🇺🇸 It's Election Day!

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, high near 77.

🎧 Sounds like: "Against All Odds," by Phil Collins.

🗳️ Know what matters this election. Become a member and support the local reporting.

Today’s newsletter is 963 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Welcome to your Election Day cheat sheet.

Why it matters: Control of Pennsylvania's state government is on the line today, and Pittsburgh could play a part in that shift.

🏆 Top of the ticket: The gubernatorial election is the premier race on the ballot.

• Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is seeking a second term and is challenged by Republican Stacy Garrity and Libertarian Ken Krawchuk.
• Yes, but: Shapiro has held significant leads in both fundraising and polls throughout the campaign.

📌 State races: All 203 seats in the state House are on the ballot and half of the 50 state Senate seats (those in even-numbered districts).

• Dems currently hold a majority in the House while the GOP maintains control of the Senate.

🔁 Between the lines: Democrats see a potential opening to flip the Senate and win a trifecta in state government — control of the House, Senate and governor's mansion — for the first time in over 30 years.

📨 Early voting: While many will head to the polls today in person, more than 1 million mail-in and absentee ballots had already been cast as of yesterday, per the Department of State's website.

• Of those, Allegheny County contributed over 131,260 as of yesteday, the most of any county in the state.

🗳️ How to vote: Polls are open today between 7am-8pm. Find your polling place here.

• Mail-in ballots must be received by election boards no later than 8pm on Election Day, but it's too late to send via the Postal Service.
• Turn in your mail-in ballot at the County Office Building at 542 Forbes Ave. Downtown between 7am-8pm today.

👀 What we're watching: Whether voters will turn out across the state.

• The last midterm election with the governor on the ballot in 2022 drew 54% of eligible voters.

Worth noting: Voting complaints can be filed with Pennsylvania's Department of State election department online here or by calling 1-877-VOTES-PA (1-877-868-3772).

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Most swing districts are located in the eastern part of the state, but the Pittsburgh area has a few to follow.

• State Senate District 46 in Washington County has attracted a bevy of ad spending thanks to an intriguing independent challenge from Jodi Borello in Republican state Sen. Camera Bartolotta's conservative district.
• In the Moon area, the state House District 44 contest between Democrat Hadley Haas and Republican state Rep. Valerie Gaydos is the swingiest in the region.
• Races in state House District 12 in Cranberry and District 40 in the South Hills should also be on your radar.

🌉 In Allegheny County: Voters also face a ballot question of whether to give County Council members more flexibility to hire staff, open district offices and receive benefits.

🥱 Our Congressional races are expected to be sleepy.

• The 12th and 17th Congressional Districts are heavily favored for Democratic incumbent Reps. Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio.
• The Republican seats — the 14th and 16th Districts — are favored for incumbent Reps. Guy Reschenthaler and Mike Kelly.

🎼 Thomas Jefferson High School senior Layla Clark went viral across social media for her rocking rendition of "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC on xylophone. The Jefferson Hills performance from a halftime show last year was posted previously but is going viral now after several large social media accounts shared it over the weekend. (TribLive)

• Watch the full video here.

🥗 The Steelers and Giant Eagle are providing free lunches at city recreation centers on select days when Pittsburgh Public Schools are closed or they dismiss students early. (Steelers)

💰 Riverlife raised $31 million to improve Pittsburgh's riverfront parks and trails. Funds have already gone to establish the Shore Thing and complete the rehabs of the Allegheny Riverfront Park Upper Promenade and Allegheny Landing parks.

• The group is also planning to build bike/pedestrian ramps to connect trails to the West End Bridge. (Press release)

🧣 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) opened yesterday, and Peoples Natural Gas is encouraging customers to apply early. Eligible households can receive up to $1,000 to help pay their energy bills. Check eligibility and apply here. (Peoples Natural Gas)

Allegheny County's sewage rates are going way up over the next three years.

Why it matters: Residents are already dealing with high gas prices, persistent inflation and local property tax increases.

The latest: The Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) board voted late last month to increase rates in 2027, 2028 and 2029 to keep up with inflation and to finance the agency's federally mandated multibillion-dollar modernization project.

By the numbers: Sewage rates will increase by 14% in 2027.

• Then another 14% in 2028.
• And 13.5% in 2029.
• Those three figures compounded mean rates will be 47.5% higher in 2029 than this year.

Zoom in: The average customer will see a monthly increase of about $8.40 on their bills next year, per ALCOSAN.

Zoom out: ALCOSAN serves 83 municipalities in Allegheny County, including Pittsburgh, Mt. Lebanon and Monroeville.

Flashback: Over the last several years, rates have typically increased each year by about 7%.

• ALCOSAN officials said last month the agency is making cuts where they can and exploring federal and state grants that could help avoid future hikes, according to Public Source.

Context: To comply with the federal Clean Water Act and ensure 7 billion fewer gallons enter the watershed per year, the agency is modernizing its system with a $3.7 billion upgrade.

What's next

🗓️ Chrissy is OOO.

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Thanks to Chloe Gonzales for editing this newsletter.