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...

Episode 3 of the PA Political Digest podcast on PA political corruption first focuses on former S. Philly state Sen. Vince Fumo, dubbed the "Vince of Darkness," who had a penchant for using OPM (Other People's Money) -- his mantra for how to acquire, steal or confiscate money from someplace else to pay for all his eccentricities and luxuries.

That's the main focus; our secondary focus is the trials and tribulations of so many Democratic congressmen from Phiily -- from ABSCAM to Chaka Fattah.

In Episode 2 of the PA Political Digest pod, we examine the scandal "cousins" Bonus-gate & Computer-gate, that roiled the Legislature and how 2 ex-House Speakers ended up as cellmates for a time.

Plus, it's the Ories vs. the Zappalas in a western PA grudge match; Porn-gate takes down 2 Supreme Court justices, and Philly's Traffic Court gets expunged.