Joshua David Shapiro (born June 20, 1973) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the
Pennsylvania Attorney General
The Pennsylvania Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current Attorney General is Democrat Josh Shapiro.
On August 15, 2016, then-Attorney General Kat ...
since 2017. A member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, he is the
governor-elect of Pennsylvania.
Raised in
Montgomery County, Shapiro studied political science at the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...
and earned his
Juris Doctor degree from
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
. He was elected to the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2004, defeating former
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
U.S. Congressman Jon D. Fox. He represented the
153rd district from 2005 to 2012.
Shapiro was elected to the
Montgomery County Board of Commissioners
The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners is the legislative council and executive arm of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Currently, it has 3 different members.
Members of the Board of Commissioners are tasked with managing the county's pr ...
in 2011, marking the first time
Republicans lost control of Montgomery County. Serving on the board from 2011 to 2017, he held the position of chairman and in 2015 was also appointed chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency by Governor
Tom Wolf
Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 gu ...
.
Shapiro ran for Pennsylvania attorney general in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, defeating Republican
John Rafferty Jr.
John Rafferty Jr. (born February 7, 1953) is an American politician and former Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who had represented the 44th District from 2003 to 2019. He was the Republican nominee for Attorney General of P ...
, and was reelected in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
. As attorney general, he released the findings of a
statewide grand jury report that revealed the abuse of children by priests and coverup by church leaders; he also helped negotiate $1 billion for Pennsylvania as part of a national opioid settlement.
In 2021, he announced his candidacy for governor of Pennsylvania in the
2022 gubernatorial election. He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Republican nominee
Doug Mastriano in the general election by a 14.8% margin.
Early life and education
Shapiro was born on June 20, 1973, in
Kansas City, Missouri, to a father serving in the
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
, and was raised in
Dresher, a part of
Upper Dublin Township in
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the List of counties in Pennsylvania, third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the List of the most populous cou ...
.
He is the son of Steven Shapiro, a pediatrician.
At a young age, Shapiro started a worldwide letter-writing program, known as Children for Avi, on behalf of Russian Jewish
refuseniks
Refusenik (russian: отказник, otkaznik, ; alternatively spelt refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authori ...
.
He attended high school at Akiba Hebrew Academy, now known as
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy is a coeducational college-preparatory and religiously pluralistic Jewish day school for grades 6 through 12, located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Founded in Center City, Philadelphia in 1946 as Akiba Hebrew Aca ...
, and then located in
Merion Station, Pennsylvania
Merion Station, also known as Merion, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia to its west and is one of the communities that make up the Philadelphia Main Line. Merion Station is part of Lower Me ...
. Shapiro played basketball in high school and was one of the team's captains during his senior year.
He attended the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...
, where he
majored
An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...
in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and became the first freshman to win election as the student body president of the University of Rochester in 1992.
He graduated ''
magna cum laude'' in 1995.
While working on Capitol Hill, he enrolled at the
Georgetown University Law Center
The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...
as an evening student and earned a
Juris Doctor in 2002.
Early career
Capitol Hill
After graduating from Rochester, Shapiro moved to Washington, D.C. He started as legislative assistant to Senator
Carl Levin, then served as a senior adviser to Representative
Peter Deutsch
Peter R. Deutsch (born April 1, 1957) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. Deutsch was a Democratic Representative from Florida's 20th congressional district from 1993 until 2005.
Background
Deutsch was born in the boro ...
, and then a senior advisor to Senator
Robert Torricelli
Robert Guy Torricelli (born August 27, 1951), is an American attorney and former politician. A Democrat, Torricelli served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 9th district from 1983 to 1997 and as a United States s ...
.
While working for Torricelli, Shapiro planned foreign affairs tours in the Middle East and Asia, including a trip to
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
.
From 1999 to 2003, he worked as Chief of Staff to Representative
Joe Hoeffel
Joseph Merrill Hoeffel III ( ; born September 3, 1950) is an American author and politician. A Democrat, Hoeffel was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005, representing Pennsylvania's 13th congressional dist ...
, who represented parts of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
![Josh Shapiro](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Josh_Shapiro.jpg)
In 2004, Shapiro ran for the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the
153rd district.
He faced the Republican nominee, former Congressman
Jon D. Fox. Shapiro trailed in polling during the beginning of the race, but knocked on 10,000 doors and ran a campaign centered around increasing education funding and better access to health care.
He was elected by a margin of ten points over Fox.
He was reelected in 2006, 2008, and 2010.
As a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, he built a reputation as a consensus builder, who was willing to work across the aisle on a bipartisan basis. Following the 2006 elections, Democrats controlled the
Pennsylvania State House by one seat, but the party was unable to unite behind a candidate for
Speaker of the House
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
. Shapiro helped to broker a deal that resulted in the election of moderate Republican
Dennis O'Brien as Speaker of the House. O'Brien subsequently named Shapiro as deputy speaker of the house.
While a state representative, Shapiro was one of the first public backers of then-Senator
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
for president in 2008. This was in contrast with much of the Pennsylvania political establishment, which supported
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in the Democratic primary.
From 2006 through 2017, Shapiro also practiced corporate law at the firm Stradley, Ronon, Stevens, and Young in Philadelphia.
Montgomery County commissioner
![Tree Planting Event 4 26 14 III (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Tree_Planting_Event_4_26_14_III_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Shapiro won election to the
Montgomery County Board of Commissioners
The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners is the legislative council and executive arm of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Currently, it has 3 different members.
Members of the Board of Commissioners are tasked with managing the county's pr ...
in 2011; the election marked the first time in history that the Republican Party lost control of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.
Shapiro became chairman of the board of commissioners, initially serving alongside Democrat
Leslie Richards
Leslie Richards (born April 3, 1967) is the current General Manager of SEPTA, the public transportation agency serving the Philadelphia area. She previously served as a member of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and as Secretary of th ...
and Republican
Bruce Castor.
Shapiro's commission duties centered around social services and administration.
Castor, the only Republican member of the board during Shapiro's tenure, praised Shapiro's work, calling him "the best county commissioner I ever knew" and "very good at arriving at consensus."
In 2016, Shapiro voted for an 11% tax increase, which was an average increase of $66 in property taxes. During his tenure, the board of commissioners implemented zero-based budgeting and shifted county pension investments from hedge funds to index funds.
Democrats retained a majority on the board of commissioners in the 2015 election, as Shapiro and his running mate, Val Arkoosh, both won election.
In April 2015, Governor
Tom Wolf
Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 gu ...
named Shapiro the Chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
Pennsylvania Attorney General
![Josh Shapiro in 2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Josh_Shapiro_in_2019.jpg)
Shapiro announced his candidacy for
Pennsylvania Attorney General
The Pennsylvania Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current Attorney General is Democrat Josh Shapiro.
On August 15, 2016, then-Attorney General Kat ...
in January 2016. While he had practiced with Philadelphia's Stradley Ronon firm and chaired the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, he had never served as a prosecutor.
Shapiro campaigned on his promise to restore the office's integrity following
Kathleen Kane's resignation and also promised to work to combat the
opioid epidemic
The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the sign ...
and
gun violence
Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, and ...
. His campaign was supported by President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
, presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, and businessman and former
Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg, who was among the largest donors to Shapiro's campaign.
He won the Democratic primary for attorney general in April 2016, defeating
Stephen Zappala and John Morganelli with 47% of the vote. In November 2016, Shapiro narrowly defeated the Republican nominee, State Senator
John Rafferty Jr.
John Rafferty Jr. (born February 7, 1953) is an American politician and former Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who had represented the 44th District from 2003 to 2019. He was the Republican nominee for Attorney General of P ...
, with 51.3% of the vote.
Shapiro was reelected in 2020, defeating Republican nominee Heather Heidelbaugh with 50.9% of the vote.
He received 3,461,472 votes, the most of any candidate in Pennsylvania history, and outran
Joe Biden in the concurrent presidential election.
Tenure
In 2017, Shapiro announced the roundup of a "Million Dollar Heroin Ring" under "Operation Outfoxed" in Luzerne County. All the charges in Operation Outfoxed were dismissed after allegations that Shapiro had mishandled the sealing of wiretapped recordings.
Shapiro joined several other state attorneys general in opposing President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's
travel ban, and also sued Trump and the Roman Catholic organization Little Sisters of the Poor to block the implementation of a rule that would have made it easier for employers to deny health insurance coverage of
contraceptives. He also joined a lawsuit against
ITT Technical Institute
ITT Technical Institute (ITT Tech) was a private for-profit technical institute with its headquarters in Carmel, Indiana and many campuses throughout the United States. Founded in 1969 and growing to 130 campuses in 38 states of the United Stat ...
, a
for-profit educational institute, that resulted in a $168 million settlement (with about $5 million of that settlement going to Pennsylvania students). In 2018, he reached an agreement with federal officials to prevent the distribution of blueprints for
3D printed firearms
A 3D printed firearm is a firearm that is primarily produced with a 3D printer. They can be classified by the type of 3D printers used: plastic (desktop fused filament fabrication), metal (industrial selective laser melting), or both. While ...
. In 2019, he came out in support of the legalization of
marijuana for recreational use by adults, joining Governor
Tom Wolf
Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 gu ...
and other leading Pennsylvania Democrats.
Before Shapiro took office in 2016, the Pennsylvania Attorney's General office launched an investigation of allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Shapiro chose to move forward with the investigation, and, in August 2018, released the results of an
extensive grand jury report. The report alleged the sexual abuse of more than 1,000 children at the hands of over 300 priests.
It prompted similar investigations in other states into the Catholic Church, such as an inquiry launched by then-Missouri Attorney General
Josh Hawley
Joshua David Hawley (born December 31, 1979) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the junior United States senator from Missouri since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Hawley served as the 42nd attorney general of Mi ...
.
![Josh Shapiro 2021 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Josh_Shapiro_2021_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In January 2018,
Centre County
Centre County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,172. Its county seat is Bellefonte. Centre County comprises the State College, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The lands ...
District Attorney Bernard Cantorna referred the case of the
death of Tim Piazza
Timothy John Piazza (September 25, 1997 February 4, 2017) died as the result of hazing at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Pennsylvania State University at University Park, Pennsylvania. The incident led to closure of the fraternity's chapt ...
, a Penn State student who was hazed, to Shapiro, because Cantorna had previously served as a criminal defense attorney for one of the defendants. Multiple defendants pleaded guilty.
In August 2018,
Philadelphia District Attorney
The office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia is the largest prosecutor's office in the state of Pennsylvania and oversees a jurisdiction that includes more than 1.5 million citizens of both the city and county of Philadelphia. The current ...
Larry Krasner
Lawrence Samuel Krasner (born March 30, 1961) is an American lawyer who is the 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia. Elected to the position in 2017, Krasner was one of the first in the United States to run as a self-described "progressive pros ...
referred the case of the fatal shooting of Jeffrey Dennis by a Philadelphia police officer to Shapiro, because Krasner had previously served as Dennis's criminal defense attorney. Dennis was in his car when he was "box
din" by undercover officers in
unmarked vehicles; three officers were injured after Dennis tried to evade them.
In December, Shapiro announced no charges would be filed against the officers, saying, "violations of police procedure do not always rise to the level of criminal charges".
Dennis's family subsequently sued the officer and city of Philadelphia for the incident.
In 2019, Shapiro led efforts to ensure that insurance holders of
Highmark
Highmark is an American non-profit healthcare company and Integrated Delivery Network based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a large individual not-for-profit health insurer in the United States, which operates several for-pro ...
, a healthcare company, can receive treatment at the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a $23billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and d ...
. The settlement allowed 1.9 million insurance recipients to continue using their existing doctors as in-plan providers rather than being forced to switch either medical providers or insurance providers.
Shapiro was one of 20 electors selected by the
Pennsylvania Democratic Party
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is headquartered in Harrisburg and is the largest political party in the state. Its chair is Senator Sharif Street.
Governor Tom Wo ...
to vote in the
Electoral College for
Joe Biden and his running mate
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
in
2020 United States presidential election.
Shapiro announced an opioid settlement in 2021 with
Johnson & Johnson and three other U.S. pharmaceutical distributors that resulted in Pennsylvania receiving $1 billion.
The settlement resolved thousands of lawsuits against the companies for their role in fueling the
opioid epidemic
The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the sign ...
.
As attorney general, Shapiro has charged members of his own party with corruption.
In December 2019, he charged State Representative
Movita Johnson-Harrell with perjury and theft of funds from her supposedly nonprofit charity on such things as vacations and clothing. In July 2021, Shapiro charged State Representative
Margo L. Davidson with theft by deception, solicitation to hinder apprehension, and Election Code violations after stealing from the Commonwealth by filing fraudulent overnight
per diem ''Per diem'' (Latin for "per day" or "for each day") or daily allowance is a specific amount of money that an organization gives an individual, typically an employee, per day to cover living expenses when travelling on the employer's business.
A '' ...
requests and various other expenses through the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives Comptroller's Office as well as hindering a state prosecution.
In August 2021, Shapiro settled the largest prevailing wage criminal case in U.S. history. Under the plea, Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc., paid nearly $21 million to 1,267 Pennsylvania workers.
2022 gubernatorial campaign
Shapiro had long been expected to run for
governor of Pennsylvania, and on October 13, 2021, he announced his candidacy in the
2022 election. In January 2022, Shapiro's campaign reported it had $13.4 million in campaign funds, which was described as a record amount for a candidate in an election year. Shapiro faced no opponents in the Democratic primary, and secured the nomination on May 17, 2022. He faced Republican nominee
Doug Mastriano in the general election.
Shapiro ran on a platform of protecting
voting rights
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...
,
abortion rights
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
, and raising the
minimum wage to $15 an hour. His campaign was criticized by some progressives because of his support for
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
for "heinous crimes", his public feuds with
Philadelphia District Attorney
The office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia is the largest prosecutor's office in the state of Pennsylvania and oversees a jurisdiction that includes more than 1.5 million citizens of both the city and county of Philadelphia. The current ...
Larry Krasner
Lawrence Samuel Krasner (born March 30, 1961) is an American lawyer who is the 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia. Elected to the position in 2017, Krasner was one of the first in the United States to run as a self-described "progressive pros ...
, and his compromising with
police unions
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...
to pass police reform bills.
But efforts to enlist a progressive primary challenge to Shapiro were unsuccessful.
Shapiro later changed his position, now saying he opposes capital punishment and would sign a bill to abolish it.
During the leadup to the primary election, Shapiro's campaign released a statewide televised advertisement calling a Mastriano win "a win for what
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
stands for”, referencing Mastriano's stance on outlawing abortion and his efforts to audit the
2020 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 January:
**C ...
. The ad was seen as an "endorsement" of the Republican candidate Shapiro would want to face in the general election, with Mastriano seen as too extreme for swing voters to elect. Mastriano won the Republican primary and his closest opponent, former Congressman
Lou Barletta
Louis John Barletta (born January 28, 1956) is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, from 2000 to 2010. ...
, later said that Shapiro's ads likely helped. The impact of Shapiro's ads on the primary is disputed as Mastriano was already in the lead.
Platform
Shapiro has said that as governor he will protect abortion access in Pennsylvania and veto any bill passed the state legislature passes that outlaws abortion. In contrast, Mastriano said he would support outlawing abortion in Pennsylvania without any exceptions, including in cases of rape or the mother's life being at risk. Shapiro also supported abolishing the death penalty in Pennsylvania, in a reversal of his previous position.
Shapiro supports cutting Pennsylvania's nearly 10% corporate tax rate to 4% by 2025. He has proposed hiring 2,000 additional police officers across Pennsylvania, saying, the "more police officers we hire, the more opportunities we have for them to get out of their patrol cars, walk the beat, learn the names of the kids in the communities". Shapiro favors pardoning those convicted for possession of small amount of marijuana.
On efforts to mitigate
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
, Shapiro has broken with some in the Democratic Party and opposes
mask
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...
and
vaccine mandate
A vaccination policy is a health policy adopted in order to prevent the spread of infectious disease. These policies are generally put into place by State or local governments, but may also be set by private facilities, such as workplaces or s ...
s.
He prefers educating the public about vaccines' efficacy.
Shapiro is also skeptical about Pennsylvania joining the
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, pronounced "Reggie") is the first mandatory market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the United States. RGGI is a cooperative effort among the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, ...
, a market-based program to reduce some
greenhouse gas emissions. He has proposed expanding Pennsylvania's
clean energy
Clean may refer to:
* Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment
* Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt
Arts and media Music A ...
portfolio for utility companies, greater
electric car infrastructure and investing in clean energy research and development.
Shapiro supports a Lifeline Scholarship bill, which creates education savings accounts for children in failing public schools that can be spent on approved expenses including tutoring, instructional materials and private school tuition.
Shapiro has proposed a plan that will allow for a $250 gas tax refund per personal passenger vehicle up to four vehicles per household. He proposed funding the proposal with funds from the
American Rescue Plan
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to s ...
.
On the issue of vocational training, Shapiro has proposed increasing career and technical training in high schools, tripling state funding for apprenticeships and union skills programs, and creating a Pennsylvania office of workforce development.
He also supports eliminating four-year degree requirements for state government jobs.
Shapiro is a supporter of unions and has vowed to veto any
"right to work" legislation.
Endorsements and support
![2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election results map by county](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/2022_Pennsylvania_gubernatorial_election_results_map_by_county.svg)
Before his announcement, term-limited Governor
Tom Wolf
Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 gu ...
endorsed Shapiro. He also received endorsements from former Governor
Ed Rendell
Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philad ...
, State Senator
Anthony H. Williams, former
Pennsylvania Democratic Party
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is headquartered in Harrisburg and is the largest political party in the state. Its chair is Senator Sharif Street.
Governor Tom Wo ...
chair
Marcel Groen, and the
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
. Additionally, he was endorsed by the
SEIU
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...
Pennsylvania State Council, four SEIU local unions consisting of over 80,000 SEIU members in the state. In January 2022 the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee unanimously endorsed him. The committee also endorsed his preferred running mate, State Representative
Austin Davis. Other union support included the Philadelphia Carpenters Union and Sheet Metal workers, the Western Pennsylvania Laborers' PAC, and the Electricians Union Local No. 5 in Pittsburgh.
Eight former Republican officials, including former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Schultz Newman and former Congressman
Charlie Dent
Charles Wieder Dent (born May 24, 1960) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for from 2005 to 2018.
Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Dent worked in a variety of occupations ...
, as well as the sitting Republican chairman of the
Lawrence County Board of Commissioners, Morgan Boyd, endorsed Shapiro, with several calling Mastriano "extreme" and "divisive". Seven more former Republican officials, including former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
Michael Chertoff
Michael Chertoff (born November 28, 1953) is an American attorney who was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security to serve under President George W. Bush. Chertoff also served for one additional day under President Barack Obama. ...
, endorsed Shapiro in August 2022 for the same reason.
Results
On November 8, 2022, Shapiro defeated Mastriano with 56.2% of the vote to Mastriano's 42.0%.
Shapiro carried 17 counties.
Governor-elect of Pennsylvania
Shapiro will be the third
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
governor in the
history of Pennsylvania, after
Milton Shapp
Milton Jerrold Shapp (born Milton Jerrold Shapiro; June 25, 1912 – November 24, 1994) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 40th governor of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979 and the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania. H ...
(1971-1979) and
Ed Rendell
Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philad ...
(2003-2011). He will be sworn in on January 17, 2023.
Personal life
Shapiro met his wife
Lori in ninth grade as they both attended Akiba Hebrew Academy, now
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy is a coeducational college-preparatory and religiously pluralistic Jewish day school for grades 6 through 12, located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Founded in Center City, Philadelphia in 1946 as Akiba Hebrew Aca ...
, then in
Merion Station.
They dated in high school and reconnected after college while both were living in Washington D.C.
Shapiro proposed to her in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in 1997.
He married her on May 25 of that year.
Shapiro and his wife have four children and reside in
Abington, Pennsylvania.
Shapiro is an observant
Conservative Jew who
keeps kosher.
Electoral history
References
External links
Attorney General Josh Shapiroofficial government website
Josh Shapiro for Governorcampaign website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, Josh
1973 births
Living people
People from Upper Dublin Township, Pennsylvania
Politicians from Kansas City, Missouri
Lawyers from Kansas City, Missouri
Montgomery County Commissioners (Pennsylvania)
Pennsylvania Attorneys General
Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
2012 United States presidential electors
2020 United States presidential electors
American Conservative Jews
Jewish American state legislators in Pennsylvania
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy alumni
Georgetown University Law Center alumni
University of Rochester alumni
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American politicians