POLS ON THE STREET: Some Voters Undecided Until They Enter the Booth

by Joe Shaheeli

INVESTIGATING program to feed critically ill people, US Sen. Bob Casey takes directions from volunteer kitchen staffer at MANNA as he works on its food portioning and sealing line. MANNA, based in Center City, serves 1,000 critically ill people three nutritious meals a day, seven days a week, for free, throughout Delaware Valley. It’s part of “food as medicine” movement. Photo by Wendell Douglas

The Zogby Analytics Newswire, highly respected, confirmed what we have been saying off and on that “4%” of the voters don’t know for whom they will be voting until they enter the election booth.
Zogby’s post-election poll results show several key factors drove Trump win; a plurality of voters not positive about future. In exit polling, voters were asked,
“When did you make your decision for whom to vote for president?” The answers:
A year ago, 26%; more than a month ago, 39%; during the presidential debates, 18%; in the last week before voting, 8%; in the 24 hours before voting, 4%; in the voting booth, 3%; not sure, 3%.
For now, we’ll have to start saying 3% remain undecided until the moment they push the first button or pull their first lever.
A plurality (39%) of voters decided more than a month ago for whom they were going to vote for as president. Nearly two in 10 decided during the presidential debates, while 15% decided within a week of the election.
Zogby stated there are not many differences among subgroups in how each made up their minds, and for the most part most subgroups fall in line with the overall results. Some interesting deviations from the norm are younger voters (18-29 years old), who are more likely (24%) to make up their minds for whom they were going to vote during the presidential debates, compared to only 12% of voters aged 65+. 18-24-year-olds (28%) are also more likely to have made up their minds during the debates.
Trump supporters (11%) were more likely to decide in the last week of the election, compared with only 4% of Clinton supporters. Independents (13%) were more likely to decide in the last week compared to Democrats (3%) and Republicans (9%). Among ethnic groups, more African Americans (41%) made up their minds a year ago compared to Asians (21%). More weekly Walmart shoppers (24%) made up their minds on who they voted for during the debates compared to voters who never shop at Walmart (10%).

Hillary’s Coattails Were Long, But…

Philadelphia has seven members in the State Senate and 26 in the State House.
Competition between the two major parties for General Assembly seats continues heavily to favor Democrats. But they remain in the minority statewide.
As a result, Philadelphia’s interests would take a far back seat if it were not for the efforts and presence in the House of its two legislators on the Republican side of aisle.
Despite the fact Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won Philadelphia in an historic landslide, her apron strings were not long enough or strong enough to pull in the Democratic candidates who challenged State Rep. John Taylor in the 177th and State Rep. Martina White in the 170th.
In contention this past election was the 5th Senatorial Dist. seat, with the other two, the 1st and 3rd, uncontested. In the House, only four of the 26 Philadelphia House seats had opposition. They were the 170th, 172nd, 177th, and the 194th.
Based on recent history, it is conceivable one or two of those seats will be considered lost causes for the Republican City Committee.
For now and for sure, White will remain on the Democrats’ radar because of the closeness of her win over challenger Matt Darragh, 13,969 to 11,855. Possibly for the first time in the next cycle, State Rep. Pam DeLissio may not face a primary opponent, but will continue to face Republican opposition in the General Election.

State Senate Leaders Continue In Office

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) is currently serving his fourth term. He’ll continue in that role in the new session of that chamber. As president pro tempore of the Senate, he holds the third-highest constitutional office in the state. He was born and raised in Brockway, Pa. in Northwestern Pennsylvania.
Majority leader again will be State Sen. Jake Corman (R-Centre), who was elected to the Senate of Pennsylvania in 1998. Corman represents the 34th Senatorial Dist., which includes all of Centre, Mifflin, and Juniata Counties and part of Huntingdon County.
Appropriations Chairman will continue to be Patrick Browne (R-Lehigh). Before being elected Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman, Browne served as senate majority whip for the 2011-12 and 2013-14 legislative sessions.
Majority Whip is State Sen. John Gordner (R-Columbia), who was first elected to the State Senate in a special election in November 2003. He was re-elected in 2004, 2008 and 2012 to represent the 27th Senatorial Dist., which includes five counties in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Prior to his election to the Senate, Gordner served for 11 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 109th Legislative Dist.

FOR THE 10th year, 500 turkeys were given out to needy families by Council President Darrell Clarke in conjunction with 22nd and 26th Police Dists. and Walmart Stores, at Lutheran Settlement in Kensington and at Martin Luther King Older Adult Center, 22nd & Cecil B. Moore Avenue. With Clarke at both sites were State Rep. Donna Bullock, Councilman Bill Greenlee, Capt. Kpana Massaquoi, and Officers McDonald, Goode and Toland. Photo by Eldon Graham

Caucus Chair will be Bob Mensch (R-Montgomery), who represents the 24th Dist., including parts of Berks, Bucks and Montgomery Counties). Caucus Secretary is Richard Alloway (R-Franklin).
Senate Democratic Leader for the new session is State Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), who was elected in a special election in April 1996. He is now serving his fifth full term representing the City of Pittsburgh, East Hills communities, areas of the Mon Valley and South Hills in the 43rd Dist.
Costa was elected Senate Democratic leader in 2010. Previously, he served as Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations and Judiciary Committees and was Caucus chair.
Appropriations Chairman will be State Sen. Vince Hughes (D-W. Phila.), a leading progressive voice on local, state, and national issues. He was elected by his colleagues in 2010 to that post. He has been a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for over 20 years, first elected to represent the 7th Senatorial Dist. in 1994. Hughes served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1987 to 1994. He was the chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus from 1991 to 1994.
State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams (D-W. Phila.) will begin his third term as minority whip. In joining the Pennsylvania legislature – first as state representative for the 191st Dist. in 198, then as state senator for the 8th Dist. in 1998 – he resolved to make the needs of his constituents known, and has, with solid results.
Caucus Chair Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny) was first elected to the Pennsylvania Senate on May 17, 2005 in a special election. He was re-elected to represent the 42nd Senatorial Dist. in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
Caucus Secretary is State Sen. Larry Farnese (D-S. Phila.). Farnese who was first elected in 2008 and reelected in 2012 to represent the 1st Senatorial Dist., which spans from Port Richmond on the Delaware River to Fairmount Park on the Schuylkill River and includes South Philadelphia, Center City, Fairmount, the Navy Yard, Philadelphia’s International Airport and the sports complexes.
Farnese earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Villanova University and graduated from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law in 1994.
Caucus Administrator is State Sen. John Yudichak (D-Carbon) who represents the people of the 14th Senatorial Dist. in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He has been highly regarded as an effective and independent advocate for the people of Pennsylvania for more than a decade.
Policy Chair is State Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-Lehigh). She was first elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1994. Boscola served two terms in the state House and is serving her fifth term representing the 18th Senatorial Dist., consisting of Northampton and Lehigh Counties.

Wolf Needs to Hear Unions Howling

Unions began hollering foul when Gov. Tom Wolf opened privatization to some elements of the State’s control of liquor sales.
Now another union leader says Wolf doesn’t need to close Unemployment Compensation call centers, and lay off at least 450 workers.
But Wolf’s administration and some of its supporters claim it’s the fault of Senate Republicans for the now-planned furloughing of 450 state employees six days before Christmas. The Senate GOP has a different take on the matter, and they appear to have an unlikely ally, of sorts, in the situation – a labor-union leader.
Should the Governor continue to ignore such howls from union leadership in the remaining time of his tenure before seeking re-election, he may find opposition in the Democratic primary.
Almost as if on cue – with the governor’s announced plan to close UC call centers, the State Dept. of Labor & Industry announced Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate in October was up one-tenth of a percentage point from September to 5.8%. And while Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force was up 8,000, most of them were looking for work, i.e., unemployed (5,000), with resident employment up 3,000. Pennsylvania’s rate is now nine-tenths of a percentage point above the national rate (4.9%), which declined slightly in October compared to the prior month.

Brady Joins House Colleagues In Opposing Steve Bannon

Congressman Bob Brady (D-Phila.) and 168 Members of the House of Representatives have sent a letter to President-Elect Donald Trump demanding that the proposed appointment of Steve Bannon as White House chief strategist be rescinded.

N.E. REGIONAL Carpenters Union turned out to make Thanksgiving dinner memorable for several hundred at 2nd Macedonia Church in Logan. L-R, Councilwoman Cherelle Parker, Pastor Harold Jolley, Carpenters’ Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Ballantyne and State Rep. Stephen Kinsey. Photo by Wendell Young

The letter states, “Immediately following your victory, many Americans were optimistic and hopeful that you would take the steps necessary to unify our country following the divisive and contentious election. In your election night speech you said, ‘Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division. It is time for us to come together as one united people.’
“Unfortunately, your appointment of Stephen Bannon, whose ties to the White Nationalist movement have been well-documented, directly undermines your ability to unite the country. As elected representatives of millions of Americans from diverse backgrounds, religions, and ethnicities, we strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to appoint Mr. Bannon to White House Chief Strategist.”
Congressman Brady said that his constituents are justifiably outraged by this appointment. “While we adjust to a bruising hard fought election campaign it is time to pull together as a nation. But the naming of Steve Bannon, the former executive chairman of Breitbart News, by President-Elect Trump as top adviser sends a troubling message to those who understand that our democracy is more important than our ideological differences,” Brady said. “Mr. Trump needs to reassure the nation that his campaign divisiveness will be abandoned as we all move together to heal and celebrate the diversity of our America.”

SEPTA Union Ratifies Contract

The tentative deal that brought an end to a six-day work stoppage by SEPTA’s Transportation Workers Union Local 234 was ratified by the union’s membership on Friday evening with a vote of 1,982-760.
On Thursday of last week, news reports suggested there might not be enough votes to ratify the deal, although by early Friday it appeared as though there were enough votes, but it was not a certainty.
SEPTA’s board of directors had said it would approve the contract if ratified by the union.

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