A Harrisburg insider shares his thoughts on Democrats’ new trifecta, Reading School Board blows travel budget, and Philly left targets City Council. I'm Capitol reporter Stephen Caruso.
This is Access Harrisburg.
The Trifecta
House Speaker Joanna McClinton and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta hug outside the Capitol as Democrats celebrated the trifecta. (Stephen Caruso / Spotlight PA)
TUESDAY’S RESULTS WERE SEISMIC FOR PENNSYLVANIA. Gov. Josh Shapiro won with 60% of the vote, according to unofficial results, putting up impressive numbers in historically Republican counties. Democrats in the state House added at least eight members to their majority, while the GOP’s entrenched Senate majority was washed away in a national wave of anti-Trump sentiment.Â
Democrats held a brief trifecta in the 1990s, but only after a sitting Republican state senator switched parties. That means Tuesday is the first time Pennsylvania voters have backed unified Democratic control of the state government since the 1970s.
THE TRIFECTA HAS MANY IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE. My colleagues and I explored some of them in a story Wednesday, and I’ll keep digging into it all in the weeks and months ahead.Â
But to ground that future exploration in policy, not politics, I talked to Michael Manzo, who was a House Democratic staffer from 1994 to 2007, including chief of staff to Majority Leader Bill DeWeese. (He served a short stint in prison in connection with Bonusgate.)
Manzo, who is now a lobbyist, has always been willing to share his knowledge of the ways of Harrisburg. Our conversation below has been edited for clarity and length.
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