Morning Digest: Democrats have a wide spending edge in the battle for Pennsylvania's Supreme Court

But the richest man in the state could tip the balance with a single check

Demonstrators at the Pennsylvania state capitol demand lawmakers raise taxes the wealthy, including the state’s richest man, Jeff Yass, who is helping to finance an effort to oust three Democratic justices on the Supreme Court (credit: Free The Ballot Incarcerated Voter Family Network Facebook)

Leading Off

PA Supreme Court

Democratic groups are far outspending their Republican counterparts on the airwaves ahead of Pennsylvania’s November elections for the state Supreme Court, in which a trio of Democratic justices are urging voters to keep them in office. The GOP, though, has the Keystone State’s wealthiest man on its side as it tries to deprive the Democrats of their majority.

Morning Digest: GOP launches campaign to end Democratic control of Pennsylvania's top court

Billionaire Jeff Yass, who is a major investor in Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, is also one of the most prominent conservative megadonors in the nation.

One of the beneficiaries of Yass’ largesse is Commonwealth Partners, which is calling for Pennsylvanians to vote “no” on retaining Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht. Its messaging blasts the three as “progressive” judges with a “woke ideology.”

The group’s affiliated PAC, meanwhile, has sent out mailers falsely insinuating that the gerrymandered congressional map the court invalidated in 2018—which had been drawn by Republican lawmakers—was actually imposed by the court.

For now, though, Democrats are the ones who enjoy a major spending advantage. The Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Democratic groups have spent or reserved $3.1 million on advertising, compared to $1.1 million for their opponents.

The three justices also had a combined $2.3 million on hand to defend themselves on Sept. 15, which was the end of the most recent fundraising period. Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht don’t have any opponents on the ballot, though. Voters will instead be presented with three “yes” or “no” questions asking whether or not they want to retain each justice.

Democrats, however, have reason to be wary that Yass and his network will take action to reduce, or even erase, their financial edge during the final five weeks of the campaign.

Yass has long taken an active involvement in Pennsylvania Supreme Court races. Groups he’s backed deployed around $2 million on the successful 2021 effort to elect Republican Kevin Brobson, and they spent more than twice that in 2023 in the failed attempt to beat Democrat Daniel McCaffery.

Progressives are hoping to turn Yass’ involvement into a liability, no matter how much he ends up pouring into this latest campaign.

“Vote ‘Yes’—not Yass,” protestors chanted Thursday at an event held outside of the headquarters of the private equity firm he founded. It wasn’t the first time Yass has been the target of demonstrators: Earlier this year, activists held an event at the Pennsylvania state capitol urging lawmakers to raise taxes on billionaires, a call they summed up with the chant “Tax that Yass.”

---

The battle to save our republic is an exceptionally difficult one, with the highest of stakes and constant setbacks. But we keep on fighting—for our democracy, for our freedoms, for our country. We can never be sure if we’ll win, but if we don’t fight, we’re guaranteed to lose. The Downballot is in it for the long haul. Please support our mission if you can by upgrading to a paid subscription today.

---

How to poll diverse communities

Redistricting Roundup

MO Redistricting

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a new congressional gerrymander that seeks to oust Democratic Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver into law on Sunday, but the plan faces many legal and political challenges.

Opponents, however, were dealt a setback by state Attorney General Catherine Hanaway not long before Kehoe approved the map.

In a letter sent on Thursday, Hanaway advised Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to reject petitions from activists seeking to hold a veto referendum on the plan, saying they should have waited to file their petition until after Kehoe had acted. (All three officials are Republicans.)

Hoskins swiftly took Hanaway’s advice, but organizers told the Missouri Independent they plan to challenge the rejection of their petitions in the courts.

The map, which Kehoe himself proposed and which the state’s GOP-dominated legislature eagerly adopted, flips Cleaver’s 5th District in the Kansas City area from safely blue to solidly red. Under the old lines, the district voted for Kamala Harris by a 61-38 margin last year, but the new version would have backed Donald Trump by a 58-40 spread.

Whether the new boundaries ever get used, though, is another matter. In addition to the planned veto referendum, at least four lawsuits have been filed challenging the map on a variety of grounds.

Senate

AL-Sen

Former professional football player A.J. McCarron is “preparing to” enter Alabama’s Republican primary for either the Senate or lieutenant governor, the conservative site Yellowhammer News says. McCarron, who had a successful stint as quarterback for the University of Alabama in the early 2010s before playing for multiple NFL teams, has not publicly said anything about his plans.

Governors

MN-Gov

Far-right conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell told the Minnesota Star Tribune he’s “about 99% there” as he deliberates whether to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Lindell, though, acknowledged there’s a lot of uncertainty contained in that final 1%.

“Can I still be the face of MyPillow on the commercials? We don’t know,” he said. “If you see this guy every day in a commercial … is that unfair advertising? I don’t know that.”

Lindell, who also said he’s reestablished residency in Minnesota after living in Texas, has spent the better part of a decade talking about campaigning to lead his native state, but he’s always backed down. One of these episodes came in 2021, when Lindell said he was “90 to 95%” likely to take on Walz. Just months later, though, he begged off.

WI-Gov

Democrat Missy Hughes announced Monday morning that she would enter the busy race to succeed retiring Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, whose Cabinet she served in for many years.

“I spent 17 years as a dairy industry executive—growing Organic Valley to $1 billion in sales and keeping Wisconsin family farmers on their land,” Hughes says in her launch video.

“Then Gov. Evers appointed me to lead our state’s economic development agency,” she continues, “where I worked with major companies to create thousands of jobs here, and helped over 9,500 Wisconsinites start small businesses on Main Streets in every single county.”

Hughes led the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation from 2019 until she departed earlier this month to prepare her campaign for governor.

Hughes, who is seeking office for the first time, joins a busy field of Democrats seeking to lead this perennial swing state. Next August’s primary includes Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Rep. Francesca Hong, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, and state Sen. Kelda Roys.

WI-Gov

Shot: “Trans porn star rips GOP governor candidate Bill Berrien for ‘hypocrisy’ over X-rated web links.”

Chaser: “Republican Bill Berrien quits governor’s race, blames fallout over sexually explicit social media links.”

The GOP primary for Wisconsin’s open governorship now features just two notable candidates: Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, who began running in May, and Rep. Tom Tiffany, who entered the race on Tuesday.

House

AZ-06

Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego endorsed Marine veteran JoAnna Mendoza on Friday, a move that came just a few weeks after Arizona’s other senator, Mark Kelly, backed her. Mendoza is currently the only notable Democrat challenging Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani in the swingy 6th District around Tucson, and she’s hoping to deter anyone else from running.

HI-01

State Rep. Della Au Belatti announced Thursday that she would oppose Rep. Ed Case in next August’s Democratic primary for Hawaii’s safely blue 1st District.

Belatti entered the race about two months after state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole launched his own intraparty campaign against Case, who is one of the party’s more conservative members of Congress. Candidates only need to win a plurality to secure the nomination, so the presence of both Belatti and Keohokalole could divide the anti-incumbent vote.

Morning Digest: Conservative Hawaii Democrat earns high-profile primary challenge

But Belatti, who served as majority leader from 2018 to 2022, argued that Case was the wrong person to combat Donald Trump.

“Trump’s dangerous policies are threatening our children’s futures, and politicians in Washington like Ed Case are letting him get away with it,” she said in her announcement video.

MO-01

Former Rep. Cori Bush has decided to run to reclaim her old House seat and could announce as early as this week, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Bush would face a rematch in the Democratic primary against Rep. Wesley Bell, who ousted her last year 51-46 in the race for Missouri’s 1st District around St. Louis. The winner of next August’s primary will have no trouble in the general election for this safely blue constituency, which the GOP’s new gerrymander left untouched.

NH-01

Developer Anthony DiLorenzo plans to enter the Republican primary for New Hampshire’s 1st District, the conservative New Hampshire Journal reports.

DiLorenzo, a major GOP donor, previously expressed interest in running earlier this month. Chatter about his plans intensified Thursday when businessman Chris Bright announced he was ending his own campaign because he’d learned that a new candidate with a “significantly more robust network” would run. While Cole didn’t name that person, the NH Journal says he was talking about DiLorenzo.

WI-03

Former Eau Claire City Councilwoman Laura Benjamin said Friday that she was ending her campaign for the Democratic nomination to take on Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden. Businesswoman Rebecca Cooke, who narrowly lost to Van Orden last year, is the frontrunner in next August’s primary against Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge.

Mayors & County Leaders

New York, NY Mayor

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, long beset by terrible poll numbers, finally ended his reelection campaign on Sunday, though his name will remain on the Nov. 4 ballot. Adams refused to endorse anyone as he left the race.

The general election is now a three-way contest between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, Democrat-turned-independent Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Sliwa, who claimed last week that unnamed wealthy people had tried to “bribe” him to drop out, has adamantly refused to go anywhere. Mamdani has enjoyed comfortable leads in all polling to date.

Editor’s note: This piece has been updated to reflect that Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has rejected petitions seeking to hold a veto referendum on the state’s new congressional map.