On Sept. 9, 2026, members of the Pennsylvania House met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia’s Old City to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the adoption of the Pennsylvania constitution. Before the historic session, House Speaker Joanna McClinton spoke with NBC10’s Lauren Mayk about the upcoming Pennsylvania election, the future of data centers, transit funding and skill games in the latest episode of Battleground Politics. Here’s a full breakdown of the episode: :00 – Intro :51 – A historic session in Philly 2:36 – Childhood dreams and career goals 3:18 – Making history as the first Black female Pa. house speaker 5:21 – The current state of the country 7:00 – Voters who are concerned over Pa. being pushed more to the left 10:07 – AI and data centers 12:12 – Tax breaks and data center developers 13:36 – Unions, data centers and communities 15:00 – Transit funding 16:15 – Skill games 18:40 – Functionality and division in Harrisburg 20:12 – McClinton’s approach as Pa. House Speaker 21:10 – Future plans Subscribe to Battleground Politics anywhere you get your podcasts: Spotify | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | RSS | Watch on YouTube Battleground Politics Battleground Politics May 14 Pennsylvania Secretary Al Schmidt talks primary election, Trump election efforts Battleground Politics Jun 19 How a meeting among Philly Democrats impacts the future of the party ...read more read less