Welcome back to Broad + Liberty’s Candidate Spotlight Series! Each week, we reach out to candidates all across the Commonwealth up for election to public office — an equal number of Democrats and Republicans; incumbents and challengers. We ask one question per week about public policy pressing to you. Those answers are shared on our website every Wednesday.
Today, we are spotlighting our gubernatorial candidates’ responses to our third question. Join us later in the week for the remainder of our responses from candidates across Pennsylvania!
This week’s question: For at least the last century, Pennsylvania has been slowly losing population. Recently, while Southern and Western America offered examples of increased population during the Covid-19 pandemic, Pennsylvania experienced a population decline. What do you believe is causing this outward migration and how would you stop it?
Josh Shapiro (D)
Pennsylvanians are facing some serious challenges right now, and people are worried. I hear it across the Commonwealth — families are being crushed under a mountain of rising prices, our schools are underfunded, and people are worried about the unprecedented attacks on voting rights, workers’ rights, and the right to choose. Pennsylvanians want a leader that they can count on to get things done.
Throughout my career, I’ve taken on the big fights and gotten things done, and that’s exactly what I will continue to do as the next Governor of Pennsylvania.
I will be a Governor who will make sure Pennsylvania is open for business, improve our education system, protect our fundamental freedoms, support law enforcement and make our communities safer, invest in vocational and technical training so our children have more opportunities to succeed, and build a stronger economy by creating jobs, cutting taxes and lowering costs.
In order to move Pennsylvania forward, build a better future for our children, and make sure people not only want to stay in Pennsylvania but move here, we must make real progress and I’ll bring people from both parties together to get things done.
Lieutenant Governor nominee Austin Davis’ response will be included in tomorrow’s roundup.
Doug Mastriano (R)
The Mastriano campaign chose not to respond. Lieutenant Governor nominee Carrie Lewis DelRosso’s response will be published later this week.
Broad + Liberty is a nonprofit media endeavor dedicated to sharing voices and stories that are shut out of other media outlets. @BroadAndLiberty
No real plan offered by Josh Shapiro – only the same platitudes we have heard for years from both sides. When will Pennsylvania get candidates who actually have bold ideas that can move the Commonwealth forward? What Shapiro stated has been mouthed by Corbett, Wolf, Ridge, Rendell and so forth yet here we stand.
@Josh Shapiro: You say, “Pennsylvanians are facing some serious challenges right now, and people are worried. I hear it across the Commonwealth — families are being crushed under a mountain of rising prices, our schools are underfunded, and people are worried about the unprecedented attacks on voting rights, workers’ rights, and the right to choose.”
Yes – you are correct We The People of PA ARE being crushed by a TSUNAMI of rising prices. This is INSTIGATED by the WEF, Wall Street and the party with whom you are affiliated. YOUR political party DESTROYED our energy independence and UNLEASHED INFLATION BY CREATING TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN NEW DEBT TO FINANCE A BANKRUPT AND CORRUPT Federal budget with an ILLEGITIMATE, INCOMPETENT AND COGNITIVELY IMPAIRED POS POTUS at the helm. YOU AND THE DEATH-O-CRATS OWN THIS. ALL OF IT.
DO YOU THINK WE THE PEOPLE OF PA CANNOT DISCERN THIS?
PA schools are DEFINITELY NOT UNDERFUNDED. We The People of PA and OUR K-12 CHILDREN are being ABUSED by the AFT, NEA and the public education system in general. The public school system IS A RACKETEERING OPERATION. IT DOES NOT NEED MORE FUNDING.
DO YOU THINK WE THE PEOPLE OF PA CANNOT DISCERN THIS?
WE NEED TO REMOVE ALL GROOMERS, PERVERTS AND PEDOPHILES, THE POLITICAL ACTIVISTS “MASK”-ERADING AS EDUCATORS, THE EXCESSIVE NUMBER OF INCOMPETENT ADMINISTRATORS, and the INCOMPETENT AND COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY DEI AND SEL GARBAGE. We need to allocate our educational resources far more effectively than the PA Dept. of Ed and the school boards have in the recent past.
Voting rights? How about the voting rights of the lawful residents of our commonwealth who are disenfranchised and have our votes negated, erased, or otherwise diminished and diluted so you and your ilk can CHEAT YOUR WAY TO AN ELECTED OFFICE?
DO YOU THINK WE THE PEOPLE OF PA CANNOT DISCERN THIS?
If a lawful, legal resident of PA who is eligible to vote, but cannot figure out a way to do so, there are plenty of local and state resources available to assist. Almost every polling station in our commonwealth is easily accessible to all. PLEASE STOP THE FALSE “attacks on voting rights” NARRATIVE YOU ARE PROJECTING. The only “attacks” on voting rights are on We The People of PA. NO MORE MAIL IN BALLOTS. NO MORE ELECTION MONTH. NO MORE ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS. MANDATORY ID TO VOTE. PAPER BALLOTS. ONE DAY TO VOTE. WE LEARN WHO WON THAT NIGHT. FFS!
Worker’s rights. If you and the D*MB*SS governor had not locked everyone down with idiotic mandates, We The People of PA would be almost at full employment, you freaking d**cheb*g.
The “right to choose”. Guess what? There is NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT IN EITHER THE FEDERAL NOR PA STATE CONSTITUTION TO TERMINATE AN UNBORN CHILD’S LIFE. You, sir, are the attorney general, and this Pennsylvanian was of the impression one in your position of authority would have a basic, fundamental understanding of the united States and PA state Constitution. I guess I am incorrect in that assumption.
Josh – your political party – THE DEATH-O-CRATS – has done more damage to WE The People of PA, our state and to people of color than any other political party EVER. YOU AND THE DEATH-O-CRATS OWN THIS. YOU DID THIS TO US. DEATH-O-CRATS HAVE RUN THE URBAN AREAS OF OUR STATE INTO THE GROUND. FOR 6 DECADES.
WE THE PEOPLE OF PA DO NOT NEED NOR WANT YOU TO “GET THINGS DONE”.
The only thing you and the PA DEATH-O-CRATS managed to “get done” is instill and propagate a level of corruption that stinks to the heavens.
DO YOU THINK WE THE PEOPLE OF PA CANNOT DISCERN THIS?
This Pennsylvanian WILL NEVER VOTE FOR A COMMUNIST – AKA DEMOCRAT – EVER AGAIN.
GFY.