Shapiro, who is trying to help down-ballot Democrats expand their presence in Harrisburg and win a majority in the state Senate, has often touted his ability to cooperate with Republicans in the capital to pass bipartisan bills. Republicans currently hold a narrow majority in the state Senate with 27 seats compared to 23 for Democrats, while Democrats hold a three-seat majority in the state House of Representatives.
“Our minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour for the last 16 years. And why is that? Because the Republicans in the Senate,” he said Friday. “They blocked it every single time.”
Morning Glory’s political specials made the diner an especially pointed backdrop for the visit. In addition to the sausage gravy and eggs, the diner’s rotating menu includes “diplomatic war criminal mediterranean scramble,” “Fauci pleads the 5th, 100 times eggs benedict,” the “open the straight, stop the killing lemon cakes,” and “ballroom barricade blueberry waffle.”
The diner opened in 1997 but started its politically themed menu in 2015. The first was the “Antonin Scalia is a Douche,” a frittata with andouille sausage, tomato, scallions and Monterey Jack cheese. The dish was created in response to the Supreme Court justice’s dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Scalia called the decision a “threat to American democracy.”
Since then, the rotating specials have taken aim at issues, with dish names weighing in on gun laws, book bans, abortion rights and the war in Gaza, while others have mocked Trump administration policies and praised local Democrats.
Shapiro also responded to the U.S. Department of Justice’s plan to send “1,000 federal election monitors to select locations around the country to observe the general election in November.” CNN reported that DOJ monitors deployed during the primaries earlier this year “helped challenge Trump’s 2020 election loss.”
Shapiro said he was “worried about Donald Trump and his enablers trying to undermine people’s right to vote,” but that the state would fight any possible efforts.
“We have great coordination with our Pennsylvania National Guard, with the Pennsylvania State Police, the local law enforcement, and we will do everything in our power to stop Donald Trump from interfering with this election and ensure that whether you vote by mail or you vote in person, you will have access to the ballot box and you’ll be protected,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis face Republican state treasurer Garrity, who recently campaigned in the city, and her running mate, Jason Richey, in November. The candidates have laid out competing approaches to taxes, housing, energy and other issues.