Some of Trump's 'fake' PA electors back for 2024

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Your Postmaster: Colin Deppen

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Today: 2024 electors, Dems at the DNC, fentanyl focus, 'missed warnings,' Sturla's shoes, boycott push, and GetGo's new Canadian owners.

'FAKE ELECTORS'

Five Pennsylvania Republicans who joined an alternate slate of electors for Donald Trump in 2020 are back, and three say they would be open to doing the same this year if they felt there was a similar legal dispute over the results, Spotlight PA and Votebeat report.

William “Bill” Bachenberg, Bernadette Comfort, Ash Khare, Patricia Poprik, and Andrew Reilly are on a list of electors submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of State by the GOP. Khare, Reilly, and Poprick did not rule out a similar move this year, while noting a legal hedge employed by the group last time. Comfort and Bachenberg did not respond.

Lindsey Miller, director of strategic research at Informing Democracy, a nonprofit made up of lawyers, election experts, and researchers that focuses on vote-counting and certification, said people who participated in a 2020 elector scheme shouldn't be allowed to do so again this year: “It is the voters who determine elections — not ‘fake electors’ who attempt to upend the results of a fair election. Those who participate in election fraud should be held accountable, not given another bite at the apple.”

Read the full report: Some of Trump's 'fake' Pennsylvania electors from 2020 are back again.

Related reading, via The Inquirer (paywall): Project 2025 agenda says former Pa. secretary of state should be ‘investigated and prosecuted’ for 2020 election guidance.

NOTABLE / QUOTABLE

“He’s trying to use me and he’s trying to use other Jews to divide Americans further."

—Gov. Josh Shapiro on former President Donald Trump saying — at Saturday's rally in Wilkes-Barre — that antisemitism played a role in Shapiro not becoming the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee

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📷 POST IT

Lehigh Gorge State Park, via Spotlight PA's Sarah Anne Hughes. Send us your photos by email, use #PAGems on Instagram, or tag us @spotlightpennsylvania.

Boaters are seen on a river through a canyon.

📅 UPCOMING EVENTS

PEOPLE POWER: Join us Thursday, Aug. 22, from 6-7 p.m. for a free panel on why local government struggles to attract and retain talent. Register here and submit questions to events@spotlightpa.org.

BERKS BUREAU: Join us on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. for a session on our plans for a Berks County reporting bureau. Register here.

DAILY RUNDOWN

DNC ROSTER: Gov. Shapiro is expected to feature prominently in the Democratic Party's national convention programming in Chicago this week on the heels of his runner-up veepstakes finish. One prominent Pennsylvania Democrat who won't be there? U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, who told The Free Press he's spending time with his kids instead.

ON THE BORDER: Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race remains focused on fentanyl, with both major party candidates looking to border control as way of stemming the tide. Democrat Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick have both called for cracking down on the cross-border supply. Canada shows that may not be a silver bullet.

WARNING SIGNS: A lawsuit says state and local officials missed warning signs in the case of a 12-year-old Chester County girl whose death in May led to murder charges against her father and his girlfriend. The suit names Chester and Monroe Counties, and two school districts, and says officials negligently missed red flags, including a previous child abuse conviction, the AP reports.

HAND-PICKED: Local and state Democratic Party leaders have tapped Manheim Township School Board President Nikki Rivera to run for state Rep. Mike Sturla's Lancaster County seat. Sturla dropped his reelection bid with weeks left before a ballot replacement deadline. Rivera will face Republican Eric Beezer, who was a registered Democrat as recently as December, the Capital-Star reports.

BOYCOTT BALLOT: A push to get an Israel-boycott ballot question in front of Pittsburgh voters has been dropped, WESA reports, but backers say they plan to resurrect it. A mayoral spokesperson resigned last week after publicly supporting the referendum, which would have prohibited city business with entities that have ties to Israel.

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IN OTHER NEWS

MISSING ARTIFACTS: Unspecified artifacts at the Gettysburg National Military Park have been missing since winter from a historical site near Brooke Avenue, also known as the Timbers farm, WGAL reports.

ON THE MOVE: Forty-three-year-old Georgetta Frederick of Somerset County reflects on her 2,197-mile, 14-state, 98-day journey along the Appalachian Trail. Next time, she plans more rest days.

TRAIL MIX: Want to eat like an Appalachian Trail hiker? The Inquirer (paywall) has a roundup of some high-calorie fan-favorites, including ramen, peanuts and cheesesteak, and a half-gallon of Hershey’s ice cream.

WAWA CENTRAL: Wawa's first central Pennsylvania store — the latest salvo in the ongoing gas station wars — is set to open next month in Middletown, WHTM reports. Meanwhile, GetGo is going Canadian, per TribLIVE.

LONG VIEW: Check out this photo of Pittsburgh taken 45 miles away in Chestnut Ridge, Fayette County. It's not quite "Chicago as seen from the Indiana Dunes," but it'll do.

SCRAMBLER

Unscramble and send your answer to scrambler@spotlightpa.org. We'll shout out winners here, and one each week will get some Spotlight PA swag. Answers submitted by 5:30 p.m. on issue date will be counted. Please include your first name and last initial.

I O Q L U B L E Y

Yesterday's answer: Saturnalia or Australian

Congrats to our daily winners: Barbara F., Jack R., Eric F., Elaine C., Stacy S., Jon W., Don H., Louie C., Craig E., Lissa C., Jeffrey F., Wendy A., Richard A., William Z., Dennis M., Timothy A., Shelley D., Susan N.-Z., Tom M., Annette I., MaryLou P., Zoe B., Beth H., Jeff F., David W., and Jill C.

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Plus, Fetterman skips the DNC.