Stories credited to The Black Chronicle, by publication date. ChamberLight collects articles that mention the officials it tracks, so this shows its own coverage of this source, not how much the source publishes.

Stories from The Black Chronicle
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Month	Stories	All outlets
March 2026	1	521
April 2026	1	4,537
May 2026	0	none collected
June 2026	0	none collected
July 2026	0	none collected
August 2026	0	1 (collection gap)
September 2026	0	598

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Party of the officials these stories are mainly about, across all 2 officials named. A story counts once for each official it is mainly about, so the split is over 2 story–official pairs, from 2 stories.

Republican50% · 1 pair
UNAFFILIATED50% · 1 pair

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Good Look: 0 (0%)
Mixed: 2 (100%)
Informational: 0 (0%)
Bad Look: 0 (0%)

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Articles served from blackchronicle.com

Optimism abounds for Garrity’s second historic upset, this time against Shapiro

(The Center Square) – Unseating an incumbent governor is historically considered an uphill battle for any candidate, even when the party clears the primary field for a single nominee. It’s much harder still when that governor happens to be Josh Shapiro, a popular Democrat once under consideration as Kamala Harris’s running mate and long-rumored to run for president in 2028. Treasurer Stacy Garrity, however, hopes to do just that. “Josh Shapiro has failed us,” Garrity said during the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference at the Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill on Friday. “But somehow he believes he deserves a promotion.” “He is more focused on his personal political ambition than fixing the problems that Pennsylvanians are facing today,” she added. Garrity also recalled a story that former President Ronald Reagan would deliver on the campaign trail about how voters’ eyes were “opening,” and likened it to the momentum she believes that she’s gaining. Polling and national ratings outlets, however, paint a challenging road ahead. Susquehanna Polling and Research conducted a survey March 9-17 that showed Shapiro leading Garrity by 22 points. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted Feb. 19-23 had Shapiro leading Garrity by 18 points. On March 11, the Cook Political Report, a national ratings outlet, shifted the 2026 governor’s race further in favor of Shapiro, changing the rating from “likely Democratic” to “solid Democratic.” “Shapiro has an approval rating consistently around 60%, a gargantuan cash-on-hand advantage and a decisive polling lead over GOP state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, making it almost impossible to see him coming up short in his quest for a second term,” the Cook Political Report writes as a summary of the race. Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Greg Rothman dismissed the reliability of polls in an interview with The Center Square. “Eighteen months ago, an actual poll was taken at the election and every Republican won,” Rothman said. “Trump won by one and a half points. Now, you’re telling me that 18 months later, our candidate is down 30 points?” “That’s ridiculous. Those aren’t polls,” he continued. “Those are trying to dampen the spirit of Republicans. That’s what those polls are being used for. And they’re not real polls…I’ve been at this for a long time, and ultimately the election’s decided on Election Day.” In addition to Trump and Garrity’s victories in 2024, Republicans Tim DeFoor, Dave McCormick, and Dave Sunday won their respective races for statewide office in Pennsylvania. Excluding judicial elections, the last Democrat to win a statewide race in Pennsylvania was Shapiro in 2022. Rothman also told The Center Square that Pennsylvania has a history of upsets, specifically citing the victories of Harris Wofford defeating Dick Thornburgh in 1991 for U.S. Senate, Rick Santorum unseating Wofford in 1994, plus the recent example of Dave McCormick’s victory over three-term U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. It wouldn’t be the first time Garrity unseated an incumbent Democrat. Her rise to statewide office in 2020 came after she defeated Treasurer Joe Torsella by roughly 53,000 votes – the first Republican to do so in nearly three decades. During Garrity’s successful bid for reelection in 2024, she broke a Pennsylvania record for most votes received in a statewide election, which was previously held by Shapiro in his 2022 gubernatorial victory. And this time, Garrity has the support of President Donald Trump, who appeared with her at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser in Palm Beach, Fla., on March 30. Calling herself a “strong ally,” Garrity touted that hers was among the first campaigns the president endorsed this year. While Trump won Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes in 2024 over Vice President Kamala Harris, recent polling shows that a majority in the state disapprove of his job performance. Democrats, including Shapiro, say this association hurts Garrity more than it helps. “As Governor, Josh Shapiro has brought people together to get stuff done for all Pennsylvanians and protect our freedoms and our democracy,” Shapiro’s campaign wrote in a press release, promoting upcoming events. “Whether it’s investing in our schools and small businesses, supporting Pennsylvania law enforcement and farmers, expanding economic opportunity, or standing up to Donald Trump’s chaos, cruelty, and corruption – Governor Shapiro is fighting for Pennsylvania families and continuing to move our Commonwealth forward.” Rothman disagrees. He sees Trump as an asset for Garrity this November, saying that it’s all “about turnout” and that the president brings people to the polls. “We need him here. We need him to come here,” Rothman told The Center Square. “We need him to be talking more about Stacy and Jason.” “We know he’s busy trying to save the free world and put men back in space, but yes, I think he will help her,” he added. Rothman said he “100%” expects Trump to campaign for the ticket this year and cited U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson traveling to Pennsylvania this week to boost Republican incumbents in battleground congressional districts. “They know how important Pennsylvania is,” Rothman said. “The most important state in the country, again.” On Saturday, Shapiro hit the campaign trail in north-central Pennsylvania, a region that has historically supported Republican candidates. The post Optimism abounds for Garrity’s second historic upset, this time against Shapiro appeared first on The Black Chronicle.

Apr 13, 202613 votes

Border wall contracts granted to company with history of scandals

(The Center Square) – One company that has received roughly $2 billion in border wall construction contracts from the Department of Homeland Security has a history of scandals and fines and is currently suing DHS over a 2022-era border wall contract. Roughly $3 billion in recent contracts have been awarded to two companies to build a border wall and barriers in the Big Bend region of west Texas. DHS says it plans to use eminent domain to take Texans’ land if they don’t voluntarily cooperate, The Center Square reported. Thousands of Texans have called on Congress to halt the construction in west Texas, including all Texas border sheriffs, judges, ranchers, small business owners and Republican voters who support border security. One of the companies contracted to build a border wall in Presidio County is Fisher Sand & Gravel, part of North Dakota-based Fisher Industries. It was granted a $1.2 billion contract to build a “vertical border barrier system” in the county, including in Big Bend Ranch State Park. Last year, FSG was awarded $574 million to construct a smart wall in California and roughly $300 million to build a border wall section in Arizona, The Center Square reported. Fisher Industries has a decades-long history of scandals, including criminal convictions of its former owners and top staff. In 2005, its former president and COO, David William Fisher, was sentenced to five years in prison for possession of child pornography. Law enforcement found two videos and 23 files on his computer, including images of a 10-year-old girl he claims he hired to perform office work. He admitted to the allegations at his hearing, Builder Developer News reported. By 2009, FSG’s former co-owner, Michael Fisher, was sentenced to three years in prison for tax fraud. His former chief financial officer and comptroller also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. FSG was ordered to pay $1.16 million in restitution, penalties and fines and required to implement measures to prevent future fraud. In 2009, a sexual harassment lawsuit was also filed against a Fisher supervisor, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Ten years later, FSG says it was contacted by We Build the Wall to construct a border fence in Sunland Park, New Mexico, and in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The Sunland Park Border Wall, built on private property, was “one of its more notable jobs in company history,” it says. The projects were constructed under FSG’s current president, Tommy Fisher, the brother of the previous owners and convicted felons who are no longer employed by FSG. Tommy Fisher has donated to Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND. We Build the Wall was launched by U.S. Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage, board members Andrew Badalato, Timothy Shea and former Trump White House chief strategist and now social media personality Steve Bannon. All four were indicted for defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors who gave $25 million to build a border fence. Kolfage and Badolato pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud; Kolfage also pleaded guilty to tax and wire fraud. Shea was convicted of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and obstruction of justice. In addition to their prison sentences, they were ordered to forfeit millions of dollars and pay millions of dollars in restitution in cases that were prosecuted in New York. Bannon pleaded guilty to one count in a scheme to defraud but served no prison time as part of a plea deal. Trump later pardoned him. FSG wasn’t implicated in the charges but it was sued in 2019 by the International Boundary and Water Commission. The commission alleged a fence it planned to build along the Rio Grande River in Hidalgo County, Texas, violated an international treaty, which it denied. A federal judge allowed construction to continue, enabling three miles of the fence to be built, which was completed in early 2020. At the time, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Ryan Patrick, a Republican, sued to stop construction, citing environmental and other concerns. A settlement agreement was eventually reached in 2022 requiring FSG to perform inspections and oversight related to flooding for a period of 15 years, among other requirements. Also in 2019, the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General launched an investigation into a $400 million contract FSG received after it was alleged that Cramer improperly influenced the process. Two years later, FSG and Cramer were cleared of any wrongdoing. Fast forward to February 2026 and FSG sued DHS alleging breach of contract. It argues it is owed $6.3 million for completed border wall construction near El Paso, Texas, related to a 2022 $94 million contract. Fisher Industries operates in multiple states. A Good Jobs First Violation Tracker cites 24 violations from 2008 to 2020 related to environmental, water or air pollution and workplace safety regulations. Fines were levied by state agencies in Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming, as well as federal agencies, OSHA, EPA and EEOC. From 2008 to 2018, FSG received 169 citations in Maricopa County, Arizona, the High Plains Reader reported. Fisher Industries has been named one of the “50 Best Places to Work” by Prairie Business Magazine for 12 consecutive years. It has also won multiple awards, including most recently by the California Transportation Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey. USGS ranks it 17 of the top 100 sand and gravel companies in the U.S. The post Border wall contracts granted to company with history of scandals appeared first on The Black Chronicle.

Mar 23, 20269 votes

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