HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio, AP) — Josh Shapiro delivered a message of unity in his inaugural speech on Tuesday after he was sworn in as the 48th governor of Pennsylvania.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Chief Justice Debra Todd administered Shapiro’s oath of office on a stage erected behind the state's ornate Capitol, the governor’s hand on a stack of three Hebrew Bibles. One was on the pulpit at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on the day a gunman killed 11 people in October 2018. Another is a family Bible he has used for every swearing-in since 2005. The third is on loan from the National Museum of American Jewish History, and it was carried by Herman Hirshman after he landed on Omaha Beach on D Day.
Shapiro, 49, is the state’s third Jewish governor.
On stage were just over a dozen people at Shapiro’s invitation — including survivors of child sexual abuse, parents of children killed by gun violence, and the widows of two state troopers killed in the line of duty, Stephanie Mack and Brittany Sisca — who aides say symbolize his accomplishments as attorney general and his bipartisan policy aims as governor.
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Shapiro comes into office with more experience in state government than any of his recent predecessors, including eight years as a state lawmaker and six as the state's elected attorney general.
Noting the former governors in attendance — Tom Ridge, Mark Schweiker, Tom Corbett, and Tom Wolf, along with Ed Rendell watching from home — Shapiro said, “Your presence formally celebrates the peaceful transfer of power. It also reminds us that while I am now entrusted with this awesome responsibility — it is just for a moment in the long history of our Commonwealth.”
Shapiro pledged to be a governor for all Pennsylvanians, even those who didn’t vote for him.
“Above all else, beyond any momentary political differences — we value our freedom, we cherish our democracy, and we love this country,” he said.
In his message of “real freedom,” Shapiro carried over a theme from his campaign.
“Only by setting the table of opportunity and inviting all to sit and partake can we advance the cause of real freedom,” he said.
“The kind of real freedom that comes when you live in a Commonwealth that respects you for who you are — no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love or who you pray to or choose not to pray to.”
Pledging to work for all Pennsylvanians, Shapiro pointed to his cabinet which includes members of both parties from across the commonwealth, as he thanked voters for their faith in him.
“You also sent a clear message — Democrats, Republicans and independents — when you came together to resoundingly reject extremism. Together, hope defeated fear. Unity triumphed over division.”
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Shapiro's speech emphasized themes he developed before and after the election: that voters are embracing democracy, rejecting extremism and seeking progress on important quality-of-life issues. He focused on the need for bipartisan solutions for education, the economy and public safety. He said protecting American democracy requires everyone to get off the sidelines and take part.
Among the people filing out after the governor’s speech, “inspiring” is a word that came up frequently.
“It told me that what I thought about him all through the years — he’s a special individual,” said Frank Custer, Shapiro’s friend since 1998, when they both worked for then-Congressman Joe Hoeffel.
To his aunt and uncle, Marcelle and Fred Shapiro, it comes as no surprise.
“We’ve known this forever. The world is getting to see it now. This is who he is,” said his aunt. “He really deeply cares about everyone’s wellbeing, we’re beyond proud for him.”
A history-making lieutenant governor
In is speech, Shapiro noted two other lawmakers who have made history. Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward is the first woman to hold the title. And Pittsburgh-area Democrat and former state Rep. Austin Davis, 33, sworn in earlier in the day in the Senate chamber, is the first African American lieutenant governor.
In brief remarks after taking his oath of office, Davis spoke about growing up the grandson of a steel worker and railroad foreman, both of whom moved from the South to Western Pennsylvania for better opportunities. Never in their wildest dreams, he said, could his grandparents have thought their grandson would rise to the second-highest office in Pennsylvania.
“While I’m blessed with this awesome opportunity and responsibility, it was paid for by the blood, sweat and tears of those who came before me,” Davis, 33, said in brief remarks from the Senate rostrum after taking the oath.
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Shapiro takes the reins of a sprawling state government — it employs roughly 80,000 employees and handles more than $100 billion a year in state and federal money — that has billions in reserve and a stronger-than-usual economy for the slow-growing state.
But he also is moving across the street from the attorney general's office to the executive suite in the Capitol at a time when the House of Representatives is paralyzed by a partisan fight for control and Republican lawmakers are aiming to take away some executive branch leeway to enact regulations.
In succeeding outgoing term-limited Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, Shapiro is the first governor of Pennsylvania since 1966 to be elected to succeed a member of his own party.
Taking Shapiro’s place in the attorney general’s office is his top deputy of six years, Michelle Henry, a career prosecutor who Shapiro plans to nominate to fill the last two years of his term.
Shapiro benefited from a Democratic electorate inflamed by the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the Supreme Court's overturning of the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade.
In Shapiro, they saw someone who would protect abortion rights with his veto pen and ensure the 2024 presidential election — when Pennsylvania again is expected to be a premier battleground — will be free and fair, and not overturned if the Republican loses.
Still, every new law must have a GOP stamp of approval, considering the six-seat Republican majority in the state Senate.
To that end, Shapiro has tried to avoid radioactive political issues, staked out the middle on various issues and hired several Republicans for his Cabinet.
Shapiro will sign ethics orders for his administration later this week, aides say, and will deliver his first speech to a joint session of the Legislature when he presents his first budget plan March 7.