Twenty-nine state House districts had primaries Tuesday, including 13 challenges to sitting lawmakers and nine races with no incumbent. On the Senate side, eight of the eleven races on Tuesday’s ballot are primary challenges to incumbent legislators. penncapital-star.com/election-202...

State police said there is no indication that the explosive detonated Tuesday morning outside a Lehigh County church was related to the polling location inside. penncapital-star.com/election-202...

Rabb is almost assured to win the district, which includes West Philadelphia, most of Center City and North Philadelphia, in November. No Republican filed for Tuesday’s primary in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans. via @wdownard.bsky.social penncapital-star.com/election-202...

Stelson's victory sets up a re-match against incumbent Republican Rep. Scott Perry in November, who she lost to narrowly in 2024. The 10th District includes all of Dauphin County and parts of Cumberland and York Counties. penncapital-star.com/election-202...

Firefighters union president Bob Brooks won the four-way Democratic primary to take on GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the Lehigh Valley's 7th District. penncapital-star.com/campaigns-el...

DCCC backed Bucks Commissioner wins nomination to challenge five-term GOP U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. penncapital-star.com/campaigns-el...

The lawsuit — filed in federal court in Maryland — challenges part of the incoming federal student loan system overhaul that sets stricter loan caps for students in degree programs that do not fall under the department’s “professional” classification, such as nursing, teaching and social work.

On primary day, about 1.5 million Pennsylvania voters are shut out of the polls. Advocates of ending Pa.'s closed primary system contend it's unconstitutional. via @iankarbal.bsky.social penncapital-star.com/election-202...

From local streets in small towns to major urban corridors, transportation agencies are grappling with deferred maintenance, rising construction costs and limited revenue streams. penncapital-star.com/2026/05/19/r...

I'm excited about all the great news orgs in six states who have teamed up with us to bring you the best election coverage today, including @lpm.org, @bluegrasspolitics.bsky.social, @oregoncapitalchronicle.com, @spotlightpa.org, @penncapital-star.com, @ajc.com, and @votebeat.org! Follow along here:

In the wake of the episode, some lawmakers said they learned of the threats only when they received routine notification that a suspect had been arrested and was scheduled to appear in court. penncapital-star.com/criminal-jus...

If the goal is protecting children, Halcomb said, states should look beyond churches and impose reporting duties on “anyone with unsupervised authority over minors,” including club sports coaches, private tutors and camp volunteers. penncapital-star.com/2026/05/18/r...

Some counties have already experienced issues with mail ballots, potentially affecting voters’ ability to easily cast them. Others are looking to Tuesday’s election as a chance to learn how they can make operations run more smoothly. penncapital-star.com/election-202...

State Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh said that 6,000 employees across county assistance offices would need additional education, not including the estimated 250 new hires needed to handle the additional work. penncapital-star.com/health-care/...

In Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, a Democratic primary race is highlighting two factions of the party, as the candidates vie for a chance to take on long-time Republican incumbent Rep. Scott Perry. From @iankarbal.bsky.social

The latest example of burgeoning opposition to rapid data-center development in Pennsylvania came at a town hall meeting overflowing with frustration about how the state is managing the surge. From @insideclimatenews.org

Two of these are slated to open in Pennsylvania -- one in Berks County and one in Schuylkill County. Both are GOP Rep. Dan Meuser's district. If this issue is of interest, you may want to follow @penncapital-star.com sooner rather than later.

The Week in Focus is a video recap of our top stories: 1. A Lebanon man is charged with making threats to shoot state lawmakers. 2. How does the Strait of Hormuz affect gas prices in Pa.? 3. A Pa. Supreme Court justice says he’s left the Democratic Party, citing concerns over antisemitism.

A total of nine states — Alabama, California, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Utah — have redrawn their maps since last year. At least three other states appear likely to follow suit. From @stateline.org

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday to preserve telehealth access to the abortion drug mifepristone until after the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on the merits of the high-stakes federal lawsuit Louisiana v. Food and Drug Administration. From @stateline.org

Democrats and advocacy groups urged a quick rejection of President Donald Trump’s latest executive order on compiling citizenship lists and creating traceable mail-in ballots in a federal court hearing Thursday. From @statesnewsroom.com

Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, at the heart of the 7th Congressional District, has proven itself in elections to be one of the swingiest regions in the nation. Democrats are locked in a heated four-way primary race to challenge GOP U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie this fall. From @petehallpa.bsky.social

U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans’ decision not to run for reelection last summer has sparked a fierce battle in the heart of Philadelphia, where the primary winner is almost assured to win the seat in November’s General Election. From @wdownard.bsky.social

The fiscal leaders of several states are demanding transparency and consumer fairness as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to refund billions in international tariffs following a recent Supreme Court loss. From @stateline.org

Large, immigrant-rich cities saw population fall back between mid-2024 and mid-2025 after nation-leading increases the year before. From @stateline.org

Lawmakers and advocates alike said the topic of menopause used to be taboo, but there has been a generational shift in recent years that has led to more legislation around the country, providing more access to treatments and preventive care. From @stateline.org

Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island are the only states that have lost housing units per capita since 2020, according to a Stateline analysis of housing data. Most other states have built more than enough housing to account for population growth. From @stateline.org

Health officials from cities -- including Philadelphia -- hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup say they are preparing to deal with infectious diseases, heat-related illness, and an array of other health threats when millions of fans, many of them from overseas, come to the games. From @stateline.org

State House Speaker Joanna McClinton is among 20 Democratic Pennsylvania lawmakers named in social media posts made by a Lebanon County man threatening to shoot them. Adam George Berryhill, 42, of Lebanon, is now charged with making terroristic threats. From @petehallpa.bsky.social

Desperate to get a handle on rising property insurance costs driven by natural disasters, some state lawmakers are opening up a new line of attack in the effort to force oil companies to bear the cost of climate change effects. From @stateline.org

Ballot counting on whether Penn State faculty will unionize and become part of the Service Employees International Union 668 is underway and slated to be finished Friday. From @radio.wpsu.org.web.brid.gy

Long-time federal immigration official David Venturella will lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency spearheading President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson. From @statesnewsroom.com

When a person is arrested by ICE, the lack of a centralized immigration detention system makes it hard to figure out where they are. Pa. is no exception to this patchwork system. Four county jails have contracts with the federal government to detain immigrants for ICE. From @theconversation.com

A growing number of incarcerated people across the country now have access to free phone calls and other communication services, a shift some advocates say is strengthening family connections, improving prison conditions and easing reentry after release. From @stateline.org

An increasing number of conservative states are mandating that state and local social service providers verify and report the immigration status of the people they serve — in some cases threatening stiff penalties for public employees who fail to comply. From @stateline.org

The hearings began just as the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest inflation figures that showed skyrocketing fuel costs drove overall inflation to the highest level since 2023. From @statesnewsroom.com

Southern Republican states have rushed forward new maps over the past two weeks that take advantage of the landmark opinion, adding to a handful of others that already drew new lines in recent months at President Trump’s behest before the midterms elections this November. From @statesnewsroom.com

The Trump administration has agreed to delay its plan to convert a New Jersey warehouse into an immigration detention center, a partial win for state and local officials. ICE wants to convert two warehouses in Pa. into detebtion centers. From @newjerseymonitor.com

Counties were slated to test the function in the May 19 primary, but the Pennsylvania Department of State said last week that unresolved technical questions and low interest from counties led them to delay the pilot until at least next year. From @votebeat.org

His criticisms focused on PJM’s troubled interconnection queue, the process new energy projects must navigate in order to connect to the grid, and PJM’s auction process, which has been thrown out of whack by immense demand projected to come from data centers. From @marylandmatters.org.web.brid.gy

As of Tuesday morning in Pennsylvania, the average cost of a gallon or regular gas was $4.66, up $.09 from a week ago and $.51 from a month ago. The price of a gallon of diesel in the state sat at $5.96, down $.02 from a week ago and $.13 from a month ago.

Most oil passing through the strait goes to Asian markets and due to greater domestic production, the U.S. is importing less crude oil from the Persian Gulf than it has in 40 years. So why are U.S. consumers paying so much more for gasoline? Globalization. From @statesnewsroom.com

Pennsylvania state Supreme Court Justice David Wecht, who was reelected to a second 10-year term as a Democrat last fall, says he has left the party, in which he says “hateful anti-Jewish invective and actions are minimized, ignored, and even coddled.” From @wesa.fm

The new detention policy, implemented in a July 2025 memo, threatens millions of immigrants with imprisonment without bond if they crossed a border illegally to get into the United States, no matter how long ago or whether they’ve applied for asylum. From @stateline.org

Pa. state Sen. Doug Mastriano was a vocal supporter of Trump’s debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen. He was the Republican candidate for governor in 2022, but lost to Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro by nearly 15 points. From @iankarbal.bsky.social

In the weeks ahead, the federal audit of Medicaid programs will enter its next steps to root out fraud following investigations in other states. But Pa. leaders say the commonwealth is already proactive when it comes to protecting programs from abuse. From @wdownard.bsky.social

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday extended a highly anticipated stay blocking an appellate court’s pause on telehealth abortion access until May 14. From @stateline.org

This year, legislators in at least five states, including Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia, have considered legislation that would reshape how pregnant people are treated in jails and prisons. From @stateline.org

In a rare unanimous decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the public should have access to super-granular election results data, making it easier for researchers to analyze electoral patterns and for those concerned about voter fraud to inspect the results. From @votebeat.org

The tense political moment has underscored the role of states as Democratic leaders across the country file scores of lawsuits and introduce state legislation in attempts to check the president’s actions. From @stateline.org