construction.
Karen Feridun of the environmental nonprofit Better Path Coalition, which organized the town hall, said the Pennsylvania Data Center Resistance Facebook group she started in January with a few dozen members now has more than 12,000 followers. Kelly Donia of East Whiteland Township in southeastern Pennsylvania, who lives near a proposed data center, said she’s a registered Democrat who had been excited about speculation in 2024 that Shapiro would be the Democratic vice presidential candidate. But she said she no longer supports him because he has courted data centers. “He is losing his base,” she said. “I want him to hear this loud and freaking clear. I’m going to make it my job to make sure that man never gets elected again for any office.”
While an Emerson College survey in November found that Pennsylvanians were split on data-center development—38 percent supported it, while 35 percent opposed it—opposition to such development close to home was more pronounced. A February poll of registered voters in the state by Quinnipiac University found even more pushback: 68 percent said they would oppose a data center for AI in their community.
Neither the Data Center Coalition, an industry group, nor Pennsylvania Data Center Partners, a developer of large data centers, responded to requests for comment, though industry advocates have said the growth will bring jobs and tax revenue to the state.
The Shapiro administration said it seeks to protect communities while reaping the economic benefits of the booming data center industry.
“If companies want the Commonwealth’s full support — including access to tax credits and faster permitting — they must meet strict expectations around transparency, environmental protection, and community impact,” Rosie Lapowsky, a Shapiro spokesperson, said in a statement. “This is about setting a higher bar for projects, not lowering it, and ensuring development happens responsibly and in a way that benefits Pennsylvanians.”
In February, Shapiro proposed standards as part of his budget address, including that new data centers seeking state support must either provide their own power rather than drawing it from the grid, or fully fund their power needs and the transmission infrastructure that comes with them.
Feridun said Shapiro did not respond to multiple invitations to attend the town hall, which she thinks the state should have hosted to give people a chance to express their concerns about data centers.
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Colby Wesner of the activist group Concerned Citizens of Montour County, which successfully opposed a data center, criticized House lawmakers for passing the Shapiro-supported HB 2151, which would require state officials to draft a model ordinance that towns could use to respond to data center applications.
Supporters say its use would be voluntary and it would help local officials protect quality of life in their communities. But Wesner believes it will benefit the industry if enacted: “There is absolutely no way this ordinance won’t be a data center developer’s dream.”
Donia urged townships to change their zoning so they have the legal right to deny data center applications in places they don’t want them. Without carefully zoned land, towns are vulnerable to lawsuits from developers, she said.
“If you’ve got terrible ordinances in your township, and you add in bad zoning, guess what? You get a hyperscale data center,” she said.
The surge in data center projects in Pennsylvania has been driven by tax breaks for developers, as allowed by a 2021 law that lawmakers should repeal, said Republican state Rep. Jamie Walsh, who spoke at the town hall event. In Virginia, the state with the most data centers, developers have to pay a sales and use tax, but Pennsylvania doesn’t require that, he said.
“That has made Pennsylvania a target. In Virginia, they have to pay tax on the contents of those buildings. Pennsylvania will never realize that. That is why we’ve become ground zero,” said Walsh, who represents Luzerne County in northeast Pennsylvania.
State Sen. Katie Muth, a Democrat who represents part of the Philadelphia suburbs, plans to introduce a bill to place a three-year moratorium on data center development so state and local governments can first study and plan for the industry. She announced the bill in a legislative memo in February and expects to introduce it soon, a spokesman said.
Muth told activists at the town hall that the data center industry has not done enough to fully disclose its plans to the public. ”This has all been planned long before any of us had a clue, so don’t feel that you missed all these things,” she said. “You were supposed to; no one wanted you to know about it.”
Michael Sauers, a retired school teacher from Bloomsburg, southwest of Scranton, called on officials to amend the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, a regulation first published in 1970.
“This has to be strengthened to empower communities to be able to say no to unwanted development that is being shoved down their throats,” he said. “Communities must be empowered to reject top-down development that gives them little or no voice in the future.”
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Pennsylvania
Man arrested for allegedly posting hit list, threatening more than a dozen Pennsylvania lawmakers
LEBANON, Pa. — A Lebanon County, Pennsylvania man is charged with making terroristic threats and accused of creating a hit list of 20 Democrats, many from the Philadelphia region.
Adam Berryhill’s X handle goes by Pennsylvania Militia.
On it, state police say he posted, “I can’t wait for Memorial Day Operation.”
His thread also displayed guns, and he called local politicians gun-grabbing communists. His alleged hit list included state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of North Philadelphia.
“I’ll tell you to a certain degree, not that much shock. You know this is not the first time I’ve been the victim of threats,” Kenyatta told ABC Philadelphia affiliate WPVI.
He says the threats have no impact on his governing.
State police say among the other local Democrats named by Berryhill are congressional candidates Sharif Street, Chris Raab and others, like state Rep. Morgan Cephas.
A routine investigation by the state police detail assigned to state House Speaker Joanna McClinton led to the discovery of the alleged terroristic threats.
Berryhill was arrested and charged last week.
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“It’s not about being a Democrat or Republican or an independent. This is about American belief, that in America, Philadelphia, where it all started, that you get to say you believe without any threat of violence,” Kenyatta said.
Court records say Berryhill also criticized Republicans. In another post, he said they need to stop whining and claimed the only solution is war.
Charging documents say Berryhill has been involuntarily committed in the past and is prohibited from possessing firearms.
“It’s deeply uncomfortable for anybody to be doing a job just serving your neighbors. You did not sign up to be in the crosshairs of someone who is unhinged and violent,” Kenyatta said from his North Philadelphia district offices.
Court records say Berryhill was unable to make bail.
Calls to his public defender have not been returned.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro issued the following statement on the arrest:
“Today, I spoke with Speaker McClinton and Leader Costa about the terroristic threats made against members of their caucuses in the State Legislature. I told them that while these threats of political violence seek to intimidate and silence, my administration will continue to do everything in our power to keep them safe and ensure their members can continue to make their voices heard as the people’s elected representatives.
We are experiencing a dangerous rise in threats of political violence across the Commonwealth and I appreciate the quick action of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Lebanon County District Attorney to charge and arrest the perpetrator. It is also clear a better process is necessary to notify elected officials directly when these threats are made. Lt. Colonel Bivens has spoken extensively with House and Senate leadership and their teams, and the Pennsylvania State Police have instituted a new process to notify members of the General Assembly immediately and directly of any and all threats of violence against them.
It is on all of us to combat hate speech and political violence, and I call on all of my fellow Pennsylvanians and fellow leaders to stand up against this dangerous rising tide of violence we are seeing across our country.”
Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Shirley Ann Dailey, 89, of Daytona Beach, Florida (formerly of Montoursville, Pennsylvania), passed away peacefully on February 23, 2026, surrounded by her family at AdventHealth Hospital in Daytona Beach.
Born December 14, 1936, in Sayre, Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of the late John and Laura (Reinbold) White. She met the love of her life, Gordon Ell Dailey whom she shared over 60 years of marriage until his passing in 2023.
Shirley grew up in Buffalo, New York, and Dushore, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Turnpike High School in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, and continued her education with two years of college. She went on to have a distinguished career spanning more than 40 years. Her professional journey included roles with the Social Security Administration, General Motors, Pennsylvania Department of General Services, and most notably, 30 years of dedicated service with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). She served as an Administrative Assistant to the District Executive for PennDOT Engineering District 3-0. Shirley took great pride in her work and spoke fondly of her time at PennDOT throughout her retirement.
In her personal life, Shirley enjoyed collecting artwork, caring for her home, taking walks, bicycling, and vacationing with her family.
Surviving is a son, David (Crista) Dailey of Daytona Beach, Fla.; a grandson, Garrett Dailey, of Daytona Beach, Fla.; sisters, Regina (Drew) Bagley of Shunk, Pa., and Deborah (Ray) Thall of Mechanicsburg, Pa. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents and husband, Shirley was preceded in death by a sister, Margaret Pier, and a brother, William White.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at McCarty-Thomas Funeral Home, 733 Broad Street, Montoursville, Pennsylvania, with Pastor David Smith officiating. Burial will follow in Twin Hills Memorial Park, Muncy. Friends may call from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family at mccarthythomas.com.
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