🎉 TGIF. Heading into a lazy, crazy weekend.

🎶 Your Morning Pick Me Up. Fun, Fun, Fun. The Beach Boys

PA Weather
🌂  West Mifflin | Chance of Showers, Storms, 80
☀️  Elysburg | Mostly Sunny, 85
☀️  Langhorne | Mostly Sunny, 90

PA Sports 
⚾  Phillies (65-58, – GB WC) | Minnesota 7-1 | Sat-Sun vs. Minnesota
⚾  Pirates (59-64, -6.0 GB WC) | Miami 13-1 | Fri-Sun vs. Boston
⚽  Union (4W, 4D, 10L) | Santos Laguna 0-2 (Leagues Cup) | Sat vs. NYC

What We’re Hearing. American Action Network, a top outside group aligned with House GOP leaders, launched a $22 million ad campaign on Thursday across 41 congressional districts, including PA-01, 07, 08 and 10.

Did You Know? In Pennsylvania, developers are planning 74 new data centers — which, if built, would consume the energy equivalent of 22 large nuclear power plants.

Tips. PoliticsPA is Pennsylvania’s premier source for nonpartisan political news and analysis. Tips or press releases can be sent to [email protected].

The PoliticsPA Playbook is compiled by Steve Ulrich. For the web version, click here. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

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Top Story

1.   The Hot Summer of Data Center Politics

“Republicans and Democrats have the same new bogeyman.

Data centers have emerged as a fixation in races across the country, and both parties are struggling to answer voter angst over the nearly $600 billion artificial intelligence buildout.

That’s given populists of all stripes a huge opening. Candidates are running on fears of rising electricity costs, Silicon Valley oligarchy and environmental damage thanks to all the new data centers, tying it all back to the cost-of-living crisis facing millions of Americans.” | Punchbowl News

Elsewhere

Sen. Malone, Local Leaders Call For Senate to Return to Session to Vote on AI Data Center Moratorium. “AI Data Center development. It’s all the rage and that’s a problem for boroughs, townships and communities throughout Pennsylvania. And one legislator wants the Senate to slow things down.” | PoliticsPA

2028 Hopefuls Make Their Pilgrimage to the Hamptons…Quietly. “Every summer the Eastern Seaboard’s sandy hotspots fill up with high-flying politicos, but in today’s anti-elite moment, they’ve got to raise their big money under the radar.” | Vanity Fair

House Democrats Rage Over GOP Stock Trading “Set-Up”. “House Democrats went into the vote on the Stop Insider Trading Act last month groaning that it was all a big Republican set-up. Now they’re fuming that the trap has been sprung. Why it matters: A well-funded Republican group is blanketing the airwaves lauding GOP lawmakers in key swing districts — including some with reputations for prolific stock trading — as champions on the issue.” | Axios

PA-08: Republicans Blast Cognetti On Violent Crime In Scranton, But Analysis Shows Decline. “For months, Republicans have portrayed Scranton as a hotbed of out-of-control crime and blamed Democratic congressional candidate and city Mayor Paige Cognetti for it.” | WVIA

Daylight Saving Time Battle Pits Senate GOP Against Trump. “President Trump is renewing pressure on Senate Republicans to pass a House-approved bill to make daylight saving time permanent, but the effort is running into stiff opposition from GOP senators whose states would be plunged into early-morning darkness during the winter.” | The Hill

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State

2.   New Balancing Act: Trump-Backed Pennsylvania Guv Nom Kinda Sorta Admits Trump Lost in 2020

“The Republican nominee in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race is engaged in a delicate balancing act as she attempts to appeal to President Trump and his base of supporters while also trying to win over undecided voters or those who elected the state’s Democratic incumbent. For a Republican in a swing state in 2026, that means finding your election denialism equilibrium. 

During a news interview on Sunday with Dennis Owens, Trump-endorsed Republican nominee Stacy Garrity, sort of, but not really, admitted that Trump lost the 2020 election. But she was dodgy in her response and said she wanted to instead “look forward.”

Owens asked her explicitly if she believes Trump lost the election. She responded with “yeah,” but added, “I mean, I won, and that’s what I’m most concerned about.”” | Talking Points Memo

Elsewhere

These PA Senate Races Will Determine Who Controls Harrisburg. “For the first time in more than 30 years, Pennsylvania Democrats have the opportunity to control all three branches of government following November’s election.” | The Keystone

Green Party Governor Candidate Tony Dastra Blames Democrats For Backing Challenge To Ballot Eligibility. “In an objection petition filed in Commonwealth Court Monday, three Pennsylvania voters claim that nearly 1,400 of the 5,500 signatures on Dastra’s nominating papers, including hundreds from Lancaster County, do not comply with state election laws and should be invalidated. Third-party candidates for governor must submit at least 5,000 signatures to appear on the ballot.” | LNP

‘I Certainly Support An End’ To Iran War, U.S. Rep. GT Thompson Says. “U.S. Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Centre, believes the Iranian regime is at fault for the ongoing war with the United States, although he supports an end of the conflict.  “We didn’t choose this war,” Thompson said on Wednesday. “The number of American soldiers that have been killed at different bases in the Middle East, around the world is just wrong.”” | The Center Square

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Around The Commonwealth

3.   How Pennsylvania Got Hooked on Games That Look a Lot Like Slot Machines

“A legal loophole kept “skill games” from being considered gambling. Now lawmakers are trying to save them from a court ruling.” | New York Times

Elsewhere

State Game Commission Dismisses More Than 150 Deputy Game Wardens With 1-Paragraph Email. “The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) is bringing down the curtain on its Deputy Game Warden program. More than 150 deputy wardens were notified in a 1-paragraph email that the program was ending. The email did not specify a reason for the dismissals.” | PoliticsPA

Why A Pennsylvania Mayor Is Pushing Congress to Reverse SNAP Rollbacks. “Matt Tuerk, the mayor of Allentown, is one of 200 mayors across the country asking the Senate to reverse or delay federal food assistance cuts via this year’s Farm Bill.” | Governing

Bucks County Democrats Slowly Reversing Yearslong Registration Trend. “Since the start of 2026, countywide Democratic year-over-year registration changes have outpaced Republican changes for the first time since the 2020 election, according to Pennsylvania voter registration data. Democrats have also led in voter registration across the state for the past 10 months.” | Bucks County Courier Times

‘Potentially Unsafe Levels’ of E. Coli Found in Hundreds of Pennsylvania Waterways, Group Says. “A report released Wednesday by the Philadelphia-based PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center found that 359 out of 653 monitored locations across Pennsylvania rivers — about 55% — had “potentially unsafe levels” of E. coli bacteria on at least one day during monitoring periods in 2024 and 2025.” | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Editorial

4.  What Do You Think?

• Election Integrity Is Essential To Restoring Faith In Our Republic | Megan Martin
• Keeping Dangerous Synthetic Kratom Away From Children | Sen. Tracy Pennycuick 
• Is America Heading Toward Socialism? Probably Not | Michael A. McDowell
• I Had High Hopes For Todd Blanche. Here’s Why He Is Unfit To Be Attorney General | Ryan Crosswell

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1 Thing

5.   Penn State Professor Is On a Sweet Mission to Give a PA Treat Its Own Emoji

“There are emojis for cake, cupcakes, pies, ice cream cones and chocolate chip cookies.

But when it comes to desserts, there is no whoopie pie emoji.

Bill Zimmerman, an assistant teaching professor in advertising and public relations at Penn State, wants to change that with an emoji dedicated to the beloved Pennsylvania treat.” | PennLive

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Thank you for starting your Friday with us.
Have a wonderful and safe weekend.