HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is running for a second term in office, a campaign in which he’s expected to highlight his executive experience and what he’s dubbed his “GSD,” or get stuff done, track record of getting state government to produce results.
Shapiro will be the only Democrat on the May 19 primary ballot, though he’s expected to face Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity during the general election in November. Already, the governor has amassed a campaign warchest worth $30 million that far eclipses Garrity’s $1 million in the bank, rendering him a formidable opponent in a race that will be watched nationally.
As the incumbent, Shapiro has other built-in advantages as well: name recognition, media attention, and a record in office he can argue makes him a better choice to lead the state. His status as a governor of a critical swing state has also made him a regular guest on the national nightly news circuit, further elevating his profile as he reportedly positions himself to run for president.
Who is Josh Shapiro?
Shapiro, an alum of Rochester University who grew up in Philadelphia’s suburbs, worked as a congressional aide on Capitol Hill while also getting his law degree at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
In 2004, he ran for a seat representing Montgomery County in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives. He won, and remained in the state House for four two-year terms, during which he came to be known as a policy wonk and, later, a strategist who helped Democrats cement a razor-thin voting advantage in the chamber.
His first statewide run for office came in 2016 when he launched his successful campaign to helm the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, which had just come off four tumultuous and scandal-plagued years under Democratic predecessor Kathleen Kane.
He ran for governor in 2022 against a Trump-endorsed candidate, state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin). Shapiro cast the race as a referendum on preserving democracy and constitutionally protected freedoms, including the right to abortion.
Again, Shapiro handily won the election and, in the process, shattered records for the most money ever spent on a governor’s race in Pennsylvania.
Shapiro, an observant Conservative Jew, has frequently said that his faith played prominently into his decision to enter public service. He and his wife, Lori, have four children.
What does Pennsylvania’s governor do?
Pennsylvania’s governor oversees a vast state bureaucracy that implements policies and programs on issues ranging from education, human services, and elections to law enforcement and the environment.
The governor also proposes an annual spending plan for the state that sets the tone for debate in Harrisburg and has the ability to sign bills into law or veto them.
What has Josh Shapiro done during his first term as governor?
Shapiro’s first term in office has been marked by friction with the state legislature, where the upper chamber is dominated by Republicans, particularly on fiscal issues.
A moderate Democrat open to dealmaking, he’s nonetheless faced pushback on many of his bigger and bolder plans to raise new revenue, including legalizing recreational marijuana and taxing slots-like video terminals known as skill games.
Shapiro has had more success using the power of his executive office to implement new policies.
For instance, within hours of being sworn in as governor in 2023, he signed an executive order that removed a four-year college degree requirement for thousands of state government jobs. Other executive orders he signed aimed at speeding up the turnaround time for Pennsylvanians applying for occupational licenses, making state government websites more user-friendly, and helping businesses coordinate with state agencies to more quickly receive permits to operate.
The governor also gained national recognition for his administration’s quick and nimble handling of the reconstruction of a heavily-traveled portion of I-95 in Philadelphia following a fatal truck fire that collapsed the highway. His full-throated support of protecting reproductive and voting rights has also garnered him headlines beyond Pennsylvania’s borders.
Despite those successes, Shapiro’s record in the Capitol on hot-button issues is nuanced. It also doesn't always cleanly align with his party’s dictates.
Education
His policies on education demonstrate that tension.
He’s gotten high marks from fellow Democrats for boosting financial support for public schools in each of his annual spending proposals.
Faced with a landmark 2023 court ruling that found the state had been unconstitutionally underfunding its poorest school districts, the governor’s budgets have infused more than $1 billion in additional funding for public education, with another $565 million proposed in his spending plan for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
Shapiro has also championed additional dollars for programs aimed at easing teacher shortages. In his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, he’s asking lawmakers to approve a $5 million increase in a program that pays stipends to student teachers during their training (which, historically, has been unpaid) — although Spotlight PA has reported that demand for the stipend program far outstrips resources for it.
But he’s faced heat from Democrats — as well as some of their traditional allies, including teachers unions — for backing private school vouchers early on in his administration (although in recent years, he’s been largely silent on the issue).
“I believe every child of God deserves a shot here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and one of the best ways we can guarantee their success is making sure every child has a quality education," Shapiro told Fox News in June 2023.
That year, Republicans who control the Senate passed a budget proposal — ostensibly with Shapiro’s blessing — that included $100 million in taxpayer money to fund private school tuition for students in low-performing school districts.
But when the governor failed to convince Democrats who control the House of Representatives to back the deal, he vetoed it out of the final deal.
Both sides — Democrats and Republicans — were left feeling angry and betrayed.
Climate change
From the start of his administration, Shapiro was skeptical of Pennsylvania’s participation in an interstate cap-and-trade program aimed at addressing climate change.
Shapiro’s Democratic predecessor, Gov. Tom Wolf, moved to include Pennsylvania in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in 2019. Participating states require companies to buy allowances for carbon emissions, and then use those dollars for purposes such as climate mitigation projects or driving down consumer costs.
Republicans vehemently opposed the initiative on the grounds that it could stifle the state’s powerful energy industry and increase consumer energy bills, and sued to block it. On the campaign trail, Shapiro said he was concerned about job loss and the program’s effectiveness.
With the program on ice due to the lawsuit, Shapiro began looking for alternatives. A working group assembled by the governor recommended waiting until more neighbors committed to entering RGGI, a move it believed would even the playing field.
But late last year, as a painful budget impasse between Shapiro and Republicans dragged into its fourth month, Shapiro agreed to officially pull out of the program, and convinced some legislative Democrats to follow along and approve the move. Environmental groups lambasted the decision, saying it would hurt consumers both in their pocketbooks, as well as in their overall health.
Shapiro has unveiled his own energy plan that would, among other things, create a state-level cap-and-trade program. But that requires legislative approval, and as a result, support from state Senate Republicans who have demonstrated little appetite for the concept.
Taxes
Unlike some of his Democratic predecessors, Shapiro has not proposed an increase in the state’s two main sources of revenue: taxes on sales and personal income. Legislative Republicans have been averse to increasing those two taxes for more than two decades, leaving governors to turn to other proposals to raise needed dollars.
For his part, Shapiro has for several years proposed taxing skill games, which are slots-like machines that can be found in thousands of restaurants, bars, taverns, and other establishments around the state. He’s also asked the state legislature to legalize recreational marijuana and close a corporate tax loophole that allows national companies to reduce their in-state liability.
All together, his administration estimates those changes would rake in about $1.7 billion in the first year.
But as with other issues, he will have to convince reluctant Republicans in the legislature to go along with those plans — a difficult lift.
Debate over how to best deal with regulating skill games has been mired in disagreement for years, and triggers intense lobbying from multiple powerful gambling interests trying to shape the outcome.
Meanwhile, state Senate Republicans remain divided over legalizing marijuana, which all but one of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states have already done. A top Republican rejected as “crazy” a plan passed last year by the Democrat-controlled state House to permit the sale of cannabis to adults at state-owned stores, similar to the system for selling wine and liquor. The caucus has not advanced an alternative.
On the flip side, Shapiro has advocated for accelerating the timeline for rolling back the corporate net income tax rate, which is paid by businesses operating in the state and based on their total profits.
He also signed a budget that established the Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit, which is modeled on a federal program for low- to moderate-income workers. The program allows anyone who qualifies for the federal tax credit to also receive a credit of up to $805 on their state taxes.
Economic development
Shapiro has made economic development, business and jobs retention, and employment training a cornerstone policy platform.
His administration authored a 10-year plan that emphasizes growth in five key industries, including agriculture, energy, and life sciences.
Earlier this year, the governor announced that pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly would invest $3.5 billion in Lehigh County to build a manufacturing plant. Shapiro and his supporters said it constitutes the largest investment from a life sciences company in the state’s history. The project will be bolstered by $100 million in taxpayer dollars.
Shapiro also threw his weight behind legislation that created a new agricultural innovation fund that provides grants to help farmers gain access to equipment and technology. The fund is believed to be the only one of its kind in the United States, according to Lancaster Farming, which has also reported that the first round of funding supported just shy of 90 projects around the state in sectors that include dairy and timber.
In his budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1, Shapiro has proposed increasing the amount of annual grants that are awarded — this despite lawmakers last year rejecting a similar ask for money for the program.
The governor has separately backed an increase in Pennsylvania’s minimum wage in all four of his budget addresses. The state’s minimum wage stands at $7.25 per hour, the same as the federal minimum but below that in 34 other states, territories, and districts, according to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Shapiro has proposed raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $15. Spotlight PA has reported that while some legislative Republicans agree it should be increased, there’s disagreement about the amount.
The legislature last voted to raise the state’s minimum wage two decades ago, in 2006.
Data centers
Shapiro has thrown his support behind data centers, large facilities that house computer servers and other equipment that generate internet services and artificial intelligence.
But communities where they are being proposed are increasingly pushing back on their construction due to rising concerns over the vast amount of energy and water they require to operate, as well as other potential harmful environmental impacts.
Spotlight PA has reported that Pennsylvania has 52 active data centers, with 53 more proposed. Six such centers are being proposed just in one small borough in Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna Valley, according to Grist, a nonprofit newsroom that reports on climate and sustainability issues.
In his budget address in February, Shapiro announced the creation of the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development, or GRID, standards. Though he didn’t provide details, the governor did say he wants developers to “commit to bringing their own power generation” or pay for new generation they’ll need.
He also said developers must commit to “strict transparency standards and direct community engagement,” hire and train local workers, and “commit to the highest standards of environmental protection.”
Jessica Shirley, who heads Shapiro’s Department of Environmental Protection, told lawmakers during a March budget hearing that developers who employ high standards will be able to access another program created by Shapiro that facilitates faster permitting for high-significance projects.
Justice system
Compared to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, Shapiro’s views on crime and the justice system lean centrist.
In a memoir released this year, Shapiro said he believes in providing adequate funding for law enforcement, particularly in training officers in deescalation methods, but also for community organizations that do violence prevention work.
“I believe that formula is the common sense, correct path forward,” Shapiro wrote, explaining the position he took on criminal justice reforms in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder — a position, he said, that left him at odds with some Democrats.
“Some loud voices on the political Left came for me after I … challenged their assertion that defunding the police was the answer. Some even threatened to primary me and end my career,” he wrote in Where We Keep The Light. “It’s not a great feeling to have some in your own party coming for you. But I also wasn’t going to say something I didn’t believe to be popular on my own team or on Twitter.”
Shapiro also described his evolving view on the death penalty, particularly in the aftermath of the 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. For most of his career, he said he supported the death penalty for extreme crimes. The Tree of Life shooting changed his perspective, he wrote, as some members of that community told him that even after the pain and anguish the shooter caused, they did not want him put to death.
“That moved me,” Shapiro wrote. “That stayed with me.”
A conversation with his son Max solidified his change of heart on the issue, coming to the conclusion that death is not a just punishment for a state to impose.
As governor, Shapiro has continued the moratorium on executions put in place by his predecessor, Democrat Tom Wolf, and has not signed execution warrants.
Shapiro also argued against the state's longstanding and controversial sentencing requirement of life in prison without parole for people convicted of felony murder. In Pennsylvania, someone can be convicted of felony murder (also called second-degree murder) even when they did not end a life (for example, if a person was driving the getaway car in a fatal crime, such as a robbery).
In March, Pennsylvania’s top court struck down that requirement, calling it inconsistent with the state constitution’s protections against cruel punishment.
Shapiro filed a brief in the case to support abolishing the requirement, and shortly after the decision, said in a statement: “I have long believed this law is unjust and wrong. As Governor, I took legal action in this case arguing to strike down this sentencing framework … Common sense and true justice dictate that we need different penalties for different conduct.”