Pennsylvania's Attorney General Josh Shapiro is running for governor. He posted the official video announcement to social media on Wednesday morning.
"I've spent my life taking on the big and powerful on behalf of those who have been wronged citizens who've been left out and communities that have fallen behind," he says in the video.
Shapiro is running unopposed in the Democratic primary so far, while the Republican field is crowded with state senators, business leaders, a former congressman, a former federal prosecutor under Trump and others.
In his campaign video, he seeks to tie Republican rivals to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection and former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn last year's election.
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"Already there are Republicans running for governor who want to lead us down a dark path, undermine free and fair elections, strip away voting rights, and permanently divide us," Shapiro says in the video, which shows images of the Capitol riot and a newspaper headline about GOP state lawmakers' ongoing "forensic investigation" of the 2020 election.
The Republican Governors Association said Shapiro would continue what it called the "failed policies" of the incumbent governor, Democrat Tom Wolf, who is constitutionally barred from running for a third term. It said Wolf's COVID-19 pandemic policies have "endangered Pennsylvania seniors, crushed the economy, and left the Keystone State with an unemployment rate well above the national average."
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Shapiro has Wolf's endorsement.
"It's no wonder Shapiro is the Democrats' hand-picked candidate. Who else will carry on the failed policies that have left the commonwealth behind?'' the Republicans' statement said.
The state is closely divided between the two major parties and the governor's race is certain to be hard fought, as will the race to fill retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's seat.
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Shapiro, 48, was scheduled to deliver a campaign speech in Pittsburgh later Wednesday morning, to be followed by a rally in his native Montgomery County and then a statewide bus tour.