(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro will formally announce his candidacy for governor on Wednesday, according to a report from The Associated Press.

It’s news that’s been months in the making after Shapiro, a former congressional staffer, state representative and Montgomery County commissioner turned two-term attorney general, said he’d run for the state’s highest elected office in 2022.

No one else, so far, has been willing to challenge him for the Democratic nomination. Meanwhile, the Republican field remains wide open with more than a dozen confirmed and rumored candidates vying to replace Gov. Tom Wolf.

Shapiro’s record as attorney general is buoyed by grand jury investigations that uncovered widespread child sex abuse among Catholic clergy; alleged lackluster enforcement of natural gas drilling regulations; and challenges to former President Donald Trump’s policies on the environment, reproductive rights and claims that widespread voter fraud cheated him out of a second term.

Shapiro will announce his candidacy during a speech in Pittsburgh, according to the AP.

Christen Smith follows Pennsylvania’s General Assembly for The Center Square. She is an award-winning reporter with more than a decade of experience covering state and national policy issues for niche publications and local newsrooms alike.

This article was republished with permission from The Center Square.