This week's biggest Winners & Losers

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: Gov. Wolf and Republican legislators are at odds over a new regulation. This time, it’s over joining a multi-state consortium focused on reducing carbon emissions. Wolf got the win this round, as the Independent Regulatory Review Commission approved the state’s entrance into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, known as RGGI. Thanks to that approval, Wolf’s most aggressive plan to combat climate change is on its way to becoming a reality.

GOP U.S. Senate candidate Sean Parnell received one of the most coveted prizes of the Republican Party’s 2022 election cycle – an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. Republican candidates have seemingly been hellbent on trying to earn Trump’s endorsement and use it as a stepping stone to winning the GOP nomination in races across the country. The move could deal a devastating blow to other candidates seeking the GOP nomination for retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s Senate seat, as they’ll now have to convince voters as to why they should vote against the wishes of the Donald.

Elizabethtown Mayor Chuck Mummert will likely have a new plaque to hang in his office soon after being named Mayor of the Year by the Association of Mayors of the Boroughs of Pennsylvania. Mummert was honored by the association for his “outstanding service and commitment to the community” and is known for visiting nursing home residents and singing to them, according to LNP. Mummert is known as the “singing mayor” because of his hobby. The world could use a little more song and positivity in the halls of government, so congrats to the singing mayor for the accolade!

Steve Lynch, a GOP candidate for Northampton County executive, made nationalheadlines this week when he pledged to bring “strong men” to school board meetings and “remove” school board members who were in favor of COVID-19 mask mandates. “They can leave or they can be removed,” Lynch told a crowd in Harrisburg. He later clarified that his remarks were not intended to encourage violence. But in light of an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol earlier this year, politicians might want to be more careful with how they use their language.

An investigation by the progressive advocacy group Pennsylvania Spotlight found this week that state Rep. Mike Jones requested that York County Commissioners look into 15 “potential” cases of deceased individuals voting that his office had identified. The county reviewed the request, which was made last November, and concluded that all 15 names passed along by Jones and his office “are currently registered and active voters” in the county. The good news? No fraud. The bad news? Jones went searching for a problem that didn’t exist.

It’s never good to see your name in an attorney general’s press release. But 12 people got a taste of that this week after Attorney General Josh Shapiro charged members of a methamphetamine trafficking ring in central Pennsylvania following a more than year-long investigation. Robert Fowler is the alleged ringleader of the organization, charged with distributing meth, heroin and fentanyl. It looks like the chickens have come home to roost for Fowler.