Albert J. Churella is Professor of History at Kennesaw State University. This interview is based on his new book, The Pennsylvania Railroad: The Long Decline, 1933–1968 (Indiana University Press, 2024). JF: What led you to write The Pennsylvania Railroad? AC: Most of […]
Pennsylvania
The Author’s Corner with Jane E. Calvert
Jane E. Calvert is Director and Chief Editor of The John Dickinson Writings Project. This interview is based on her new book, Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson (Oxford University Press, 2024). JF: What led you to […]
Religion and the election in Pennsylvania
Ivey DeJesus of the Harrisburg Patriot-News and Peter Smith of the Associated Press are covering Christianity and the 2024 presidential election in Pennsylvania. I was happy to help them with their stories. Here is a taste of DeJesus’s piece, “Some […]
Cornel West will not be on the ballot in Pennsylvania
The independent presidential candidate’s petition was denied. Here is Kim Lyons at the Pennsylvania Capital-Star: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that rejected independent candidate Cornel West’s petition to appear on the November ballot. The one-page, unsigned […]
Is Pennsylvania in the Midwest?
I live in central Pennsylvania, slightly west of the Susquehanna River. I can get to some Jersey shore points in about three hours. I feel like I live on the East coast. But according to a recent poll, about 10% […]
Franklin & Marshall Poll: Harris leads Trump; Casey leads McCormick
Here is a taste: Vice President Harris leads Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, 46% to 43%. The main reasons that Harris voters are supporting her candidacy include anti-Trumpism (18%), women’s rights (17%), character (15%), partisanship (13%), and democracy (13%). The top […]
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Shapiro defeated Doug Mastriano in 2022, so he knows how to run against MAGA. Will he be on the ticket in November?
Biden is out. He has endorsed Kamala Harris. But we still don’t know who the Democrats will pick to run against Donald Trump. Whoever it is, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro will be considered as a running mate. Here is our […]
Nikki Haley wins nearly 17% of the vote in the Pennsylvania GOP primary
Nikki Haley is no longer running for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. But that did not stop her from getting 16.5% of the vote in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary. In other words, a significant portion of Pennsylvania […]
Six members of Congress from Pennsylvania call for the University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill to resign
They are all Republicans. Here is Nick Robertson at The Hill: A group of six Pennsylvania Republicans called on the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to fire its president, Liz Magill, following backlash against comments she made at a House committee hearing […]
The Author’s Corner with David Houpt
David Houpt is Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. This interview is based on his new book, To Organize the Sovereign People: Political Mobilization in Revolutionary Pennsylvania (University of Virginia Press, 2023). JF: What led […]
The Author’s Corner with Scott Douglas Gerber
Scott Douglas Gerber is Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University and Associated Scholar at Brown University’s Political Theory Project. This interview is based on his new book, Law and Religion in Colonial America: The Dissenting Colonies (Cambridge University Press, […]
Post-Roe abortion debate is coming to Pennsylvania
Prior to the Dobbs decision no one really cared about state Supreme Court races. They do now. Here is Holly Otterbein at Politico: Less than a month after their double-digit victory on abortion rights in Ohio, Democrats are preparing to […]
The Atlantic tackles Seven Mountain Dominionism
A nice piece of reporting here by Stephanie McCrummen. Here is a taste of “The Woman Who Bought a Mountain For God”: On the day she heard God tell her to buy a mountain, Tami Barthen already sensed that her life […]
Doug Mastriano will not run for the U.S. Senate
Last week the Pennsylvania state legislator and 2022 gubernatorial candidate teased us with the potential of a U.S. Senate run. Today he announced it is not going to happen. Here is Holly Otterbein at Politico: MAGA firebrand Doug Mastriano said […]
Doug Mastriano will announce next week if he is going to run for Senate
Here is Gilliam McGoldrick at The Philadelphia Inquirer: State Sen. Doug Mastriano plans to make an announcement next week about the decision he has made on whether he will run for U.S. Senate, in what he teased as “crazy good […]
Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey Jr. is running for re-election in 2024
Good news from Pennsylvania! Here is John Salant from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: U.S. Sen. Bob Casey announced Monday that he will run for re-election next year, a boon for Democrats in a must-win race for the party to hold the […]
Doug Mastriano’s comeback
The Pennsylvania Christian nationalist was defeated soundly in the November 2020 gubernatorial election. He is now staging a comeback. Here is WKOK News with a piece from Penn Live’s Charles Thompson: Doug Mastriano was back on the political stage in […]
Senator Bob Casey’s prostate cancer surgery is a success
Here is Rashard Rose and Brian Rokus at CNN: Sen. Bob Casey underwent surgery for prostate cancer Tuesday afternoon and is not expected to need further treatment, his office said in a statement. “His doctor reports that, as expected, the procedure […]
Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey has prostate cancer. Expects a ‘full recovery.”
Here is J.D. Prose at Penn Live: U.S. Sen. Bob Casey revealed on Thursday that he has prostate cancer and will face surgery “in the coming months.” “While this news came as a shock, I can report that I have […]