COMMONWEALTH Matters COMMONWEALTH, Volume 18, Issue 2 (2016). © 2016 The Pennsylvania Political Science Association. ISSN 2469-7672 (online). http://dx.doi.org/10.15367/cjppp.v18i2.111. All rights reserved. COMMONWEALTH Matters J. WESLEY LECKRONE Editor-in-Chief The Pennsylvania Political Science Association and the Pennsylvania Policy Forum envisioned a journal that combined traditional schol- arly work on policy and academic commentary on current events when they partnered with Temple University Press to publish a revamped COMMONWEALTH. Our first issue featured academics and practitioners examining problems related to education policy in Pennsylvania. Volume 18:2 is the first general issue featuring a range of political and policy topics in the Commonwealth. Michele Moser Deegan and A. Lanethea Mathews- Schultz examine Medicaid expansion in Pennsylvania with a focus on regional inequalities in access to services. They draw on successful models from other states and provide potential solutions to problems in the Commonwealth. Paula Holoviak and Thomas Baldino explore the politics of policymaking by examining Governor Tom Wolf ’s first year in office. Their analysis compares Wolf to governors over the course of the last half century and offers some lessons to help future governors navigate the start of their administration. The next two articles address the implications of recent statewide elections in Pennsylvania. John Kennedy places the state’s 2016 presidential primary in historical context and shows how the relevance of Pennsylvania affected voter turnout across the Commonwealth. Jenna Becker Kane examines the Novem- ber 2015 state Supreme Court elections that transformed the composition of 2 J. Wesley leckrone Pennsylvania’s highest court. Her comparative analysis shows that spending in the Pennsylvania races was in line with recent elections in other states. Finally, Kathleen Rogers provides a research note exploring the role of women in the Pennsylvania legislature. In addition to statistics comparing female representa- tion in the Commonwealth to other states, she provides rich qualitative data from interviews with several women who have served in the General Assembly. Looking ahead to next year, Chris Borick of Muhlenberg College is serv- ing as the Special Editor of an issue examining environmental and energy issues in Pennsylvania that will be published in mid- January. General issues of COMMONWEALTH will follow in June and October. Temple University Press is providing issues 18:1 and 18:2 of COMMON- WEALTH to the public for free at https://tupjournals.temple.edu/index.php/ commonwealth/index. Beginning in 2017, a subscription will be necessary to view future issues of the journal. Current members of the Pennsylvania Politi- cal Science Association will receive access as part of their annual dues. Non- PPSA members can purchase a subscription for $30 per year and institutions for $90. Please encourage your library to subscribe to COMMONWEALTH by sharing the form at the back of the issue.