Inside Team Trump’s Historic Collapse. This is the PoliticsPA Playbook.
Welcome to the Weekend. Inside Team Trump’s Historic Collapse. Shapiro Claims He Was Key to PA Democrats’ Success in the Election. What Went Wrong For Stacy Garrity? Do’s and Don’ts When Talking Politics in the Office
Your Morning Pick Me Up. Livin’ la Vida Loca. Ricky Martin
PA Weather
Presque Isle | Showers, 54
Raystown | Partly Sunny, 69 Lake Harmony | Partly Sunny, 64
PA Sports 
Eagles (2-6) | Sun at NY Giants Penn State (4-4) | Sat at Washington Temple (2-6) | Sat at Navy
Union (13W, 7D, 12L) | Sat vs. Toronto
Sixers (8-1) | Fri at Cleveland | Sun at Chicago
Flyers (4-10-4) | NY Rangers 2-3 | Sun at Calgary Penguins (5-9-2) | Boston 2-6 | Sat at Los Angeles | Sun at Anaheim
Voter Turnout. Unofficially, Cumberland County has the highest turnout on Tuesday at 63.2%. The lowest turnout was in Philadelphia (45.0%).
What We’re Hearing. The race to get Rep. James Clyburn’s endorsement is on and Gov. Josh Shapiro has already made a call to the South Carolina powerbroker.
Tips. PoliticsPA is Pennsylvania’s premier source for nonpartisan political news and analysis. Tips or press releases can be sent to steve@politicspa.com.
The PoliticsPA Playbook is compiled by Steve Ulrich. For the web version, click here. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe below.
Top Story
“Six days before the election, more than two dozen of President Donald Trump’s top strategists logged onto a private video call.
The mood was grim. The discussion began with talk of cyanide.
“Do you want the white pill first, or the black pill first?” asked Tony Fabrizio, the president’s chief pollster.” | New York Times
Elsewhere
Josh Shapiro Lays His 2028 Groundwork Close to Home. “How the Pennsylvania governor used the midterms to build political capital.” | The Dispatch
One Would-Be Fetterman Primary Challenger Is Out, But More Are Weighing Their Options. “Brendan Boyle’s decision paves the way for Pittsburgh-area Rep. Chris Deluzio to become the frontrunner among potential challengers to Fetterman.” | PennLive
Dem Victories Weaken John Fetterman’s Leverage But Open a New Role. “As Democrats on Election Day celebrated stunning victories in U.S. Senate races across the nation, some also took time to revel in a potential consequence of this power shift: less attention paid to Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman.” | USA Today Network
Shapiro Wants to Raise Minimum Wage Again, But This Time With A Democratic Majority. “Gov. Josh Shapiro and his allies in Harrisburg say a top priority for the new governing majority is raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, which has been set at the federal level of $7.25 since 2009.” | Philadelphia Inquirer
State
“In the hours following his resounding win against GOP candidate Stacy Garrity, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro took a victory lap on national broadcasts, touting his landslide re-election and the wins of his hand-picked Democrats across the state.
Shapiro endorsed nearly 30 candidates in races up and down the ballot, from four hotly contested Congressional seats in the eastern part of the state, to state-level races in districts across the commonwealth that Democrats believed they could flip.
Nearly all of Shapiro’s endorsed candidates brought home wins, expanding Democratic control of the state House, flipping the state Senate and helping to flip the U.S. House of Representatives from Republican control.” | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Elsewhere
Shapiro Wants to Raise Minimum Wage Again, But This Time With A Democratic Majority. “Gov. Josh Shapiro and his allies in Harrisburg say a top priority for the new governing majority is raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, which has been set at the federal level of $7.25 since 2009.” | Philadelphia Inquirer
Take These 5 Things From Pennsylvania’s Election Night. “You can have the charged debates, the frenzy of Election Day, the solemn ritual of a swearing-in ceremony: The most cherished democratic tradition is the post-election analysis, in which reporters make sense of how millions of people voted, while being too sleep-deprived to button their shirts correctly. So it is with a profound sense of duty that we offer you these election takeaways.” | WESA
Top 5 Reasons PA Voters Ghosted Republicans in the Midterm State Elections. “A PennLive analysis found that of the 27 ruby-red districts in Pennsylvania, voters shifted more blue in 24 of them compared to how they voted in the 2024 presidential election. In three districts spanning across Crawford, Erie, Clinton and Blair counties, voters swung by more than seven percentage points.” | PennLive
Shapiro, Democrats Say New Trifecta Will Deliver Minimum Wage Increase, Transit Funding, and More. “Hot off winning a trifecta for the first time in more than 30 years, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Democratic legislative leaders laid out a vision for rapid action they say will offer relief amid rising costs and restore trust in government.” | Spotlight PA
Around The Commonwealth
“Just one minute after polls closed on Tuesday, the Pennsylvania governor’s race had already been called. Within the hour, Republican Stacy Garrity took the stage at her election night watch party to accept the more than 20-point defeat.
Although the state’s party coalesced around her unprecedentedly early in hopes of avoiding another bruising loss like the one it suffered in 2022, Garrity, the state’s treasurer, struggled to build momentum. She entered the night with odds stacked against her: behind by double digits in every public poll, massively out-fundraised, and endorsed by President Donald Trump amid growing dissatisfaction with the administration as the GOP faced strong national headwinds.” | Philadelphia Inquirer
Elsewhere
Blue Wave in Bucks: How Bob Harvie Defeated Republican Brian Fitzpatrick in PA’s 1st District. “Fitzpatrick, a five-term incumbent, won by 13 percentage points in 2024. Two years later, the suburban battleground delivered Democrats their first victory since 2008.” | WHYY
Job Opening: Scranton Mayor’s Election to Congress Will Create Vacancy. “Scranton City Council is reviewing how an impending mayoral vacancy will be filled when Mayor Paige Cognetti resigns to be sworn in to Congress. The process is likely to involve a temporary appointee serving until the winner of a special election is seated, the council president said.” | Scranton Times-Tribune
Tuesday’s Election Turned the Lehigh Valley ‘Cobalt’ – At Least For a Cycle. “Races in Lehigh and Northampton counties may not have been close, but they still served as an accurate bellwether for the national mood.” | Lehigh Valley Public Media
Former Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Ronald D. Castille Passes Away. “The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has announced the passing of former Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille, who died on November 4, 2026. He was 82 years old.” | abc27
Justice Department Sues Penn State Over In-State Tuition Policy for Some Undocumented Students. “The Justice Department on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Penn State alleging that a university policy allowing some undocumented students to receive in-state tuition rates discriminates against U.S. citizens who are not residents of Pennsylvania.” | StateCollege.com
Editorial
1 Thing
“Democrats’ blue tsunami and massive Republican losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections are all anyone can talk about this week, but dishing your political hot takes at work comes with pitfalls.
Driving the news: Axios Philadelphia chatted with Matt Levendusky, a political science and communication expert at Penn, who gave us his dos and don’ts for talking politics in the workplace — whether that’s on Slack or around the water cooler.” | Axios Philadelphia
Thank you for starting your day with us.
Have a wonderful weekend. See you back here Monday.
