Pennsylvania Attorney General announces campaign for governor
(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro formally announced his campaign for governor on Wednesday, the first Democratic candidate to enter the race so far – and according to some rumors, potentially the only Democrat who’ll be running.
“I understand people feel like our politics are divided and broken right now, but we can’t just take our ball and go home,” Shapiro said in a video released Wednesday morning. “There’s too much on the line.”
The long anticipated announcement comes months after the Montgomery County native said he intended to replace Gov. Tom Wolf – the culmination of a political career that began two decades ago on Capitol Hill and wound its way through both state and local government before he won the 2016 election for Attorney General.
In those intervening years, Shapiro gained a reputation for deal making that crossed partisan lines. His record as the state’s top prosecutor, though, has been marred by criticism from progressives who believe he’s too tough on crime and punishment and too lax on industries that ignore environmental regulations.
But he’s also made national headlines for challenging former President Donald Trump’s policies on travel bans, reproductive rights and claims that widespread voter fraud cheated Trump out of reelection.
And it was his office that spearheaded grand jury investigations into allegations of widespread child sexual abuse among Catholic clergy and unfettered pollution from natural gas drillers in southwestern Pennsylvania.
That notoriety, in part, earned Shapiro a second term in 2020, even as Democratic incumbents in other row offices – auditor general and treasurer – lost.
“We all have a responsibility to show up, stand up and fight for what’s right,” Shapiro said Wednesday. “As Governor, I’ll stay in the game – no matter what.”
No other Democrats have announced a bid for the party’s nomination in 2022. Meanwhile, more than a dozen confirmed and rumored Republicans have entered the race.
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