Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
City & State
Pennsylvanians are ticked off – and by that, we mean people in the commonwealth are literally struggling to keep ticks off. The Keystone State leads the nation in Lyme disease cases, as reported by Spotlight PA, with the continued development of forested areas increasing people’s risk of being bitten by the parasitic arachnids. Elsewhere in the commonwealth, several politicos are making a fateful jump from the tall grass, while others have been … well … sucking.
See who’s up and who’s down – in this week’s Winners & Losers!
Abram Lucabaugh -
Public commenters deemed the Central Bucks school board’s latest moves part of their “revenge agenda” after the Republican-controlled board voted to give its departing superintendent a nearly $700,000 payout just before Democrats take over next month. The separation agreement for Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh, who wasn’t at this week’s meeting, drew outrage from community members who have called it “stealing” and “corruption.”
Kim Ward, Kristin Phillips-HIll, Tracy Pennycuick & Maria Collett -
This bipartisan quartet of state senators joined forces this week to introduce a timely two-bill package that would reform how sexual harassment claims are handled in state government. The introduction of this bill package, as well as a separate set of bills introduced in the House, comes on the heels of two sexual harassment scandals in Harrisburg this year – one in the state House, and one in the governor’s office.
David Sunday -
York County District Attorney David Sunday picked up a big endorsement this week in his quest to become the state’s next attorney general. Sunday, who is running in the GOP primary, earned the support of the Republican Attorneys General Association this week. RAGA Chair Sean Reyes said that Pennsylvania provides the GOP with an “excellent opportunity” to flip the AG’s office, adding that Sunday “put in the tough work to protect the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the freedoms we all love as Americans.”
Temple, Pitt and Penn State -
Pennsylvania’s four-state-related universities are set to finally receive state funding that was the subject of a months-long impasse. Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an appropriations bill for the state-related institutions bill on Thursday after the legislation was amended and approved by the state Senate. With the amendment, Temple, Pitt and Penn State will receive the same funding levels as last year despite attempts to send increases to each university, ending legislative friction, for now, over state-related university funding.
Joshua Steven Gonzalez -
An agent with the state’s chief legal authority is accused of possessing child pornography. Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said this week that Joshua Steven Gonzalez, an agent with the attorney general’s office living in South Whitehall, was charged with a felony offense after he allegedly uploaded child pornography online between Oct. 28, 2022, and April 12, 2023. An AG’s office spokesperson said the conduct involved in the allegations is “disturbing,” and said the office continues to cooperate with law enforcement.
Greene County electorate -
A county in the southwest corner of the commonwealth is dealing with a revolving door within its elections office. Greene County Elections Director Eric Finch, who took over the position on Oct. 23, announced he will be leaving the office just a month after taking over. County officials will begin searching for their sixth elections director since August 2020. While Finch didn’t share why he was leaving the position, election officials have become targets for harassment and threats since debunked election fraud claims were born out of the 2020 presidential election.
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