Good afternoon everyone,
It’s Thursday, April 9, and welcome back to another edition of the Keystone Labor Report.
The first round of campaign finance reports for this year’s gubernatorial race between Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity were released on Tuesday, and Shapiro continues to grow his massive fundraising advantage.
Shapiro outraised Garrity by a 10 to one margin in the first quarter of 2026 and has a 24 to one advantage when it comes to cash on hand.
After sifting through Garrity’s reports, Bob Asher, a Montgomery County chocolatier and former Chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, was Garrity’s top donor, giving the campaign $40,000 between personal donations and political action committees.
While serving as Pennsylvania Republican Party Chair, Asher was convicted in 1987 of perjury, racketeering, conspiracy, and bribery in a scandal involving state contracts. His accomplice in the case was former Treasurer Budd Dwyer.
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Gov. Josh Shapiro came out swinging in support of Bob Brooks’ campaign this week—being prominently featured in Brooks’ first campaign ad of the cycle.
Brooks, a retired 20-year firefighter with the City of Bethlehem and president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association, is running for the US House in Pennsylvania’s seventh congressional district in the Lehigh Valley.
Shapiro, who holds a wide polling and fundraising advantage over Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity in this year’s election, played a role in recruiting Brooks to run for this seat against US House Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Lehigh) due to Brooks’ advocacy in securing funding to help first responders dealing with post traumatic stress disorders.
“Having Governor Shapiro’s confidence is an honor I don’t take lightly,” Brooks said in a statement. “The Governor has shown time and again that he fights for working families and gets results. His support – and the support of so many leaders across this region and this country – gives me even more fuel to keep working every single day to earn the trust of the people of PA-07.”
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While we are focusing on Pennsylvania’s seventh congressional district, The Lever followed up on some reporting about Ryan Crosswell’s previous work at Littler Mendelson, one of the country’s biggest anti-union law firms, prior to working for the US Department of Justice.
Crosswell’s campaign denied these allegations last year, but court records show that Crosswell worked on enforcing non-compete clauses, which were eventually banned under President Joe Biden’s administration.
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US House Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s (R-Luzerne) congressional stock trading record shifts his reelection chances from “lean Republican” to “toss up,” according to nonpartisan political forecasters.
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Gov. Josh Shapiro said he’ll be part of the presidential 2028 conversation while appearing at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention in New York City, reports The Hill.
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Laurel Caverns, located in Fayette County, became Pennsylvania’s 125th state park and the commonwealth’s first underground park that features over four miles of caving routes, reports CBS Pittsburgh.
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(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)
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