Josh Shapiro

Josh Shapiro is the Governor of Pennsylvania, and the DGA’s Strategic Engagement Chair.

Throughout his career as a public servant, Josh has taken on the status quo, brought people together to solve tough problems, and delivered results for the people of Pennsylvania.

Josh grew up in Pennsylvania, watching his parents serve their community — his father was a pediatrician, and his mother was an educator. Their example inspired Josh to enter into public service, and from a young age, Josh recognized that standing up for others was how he wanted to spend his career.

That’s why, after graduating from the University of Rochester, Josh began working in government while putting himself through law school at night.

After marrying his high-school sweetheart Lori and welcoming their first child, Josh returned to his hometown and successfully ran for State Representative. As Representative, Josh helped write and pass some of the toughest ethics laws in state history.

Then, as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania’s third-largest, Josh led a fiscal and ethical turnaround. Before he took office, Montgomery County had a $10 million budget deficit and an underfunded pension for county employees. Josh put the county back on solid financial footing, took early steps to combat the heroin epidemic, helped the first LGBTQ+ couples in Pennsylvania marry, and fired Wall Street money managers to save taxpayers and retirees millions.

In 2016, Josh successfully ran to be Pennsylvania’s Attorney General. As AG, he restored integrity to an office badly in need of reform and took on big fights for the people. He proved to Pennsylvanians he can bring people together to solve tough problems, and is unafraid to enforce the law without fear or favor.

Josh exposed the Catholic Church’s decades-long cover up of child sexual abuse, identifying 301 predator priests and thousands of victims — and spurring investigations across the United States. He forced an agreement between two of the Commonwealth’s largest insurance companies, protecting health care access for 2 million Pennsylvanians, and he repeatedly went to court to defend Pennsylvanians’ reproductive rights and a woman’s right to choose.

He held more than 100 public officials, Republicans and Democrats alike, accountable for breaking the law. Working with law enforcement partners at the local, state, and federal level, he arrested thousands of mid- and high-level drug dealers while getting thousands of illegal guns off the streets.

During the 2020 presidential election, Josh protected the right to vote and defended Pennsylvania’s election result, winning in court dozens of times before and after Election Day. He continues to call out the dangerous lies that undermine our democracy and provide steady, strong, and competent leadership to protect voting rights in Pennsylvania.

Josh is fighting the opioid epidemic head on. As Attorney General, he arrested more than 6,000 drug dealers while investigating and suing pharmaceutical companies and the CEOs who knowingly perpetuated the crisis to line their own pockets. He stood up for everyday consumers, seniors who’ve been scammed, and students preyed upon by private lenders by obtaining over $328 million in relief to Pennsylvanians who were ripped off. He lead on criminal justice reform, bringing activists and law enforcement together to launch a new statewide police misconduct database, taking on employers who steal from Pennsylvania workers.

Josh Shapiro knows Pennsylvanians need a governor who will take on the biggest fights and solve our most pressing problems. As long as Josh is serving the Commonwealth, he will continue to defend Pennsylvanians and deliver results.

Josh and Lori live in Montgomery County with their three school age sons, and their eldest daughter attends the University of Pittsburgh.