Shapiro

Shapiro

Governor-elect shares hopes for future with Times Leader

Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

Pennsylvania Governor-elect Josh Shapiro said he is “unbelievably humbled” to see the support he received from Republicans, Democrats, Independents, especially in places like Luzerne County and other areas where Democrats haven’t won.

“Those voters demonstrated a lot of faith and confidence in me and I recognize this was just the beginning,” Shapiro told the Times Leader. “Now we have to come together and get things done.”

Shapiro said he believes he has been given a mandate and a responsibility to work to bring people together.

“I’ve talked with folks from rural, urban and suburban areas across this Commonwealth and they basically all want the same thing,” Shapiro said. “They want a real opportunity for good schools, safe communities, and an economy that just gives everybody a shot.

“No matter how different our Commonwealth looks, no matter how different the terrain is, those are the basic values that every single Pennsylvanian has a right to, and that I’m going to fight to deliver for.”

Shapiro’s staff said in the 2022 governor’s race, Shapiro set a new record — winning the most votes in a Pennsylvania midterm election in state history.

Every time he has run statewide in Pennsylvania — in 2016, 2020, and 2022 — Shapiro has won the most votes of anyone on the ballot.

And this year, that win was powered by what the Shapiro team called “remarkable performances” in swing counties and parts of the state that have most recently voted for Republicans.

Shapiro won Beaver, Berks, Cumberland, and Luzerne counties — significantly outperforming Joe Biden’s margins in 2020 and flipping those counties blue.

While some votes are still being counted, Shapiro has accomplished what no other candidate for governor has done before, receiving more than 2.9 million votes.

The Shapiro team said from the very beginning of his campaign, Shapiro vowed to go everywhere. That meant campaigning heavily where other Democrats don’t often win and investing in communities across the state.

Shapiro outperformed the top of the Democratic ticket’s margins by as much as 20% in counties across the state.

Throughout this campaign, Shapiro built a broad coalition of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.

Since kicking off his campaign, Shapiro’s team said the candidate traveled across the Commonwealth to share his vision to move Pennsylvania forward by growing the economy and lowering costs, investing in the Commonwealth’s schools, and creating more opportunities for Pennsylvania’s working families.

“Josh knows that those are the basic values that every single Pennsylvanian has a right to, and that’s what he is going to fight to deliver for,” the Shapiro team said.

On Sunday, Nov. 6, two days before the election, Shapiro said he was ready to take on the big fights and help Pennsylvanians get ahead.

“I’m determined to protect abortion rights, expand access to the ballot box, tackle rising costs, and create more economic opportunities,” Shapiro said. “As your next governor, I have a lot of ideas for how to do all that — how to help families not just get by, but get ahead.”

Shapiro said the stakes of this race were high:

“In our post-Roe world, reproductive rights will be determined on a state-by-state basis, meaning the next governor will decide if abortion remains safe, legal, and accessible here in Pennsylvania.

“The very foundations of our democracy are at stake because the next governor will appoint the official who runs our elections — and will get to decide how we vote in future elections.

Shapiro also said the ability to unionize had been at risk.

“I will defend workers’ rights,” he said, noting his opponent, Republican Doug Mastriano, would have worked to destroy the union way of life.

“Rising costs have hit all of us — but especially those Pennsylvanians making the minimum wage, which sits at $7.25/hour,” Shapiro said. “I believe no one in Pennsylvania should be forced to live on poverty-level wages.”

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.