Josh Shapiro sworn in as Pa.’s new governor. He promised to protect the state’s ‘real freedom’

HARRISBURG — Josh Shapiro promised in his first speech as Pennsylvania’s governor to keep “three simple truths”: freedom, democracy, and a love of country.

Shapiro, 49, took his oath of office Tuesday outside the Harrisburg Capitol in front of a crowd of hundreds. He was sworn in by State Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra Todd, the first woman to hold the top leadership position on the court.

Prior to Shapiro’s inauguration, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis was sworn in before the state Senate around 10 a.m. Davis, 33, is the first Black lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania and the highest-ranking Black elected official in the executive branch.

The ceremony marked a major leap for Shapiro, an Abington resident who began his political career in 2005 as a state representative, before becoming a Montgomery County commissioner in 2011 and then the state attorney general in 2017.

Much of Shapiro’s speech reflected on the state of Pennsylvania’s democracy.

“We proved that we value our freedoms, and we’re willing to do the hard work necessary to protect our fundamental rights,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro’s win in November by a 15-point margin illustrated a “resounding” rejection of extremism, he said. He defeated State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin), a far-right senator and Christian nationalist, in the November midterm election. Mastriano was absent from the Capitol on Tuesday on “personal leave.”

Shapiro’s landslide victory in a battleground state attracted attention — and big-dollar donors — from national Democrats and political pundits who have suggested Shapiro might one day have a shot at the White House.

The Shapiro campaign invested more than $69 million in the race, while Mastriano spent just $7 million. Shapiro also spent significant amounts of time courting former Republican leaders to endorse him in the race, which catapulted him onto the national stage after a term and a half as Pennsylvania’s attorney general.

Shapiro named people he’d met as attorney general or on the campaign trail whose stories will inform his approach as governor, including: a woman “ripped off by a predatory student lender,” a construction worker whose wages were stolen by his employer, and the wives of two state troopers killed in the line of duty.

“Your stories and your courage have stayed with me,” he said. “And, they will motivate me each and every day as your governor.”

Shapiro briefly reaffirmed that people in and outside Pennsylvania will have access to abortions in the state.

Outgoing Gov. Tom Wolf, 74, completed his second term Tuesday. Shapiro credited him for his historic investment in public education and his leadership during budget impasses and the COVID-19 pandemic — all while leaving the state in “the strongest financial shape in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Shapiro promised to continue that work as the state’s next Democratic governor.

“From God’s country to Gettysburg, I heard you when you said you want good schools for our kids, safe communities, and an economy that gives people a shot and lifts them up,” Shapiro added.

The new governor did not discuss any specific policy proposals he plans to pursue in his first days in office. He is set to make a number of executive orders Wednesday, his first full day in office. As part of this, he plans to sign an ethics reform package, top Shapiro administration officials said.

In his first speech from the Capitol, Shapiro pledged to protect what he calls “real freedom” — a contrast with GOP rhetoric about freedom from government restrictions that was a major theme of Shapiro’s campaign.

“The kind of real freedom that comes when we devote real resources to that young child’s public school to make sure she has a shot,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro takes the helm at a divided time in the state’s history. First, it’s still unclear who will control the state House. The Democrat-turned-independent House Speaker Mark Rozzi still hasn’t said publicly whether he’ll remain a Democrat going forward. Democrats are expected to take the majority after three special elections on Feb. 7. Shapiro will need to find compromises with the GOP-controlled Senate and the razor-thin majority in the House.

He’s set himself up differently than most governors, though. He nominated several Republicans to cabinet positions, including former Philadelphia Commissioner Al Schmidt as secretary of state and former State Sen. Pat Browne (R., Lehigh) as secretary of revenue. Even his legislative affairs director, Mike Vereb, is a former Republican state representative.

Shapiro is one of few former lawmakers to reach the governorship. This makes him well-positioned to navigate Harrisburg.

Shapiro is recognized as one of the country’s most influential Jewish politicians, and noted himself in his speech as “a proud American of Jewish faith.”

He was sworn in on three Bibles, including one from Philadelphia’s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and another from Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, where 11 worshipers were killed in 2018 in the nation’s deadliest anti-Semitic attack in its history.

Despite the hatred exemplified by that attack, Shapiro said, his rise to the highest office in the commonwealth shows that Pennsylvanians “can indeed find light in the midst of darkness and drown out the voices of hate and bigotry.”

Shapiro, who was born in Missouri but raised in Montgomery County, will live in the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg with first lady Lori Shapiro and their three sons. Their eldest child, daughter Sophia, attends the University of Pittsburgh.