"A sea change in Pennsylvania politics.”

By Tim Lambert | Editor-in-chief

By Whitney Downard

In the next legislative session, Democrats in Pennsylvania will not necessarily have to compromise with Republicans to pass laws. On Tuesday, voters handed both chambers in the General Assembly and the governor’s office to Democratic candidates.

Having a Democratic majority for the first time since 1993 — which, pollster Berwood Yost noted, only happened at the time because a member changed their party affiliation — is “a sea change in Pennsylvania politics.” 

Having that Republican Senate for so long has “moderated” policies in the commonwealth, continued Yost — who is the director of the Floyd Institute for Public Police and Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.

“It has forced there to be compromise,” co-panelist Luke Bernstein, the president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, agreed. “No bill has been signed in the last four years that has not been bipartisan … we are in a much different environment now.”

FOLO PA PODCAST

By Emily Previti

To say Democrats had a huge midterm election would be an understatement.

The party took control of the U.S. Senate and House. On the state level, Democrats established a majority among governor’s offices and either broke Republican trifectas or achieved their own in at least half a dozen states – including Pennsylvania. 

Four of the commonwealth’s U.S. House seats also flipped to Democrats; in other congressional districts, the party performed stronger than the last two elections – even those where they lost. And the reverse was true for Republicans: they won handily in six districts, but not by quite as much as usual.

The Capital-Star covered all of this and, on very little sleep, the team sat down for a debrief the next morning – on mic. 

By Peter Hall

Pennsylvania recorded its sixth measles death of the year as the outbreak that has sickened nearly 1,500 mostly unvaccinated people grows.

The state Health Department on Wednesday confirmed that an unvaccinated person in Jefferson County who tested positive for measles has died. It’s the second death related to the highly contagious virus in the county. 

Citing the privacy of the deceased person and their family, the department said it would not release any other details that could identify them. Jefferson County Coroner Greg Furlong said he also could not release information about the person.

By The News Lab at Penn State

In the summer of 2025, upon announcing a $20 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure from tech giant Amazon, Gov. Josh Shapiro declared the commonwealth was “all in on AI.” 

But, four years earlier, in 2021, Pennsylvania put in motion an incentive to attract data center buildout that would also deprive the state of critical income — a tax exemption program that eliminates the 6% sales tax and use tax on computer equipment purchases by eligible data centers.

The Computer Data Center Equipment Exemption Program started as a tax refund initiative, requiring companies to pay sales tax before requesting reimbursement by the state government. It originally came with a cap of $5 million each year and took effect in 2017 under Gov. Wolf’s administration. Act 25 of 2021 replaced that with a tax exemption program, meaning no sales tax would be paid at all for eligible purchases.

The change made the program “less transparent and less accountable,” said researcher Kasia Tarczynska from the non-profit Good Jobs First. She said, under the previous design, public officials knew more about the actual cost of the program.

Right now, according to the Department of Revenue, 16 data center facilities in development or already operating in Pennsylvania hold these active certificates.

By Dan Gearino of Inside Climate News

Before Tuesday’s election, Republicans held more governorships and state legislative seats than Democrats, along with an advantage in state trifectas—unified control of the governor’s office and both chambers of the legislature.

That advantage has disappeared, clearing the path for more climate and clean energy legislation, according to analysts and advocates.

Democrats swept the vast majority of competitive races at the state level, flipping control of governors’ offices from Republicans in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada and Texas. The party is on track for a net gain of hundreds of legislative seats, potentially giving it control of more nationwide than Republicans for the first time in more than a decade.

The implications for climate and energy policy are likely to be profound, said Caroline Spears, executive director of Climate Cabinet, an advocacy group.

Independent reporting on Pennsylvania state government that impacts communities statewide — free to read and republish.

Election Day might be behind us, but our coverage is just beginning. The Pennsylvania Capital-Star spent the election season helping people across the commonwealth make informed decisions through our voter guide.

Now, we’ll be following the results because everyone deserves to know what their elected leaders are doing in their name and how their policy decisions impact their communities.

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