🎉  Happy New Year. Here’s hoping that you and your family had a happy and healthy holiday season. Let’s make 2025 our best year yet.

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🏒 Penguins (17-17-5) | Fri vs. Florida
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🎂  Happy Birthday. Cake and candles for Sen. Doug Mastriano.

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Top Story

1. How Dave McCormick Won Pennsylvania’s Senate Race

“How did a West Point graduate from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, go from losing an agonizingly close, contentious Republican Senate primary two years ago to Dr. Mehmet Oz to winning against Bob Casey, whose family has been a Pennsylvania political institution for four decades? It all began with focus and an interview conducted in his Pittsburgh living room days after he lost that first race.

The first thing he did was what many CEOs do when forming a board of directors: He formed a team of professionals from very different backgrounds and experiences who had never worked together. This is a risky business in politics, where a campaign team usually comes as a package deal.” (Salena Zito)

Elsewhere

‘The Feistiest I’ve Ever Seen Him’: Inside Bob Casey’s Final Days in the Senate. “Bob Casey has been known for incremental change, working within the system, reaching across the aisle. As he left office, he seemed to be wondering whether that approach had a place in the U.S. Senate anymore.” (NOTUS)

The New Congress Convenes On Friday. Here’s What It Means to PA. “Where have we seen this before? Just as he did when he first was elected president in 2016, Donald Trump prepares to take office with Republicans in control of both houses of Congress. ” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Scott Perry Criticized Mike Johnson’s Ability to Advance ‘Trump Agenda’ While Other PA Republicans Praised Him. “Following President-elect Donald Trump’s endorsement of House Speaker Mike Johnson, some Pennsylvania Republicans have praised the speaker, but U.S. Rep. Scott Perry had sharper words for him.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

State

2. Pennsylvania’s Political Pendulum Swung to Republicans This Year. Will It Stay There?

“Republicans had a major political comeback in Pennsylvania in 2024 after a series of disappointments in recent elections.

President-elect Donald Trump won the state by a margin of 1.7 percentage points. Republicans swept the row offices, and ousted two incumbent Democrats in the U.S. House along with longtime U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.

They even flipped a Northeast Philly state Senate seat, electing the first Republican state senator to represent Philadelphia in more than two decades, maintaining their six-seat majority in the chamber, and securing a foothold in the Democratic-leaning city.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Elsewhere

A Small Group of Donors Dominated These High-Profile PA Races During the 2024 Election. “A Spotlight PA analysis of eight races — three for consequential row offices and five for state House seats critical to party control — found thousands of individuals and groups donated or independently spent roughly $60 million over the past two years to back or attack candidates. Just nine groups were responsible for $38.3 million of that total — a whopping 63% of the donations and spending analyzed.” (Spotlight PA)

What to Watch For in Harrisburg in 2025. “As lawmakers prepare for a new legislative session, many already have plenty of ideas for what they want to tackle in 2025.” (City & State)

New Allegheny County State House Members Detail Legislative Resolutions. “Millions of Pennsylvanians will go into 2025 clutching a list of new resolutions … and just over a dozen of them will be bringing them to the state legislature next week.” (WESA)

New Kids In Town

• John Inglis Wants to Make Sure PA Schools Are Being Properly Funded. (Penn Capital-Star)
• Jacklyn Rusnock Says Health Care and Education Experience Will Guide Her. (Penn Capital-Star)

Around The Commonwealth

3. The World Will Be Watching These Pennsylvanians in 2025. Will You?

“In some ways, 2025 could be considered a chronological apéritif here in Pennsylvania.

After all, it’s 2026 that really sets up as the Keystone State’s year in the spotlight, from hosting World Cup soccer games to celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence to a governor’s race that could set Gov. Josh Shapiro up as a national player.

But a closer look reveals a mother lode of big stories and big personalities that are sure to command our collective attention during our next trip around the sun.” (PennLive)

Elsewhere

Big Republican Wins in the Lehigh Valley and PA Will Reverberate Through 2025. “Northampton County, it turned out, did not determine the winner of the presidential election in Pennsylvania nor the nation.” (Armchair Lehigh Valley)

Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s Potential Big Year of Changes Hinges On State Funding Increase. “Unless the state Legislature takes action for the first time in more than 10 years to increase transit funding by June 30, CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman said the agency will begin planning severe service cutbacks for the new fiscal year that begins July 1.” (Pittsburgh Union Progress)

Fiscal Office Report Is Latest To Show PA’s High-Income Earners Have Lower Effective Tax Rates. “The state Independent Fiscal Office said those with annual incomes greater than $1 million pay a significantly lower rate.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Harrisburg Mayor Vetoes Council Cuts to Salary Hikes Amid Budget, Staffing Dispute. “Wanda Williams said Monday that she had vetoed parts of the 2025 city budget to restore pay raises for her staff that city council had cut and to eliminate an increase the council had added to its own staff complement.” (PennLive)

Editorial

4. What’s On Your Mind

• Will PA Politics Snooze in 2025? That’s Up to Shapiro, McCormick and Fetterman. (John Baer)
• What is Pennsylvania’s Political Future? (Greensburg Tribune-Review)
• Aging DC Politicians Should Be As Honest As John Fetterman. (Patricia Murphy)
• New Year Delivers Clean Slates to Elected Officials. (Sunbury Daily Item)
• A Fiscal Cliff Looms in Penn’s Woods. (Lowman Henry)
• Fiddling as Pittsburgh Burns. (Douglas Heuck)
• Biden Should Approve the Nippon Steel Deal. (Bill Scher)

1 Thing

5. Meet Gen Beta

The newest generation — Beta — will see its youngest members be born roughly from 2025 through 2039.

• Beta’s experience will be defined by unpredictable technological advancements and climate crises.

By the numbers: Projected to reach about 2.1 billion people, per Mark McCrindle, a social researcher and demographer who coined “Generation Alpha” and determined its bounds.

• It would be the second largest cohort following Gen Alpha’s 2 billion.

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