During a weeklong stretch in mid-April, former President Donald Trump came to the Lehigh Valley two days before his criminal trial began while President Joe Biden made three stops in Pennsylvania, including in Philadelphia. In the latest episode of Battleground Politics, Lauren Mayk spoke with Pennsylvania voters as the candidates came to town. They spoke about abortion, the economy, immigration, Trump’s criminal trial, the Israel-Hamas War and who they plan to vote for. Lauren also spoke with Villanova University political science professor David Barrett about the presidential race and v ..read more

Counter-protestors in support of the Jewish community rallied at the University of Pennsylvania on Thursday in an effort to call for an end to the ongoing encampment of pro-Palestine activists on the school’s campus. On Thursday morning, members of the Israeli-American Council marched across Penn’s campus to call on school officials to end the ongoing protest over the war in Gaza, saying the protest has “veered into hate speech and threats” against the Jewish community. Benjamin Abella, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said he’s seen flags of “known terrorist groups” flown on the s ..read more

What to Know Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives is advancing legislation long sought by counties seeking help to manage huge influxes of mail-in ballots during elections in the presidential battleground state. The bill passed on party lines on May 1, 2024, 102-99, as Democrats backed it and Republicans opposed it, warning that it would open the door to fraud. Under the bill, county election workers could start processing ballots up to seven days before election day. Nearly every state allows time before Election Day for workers to process mail-in ballots. Currently, Pennsylvania doesn’t ..read more

What to Know Atlantic City’s main casino workers union and the state’s attorney general want a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a different union that seeks to ban smoking at the city’s nine casinos. Local 54 of the Unite Here union says many of its 10,000 workers could lose their jobs and the means to support their families if smoking were banned. “A total smoking ban would place thousands of jobs at risk, endangering the wages, health and welfare benefits and retirement benefits of Local 54 members and their families,” the union wrote in its court filing. Atlantic City’s main casino ..read more

Delaware Gov. John Carney is looking to stay in an executive leadership role — albeit a smaller one — after he leaves Dover. The two-term Democrat on Monday announced his campaign to become the mayor of Wilmington. “During my seven years as Governor, we’ve invested more in the City of Wilmington than any administration that came before us,” Carney said in a news release on April 29, 2024. “Our state can be successful only if our city is successful. It’s as simple as that. We’ve driven new job creation in Wilmington, invested more than ever in affordable housing, expanded the Port of Wilmi ..read more

Former President Donald Trump met privately over breakfast with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday, six sources said. The meeting was described as “nice” and “friendly” by one of the sources, who added that DeSantis plans to help raise money for Trump. A separate source said the meeting was mutually agreed upon and arranged by Steven Witkoff, the chairman of a real estate company, who is a mutual contact of the two men. However, a Trump campaign official told NBC News that DeSantis reached out to Trump’s team through Witkoff two weeks ago to set up a meeting to “bury the hatchet” an ..read more

President Joe Biden on Saturday used his White House correspondents’ dinner speech to swipe at former President Donald Trump, taking shots at the presumptive GOP nominee while highlighting the stakes of the election. Biden cracked jokes at his political rival’s expense and tackled age head-on, saying that he was “a grown man running against a six-year-old.” The president said later that age was the only thing he and Trump had in common, adding, “My vice president actually endorses me,” a reference to former Vice President Mike Pence’s refusal to say he’ll back his form ..read more

What to Know Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania wants a series of three debates with his Republican challenger David McCormick ahead of the November election, and McCormick is readily accepting. Casey said in a statement Thursday he intends to participate in debates in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Asked about it at a campaign event, McCormick said it’s a great idea. A series of three such meetings would give the debate stage the most robust presence in a Senate race in Pennsylvania since 2006, when Casey and then-GOP Sen. Rick Santorum joined four debates. Democratic ..read more

Around 200 pro-Palestinian protesters marched through Center City in Philadelphia on Thursday before gathering at the University of Pennsylvania to set up an encampment. The protesters — described as being made up of students from Penn, Drexel University, Temple University and members of various activist groups — gathered at City Hall around 2:25 p.m. before continuing towards University City. By 5 p.m., the group gathered at Penn’s campus and began erecting tents. “These children have watched since 2016, since the uprising for Black Lives Matter, have been watching and they are now old enough ..read more

After prosecutors’ lead witness painted a tawdry portrait of “catch and kill” tabloid schemes, defense lawyers in Donald Trump’s hush money trial are poised Friday to dig into an account of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election. David Pecker will return to the witness stand for the fourth day as defense attorneys try to poke holes in the testimony of the former National Enquirer publisher, who has described helping bury embarrassing stories Trump feared could hurt his campaign. It will cap a consequential w ..read more