Josh Shapiro

Josh Shapiro
Attorney General of Pennsylvania
Elect
Taking office
January 2017
Governor Tom Wolf
Succeeding Bruce Beemer
Member of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners
Assumed office
January 3, 2012
Serving with Valerie Arkoosh, Joe Gale
Preceded by Joe Hoeffel
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 153rd district
In office
January 4, 2005[1] – January 3, 2012
Preceded by Ellen Bard
Succeeded by Madeleine Dean
Personal details
Born (1973-06-20) June 20, 1973
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Lori
Children 4
Alma mater University of Rochester (BA)
Georgetown University (JD)

Josh Shapiro (born June 20, 1973) is a Democratic politician. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 153rd legislative district, from 2005 to 2012. He currently serves as a member and Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. On November 8, 2016, Shapiro was elected to be the next Attorney General of Pennsylvania, replacing interim Bruce Beemer.

Personal

Shapiro was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Rochester in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. After college, he moved to Washington, D.C. and became a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Carl Levin. He then worked as a senior advisor to U.S. Representative Peter Deutsch (1996–98) and to U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli (1998–99). From 1999 to 2003, he was chief of staff to U.S. Representative Joe Hoeffel.

Shapiro received his Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University in 2002 and, in addition to his role as a county commissioner, works as an attorney with Stradley, Ronon, Stevens, and Young. He lives in Abington with his wife and 4 children. [2]

Political career

In 2004, Shapiro ran for the seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives held by Ellen Bard, who had run unsuccessfully for Congress. His GOP opponent was Jon Fox, who represented Montgomery County in Congress from 1995 to 1999. Shapiro defeated Fox in November with 54% of the vote.[3]

He won re-election against a lesser-known opponent, Lou Guerra, taking 76% of the vote.[4] In 2007, Shapiro was named Deputy Speaker by incoming Speaker Denny O'Brien after Shapiro helped broker a deal to bring him into office.[5][6]

In the 2008 Democratic primary, Shapiro ran uncontested. Additionally he won a write-in campaign on the Republican side to ensure that would win re-election without major opposition in November. Shapiro was said to be considering a run for the United States Senate before Arlen Specter announced he had joined the Democratic Party.[7]

On January 31, 2011, Shapiro announced his candidacy for the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners after Hoeffel, whom Shapiro had succeeded as a state legislator, announced he would be retiring.[8] Shapiro, along with fellow Democrat Leslie Richards, won the majority for Montgomery County, something that has never happened in the county's history. He was sworn in on January 3, 2012.[9] He and Richards serve with Republican Bruce L. Castor, Jr., a former county district attorney and the only of the members of the previous Board to be re-elected. The three have forged a good working relationship by all accounts.

Shapiro's political future is the subject of much speculation and he has been mentioned on multiple occasions as a potential candidate for higher office.[10] He ruled out running for U.S. House[11] and for Governor in 2014 (instead endorsing Tom Wolf in the latter race).[12][13] He was also a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2016[14] before announcing a campaign for Pennsylvania Attorney General in January 2016.[15] He became the Democratic nominee for Attorney General following the primary on April 26, 2016.[16] Shapiro never held a position as a prosecutor prior to being elected attorney general.[17] Agreeing with Shapiro's stance on guns, Michael Bloomberg, who was once the mayor of New York City, donated to Shapiro's campaign.[17] Providing assistance for victims of addiction and imposing penalties for pollution caused by gas drilling, were among the biggest issues in Shapiro's campaign.[18]

On November 8th, 2016, Shapiro won the PA Attorney General race by defeating Republican challenger John Rafferty with 51.3% of the vote. Shapiro won the major counties of Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, Bucks, and Delaware while Rafferty won the major counties of Chester, Lancaster, Berks, Westmoreland and York.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "SESSION OF 2005 - 189TH OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - No. 1" (PDF). Legislative Journal. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 2005-01-04.
  2. ↑ "About Josh Shapiro". Biography. Josh Shapiro for Montgomery County Commissioner. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  3. ↑ Pennsylvania General Election Results, Pennsylvania Department of State, 11/2/04
  4. ↑ Pennsylvania General Election Results, Pennsylvania Department of State, 11/7/06
  5. ↑ Benjamin Wallace, Politics: Cleaning House, Philadelphia Magazine, December 2007
  6. ↑ Tom Waring, House speaker pays a visit to CORA, Northeast Times, 2/1/07
  7. ↑ "Torsella says he'll run for U.S. Senate". The Philadelphia Inquirer. February 10, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
  8. ↑ Roebuck, Jeremy (2011-01-31). "Montco's Hoeffel will not seek another term". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  9. ↑ Rawlins, John. "Democrats historically gain control of Montgomery County". Elections. ABC News. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  10. ↑ Cahn, Emily (30 January 2014). "In Pa., House Democrats Are Really Ready for Hillary". Roll Call. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  11. ↑ Daniel Gleason; Carl Feldman (May 21, 2013). "Shapiro Rules out Bids for Guv, PA-13, Launches Statewide PAC". PoliticsPA. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  12. ↑ Gibbons, Margaret (May 21, 2013). "Shapiro rules out bid for higher office next year". Philly Burbs. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  13. ↑ http://wolfforpa.com/sections/blog/josh-shapiro-endorses-tom-wolf
  14. ↑ Foster, Brittany (December 13, 2013). "Senate 2016: Kane "Is Pretty Serious About This"". PoliticsPA. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  15. ↑ Field, Nick (12 January 2016). "Shapiro Officially Announces AG Campaign". PoliticsPA. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  16. ↑ Addy, Jason (26 April 2016). "Shapiro Wins Dem AG Nomination". PoliticsPA. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  17. 1 2 Orso, Anna. "Josh Shapiro wins PA Attorney General race". Billy Penn. Spirited Media. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  18. ↑ Esack, Steve. "Shapiro wins AG race, leading Dems sweep of state row offices". themorningcall.com. The Morning Call. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  19. ↑ Times, New York (21 November 2016). "Pennsylvania Attorney General Results: Josh Shapiro Wins". Retrieved 2016-11-25.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Kathleen Kane		 Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Pennsylvania
2016 		Most recent
Legal offices
Preceded by
Bruce Beemer		 Attorney General of Pennsylvania
Elect
Taking office 2017 		Incumbent
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