How to win Pennsylvania | Morning Newsletter
💕 And free dating advice.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Good morning, Philly.
On this warm and sunny Tuesday, we’re taking a close look at Pennsylvanians’ voting habits, which reveal long-running trends that aren’t likely to buck soon. Here’s what they predict for November.
Plus, two local women are giving out free dating advice, including app profile reviews and text interpretation. Their single clients say they’re getting results.
Read on for these stories and many more.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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This fall, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will be fighting for a slim margin of victory among purple Pennsylvania’s 8 million voters.
The Inquirer’s politics team examined how voters in five groups — rural, suburban, white working-class urban, white college-educated urban, and non-white urban — changed from 2016 to 2020 to explain how each might shape the 2024 election.
Here are some takeaways from the first interactive story of a series that will lay out the trends and places to watch in the battleground state:
🟣 Three groups got bluer from one election to the next: suburban, white working-class urban, and white college-educated urban. Rural and non-white urban voters both got redder.
🟣 Why did the latter groups shift to the right? Among other reasons such as Black and Latino voters’ increasing ambivalence toward the Democratic party, these groups are both more likely to distrust the political system as a whole, political scientists say, which may warm them to a candidate who has made populist appeals like Trump.
🟣 The white working class is the voting bloc most in flux, including areas like Scranton, which native son President Joe Biden carried in 2020 but could swing red again in 2024. Harris and Trump have each selected vice presidential candidates they hope can appeal to these voters.
Politics reporter Julia Terruso and data reporter Aseem Shukla break it all down.
What you should know today
Trump will host a rally in Wilkes-Barre Saturday. The Republican candidate has also said the ABC presidential debate set for Sept. 10 will be at Independence Hall, but that’s yet to be confirmed by the network.
The epidemic of fentanyl overdoses has become a major issue in Pennsylvania’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, with both U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and challenger Dave McCormick accusing the other of playing a role in fueling the national opioid crisis.
A group of Philly teens affected by gun violence won $5,000 in a social media contest aimed at keeping weapons out of young people’s hands.
The Deptford Township School District is rescinding its “subscription busing” plan that would have drastically cut the number of students eligible for free bus service next school year.
Parents in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District are waging a campaign against their superintendent, who they say is threatening to undermine the highly ranked district.
High prices and interest rates don’t seem to be slowing the Philly region’s luxury housing market, which over the past year has seen a nearly 20% increase in sales above $1 million.
Phillies reporter Alex Coffey’s sister, defensive midfielder Sam Coffey, just helped the U.S. women’s national soccer team win a gold medal. Read Alex’s touching tribute to the team’s inspiring joy.
Kate Catinella and Sam Stanton know dating can be a drag — especially in the most single big city in America.
💕 The friends launched Free Dating Advice Philly in June. At their IRL pop-up stations, they’ll review your dating profile, referee a couples fight, or help you craft a text. And single Philadelphians are loving it.
💕 “I was fully expecting to get heckled a lot,” Stanton, 36, told The Inquirer. “But people have just been coming up to us to have really warm, honest conversations.”
💕 Need some advice? Find them at bars and parks across the city. Their next two stops are Rittenhouse Square and the Art Museum steps.
Reporter Beatrice Forman has the story, including the duo’s formula to find your perfect match.
🧠 Trivia time
Two content creators just spent three weeks touring Pennsylvania dairy creameries on behalf of the American Dairy Association North East. What job titles did their sponsor bestow upon them?
A) Dairy Queens
B) Treat-EOs
C) Cow Belles
D) Chief Ice Cream Officers
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🏀 Thrilled to see: That basketball legend Dawn Staley lived her “best life” at the Paris Games.
🚙 Moving: Our cars in East Mount Airy, West Oak Lane, and Fairmount Park during this month’s street repaving.
✏️ Scoring: Free supplies, drives, and backpacks at these local back-to-school giveaways.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
This beer brand is giving away super-limited-edition “Philly Philly” bottles in honor of Nick Foles’ retirement.
GLIB THUD
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Sarah Jordan, who solved Monday’s anagram: Friday Night Lights. The 1990 nonfiction book authored by Philly writer Buzz Bissinger that’s recently made its way into national political discourse.
Photo of the day
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