PA Political Digest sits down with Betsy Fischer Martin as Women's History Month comes to a close

• The Commonwealth of PA has the dubious distinction of being one of the Big 4 states that's never elected a woman as Governor or as a U.S. Senator.

Here in PA did you know that while there are more Democratic women in the State House there are more Republican women in the State Senate. Overall the number of women in the state legislature has greatly increased during my time working in politics here.

What will you learn listening to our pod?

-What the other 3 states are in the Big 4 besides PA...

-You'll also learn why I wear the same "uniform" each week on This Week in PA, and what the 'time' deficit is that women have to deal with.

-Speaking of uniforms, will GOP gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity's extensive military background help her bridge the toughness gap in the gov race that women must often deal with?

-And how many women are there now in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and serving as Governors.

Background: PA Dems, in the modern era, have never nominated a woman as their gubernatorial candidate, while the PA GOP has never nominated a woman as their U.S. Senate standard-bearer.

This year the PA GOP has nominated State Treasurer Garrity as their candidate for Governor, the second time they have set on a female candidate for that office...way back in 1990 was the first time.

That sets up a contest between her and Josh Shapiro...what are the special challenges for each as they battle a candidate of the opposite gender?

As Women's History Month comes to a close today (3-31-26), it seemed like the perfect time to do a deep dive on this, and that's why I talked late last week with Betsy Fischer Martin, the head of American University's Women & Politics Institute. She was also the long-time Exec. Producer of Meet the Press with Tim Russert.

Thanks again to Betsy...and enjoy!

Confused about all the economic stats you hear about during campaign season?

What does GDP really mean? Does lessening inflation mean prices at the grocery store are going down, or just increasing more slowly? Are we entering an era where there's lots of money for algorithms and machines, but not as much for people? What's the vibecession and the K-Shaped economy?

PA Political Digest sat with Heather Long, Rhodes Scholar, former Wash Post/CNN economics correspondent and now Chief Economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, to find out. Our goal: demystify some of the economic jargon politicians throw at us during campaign season.

Join PA Political Digest publisher, GOP political consultant Christopher Nicholas, as he talks about PA's 4 hottest 2026 congressional races with Kyle Kondik, Managing Editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball.

The pod takes a deep dive into PA-1,7,8 and 10, all Republican re-election races (Congs. Fitzpatrick, Mackenzie, Bresnahan and Perry).

Sabato's Crystal Ball is one of the better-known non-partisan, campaign analysis/rating publications.

Pa-7 begins at 01:30 (the 1-minute 30-second mark) - how will the Dems' wide open primary affect the general election?

PA-8 begins at 08:35 - might the Dems have a brewing primary here...will Dem St. Sen. Marty Flynn of Scranton get into the congressional primary against Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti?

PA-10 begins at 19:00 - as of now both parties appear to have primaries here

PA-1 begins at 34:00 - will GOP Cong. Brian Fitzpatrick, the only Republican who voted against the OBBB, get his usual MAGA-style primary opponent in 2026?

This is Episode 2 of our 2026 Look Ahead series, which dropped 12/30/25...Episode 1, a 2026 Look Ahead that examines PA's gubernatorial and state legislative races, is also available and dropped 12/5/25. Thanks for listening.

Join GOP political consultant Christopher Nicholas, the publisher of PA Political Digest newsletter, as he offers a look-ahead to PA's 2026 races for governor and the state Legislature. He is joined by Democratic consultant Brittany Crampsie of Brit Crampsie Communications.

The PA Political Digest newsletter decided to do an Election '25 preview pod, with host Christopher Nicholas, a veteran GOP political consultant. His guest is one of his TV sparring partners. Democratic consultant Brittany Crampsie.

https://papoliticaldigest.substack.com for sharp analysis of PA politics and campaigns writ large.

Join them as they talk through the big races on the ballot in November 2025, especially the Retention races of 3 PA Supreme Court justices, which is garnering national attention. Enjoy.

Pa Political Digest bonus Episode 6 brings you behind the scenes of three top PA political corruption cases -- those involving Sen. Vince Fumo, Treasurer Rob McCord & Attorney General Ernie Preate -- from the U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted them.

Veteran political journalists John Baer and Brad Bumsted were given the day off, and GOP political consultant and producer/host Christopher Nicholas sat down with 3 former U.S. Attorneys with first-hand knowledge and experience prosecuting political corruption cases: Pat Meehan, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern DIstrict (Bush 43), Dave Freed, former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District (Trump-1), and David Barasch, another former U.S. Attorney for the Middle DIstrict (Clinton).

Here is an AI-assisted description of this episode:

In the 5th episode of the PA Political Digest's pod, A Stroll through the annals of Pa. Political Corruption, we re-visit the horrific Cash for Kids scandal that rocked Luzerne County, look at a Republican Attorney General who had to resign -- and run through some oddities concerning a witch in the PA House, prostitutes and a serial per diem abuser.

This was the toughest episode for the three of us to record...

Thanks to Feedspot.com for ranking us as the #4 political pod in Pa. And thanks to all of our listeners for their support throughout our 6-episode jaunt through Pa political corruption. Enjoy...

Pa. Treasurer Budd Dwyer killed himself during a press conference the day before he was to be sentenced on his bribery conviction. That way his wife - his widow - could still get his $1 million+ state pension.

Plus in Episode 4 of the PA Political Digest podcast we examine three other state "Row Officers" who got in trouble for what they did in office and out: Treasurers Rob McCord, who went from Harvard to teaching yoga, and Barbara "The Hafe" Hafer who lied to the Feds...plus Auditor General Al Benedict.

Lost in all the controversy about Dwyer's guilt was the fact that he was quite an acommplished politician. Hailing from tiny Crawford County in the "great NW" part of the state, voters elected him to state-wide office when he was just 41. And he had already served 3 terms in the state House and was in his third term in the state Senate...

Hosted by GOP political consultant Christopher Nicholas, author of PA Political DIgest newsletter, along with 2 grizzled members of the PA press corps, John Baer and Brad Bumsted.