Advocacy

Who would have known that the numbers 203, 105, 98, and 12 would play such an important role in the Pennsylvania elections this year? Of course 203 has an important role every two years – but there are 203 seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives up for election on November 8. However, only 105 of those races have two major party candidates on the ballot for State Representative, while 98 of them have one candidate on the ballot or have a major party candidate facing only a third-party candidate. Lastly, there are only 12 days until Election Day on November 8, so if you aren’t a “Numbers Person” now is the time to change your mind!

One-half of all Pennsylvanians will get to vote for their member of Pennsylvania State Senate this year. The term of office for a State Senator is four years, and there are 50 State Senate seats, but only half of them are up for election every two years.

In recent weeks many publications have touted Pennsylvania as the key state in this year’s Presidential race. We are also playing a “keystone” role in another important outcome of the November election – party control of the United States Senate.

By Hilary Appelman

Last week we began a preview of the 2016 election in Pennsylvania with an overview of the statewide offices and a more detailed look at the Attorney General’s race. This week we will look more closely at the functions of the State Treasurer and the Auditor General, why these offices are important to you, and who the candidates are in the November election.

During a year when so much attention is focused on the Presidential Election and the Federal Government, statewide offices in Pennsylvania might be overlooked by some. However, the positions of Attorney General, Auditor General, and Treasurer are important to all Pennsylvanians. These independent state agencies serve key functions that are not within the responsibilities of the Governor or General Assembly.

The calendar has now moved past Labor Day and that means that election season is upon us. It is hard not to pick up your remote or a newspaper without seeing a story about the Presidential election. But it is not only the Presidency that is up for election this year. The results of the races for state and other federal offices will have a profound impact on Pennsylvanians, particularly older Pennsylvanians.

While many Pennsylvania children adjusted to a new school year and other Pennsylvanians looked forward to a long weekend to celebrate Labor Day and the unofficial end of summer, the week beginning on Monday, August 29 saw a number of interesting activities and events across Pennsylvania that highlighted issues of importance to older Pennsylvanians.

One of the difficulties of discussing, debating, and advocating about issues in Harrisburg is the difficulty of making the concern you’re working on sound new and fresh to policymakers. Long-term care may be the prime example of this – the impact of long-term care on individual Pennsylvania families who are faced with dealing with a loved one in need of long-term care is tremendous, and the impact on the Commonwealth’s budget, and ultimately on the state’s taxpayers, is also large and growing each year.

Most fiction publishers would reject the saga of Kathleen Kane for being too unrealistic for fiction. The unhappy tale came to a close in Pennsylvania this week, as Attorney General Kane was convicted by a jury in Montgomery County on Monday evening. She was found guilty of nine counts of perjury, obstruction and other charges for orchestrating a leak of secret grand jury information to a Philadelphia newspaper with the aim of embarrassing a political foe. After lying about it to a grand jury, Kane was convicted and later announced her resignation, ending a tumultuous three-and-a-half year term in office.