Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro urges turnout, sharpens attacks on Trump in Erie

• Gov. Josh Shapiro urged Erie County Democrats to engage in the upcoming midterm election.
• Shapiro is seeking a second term as governor amid speculation of a 2028 presidential run.
• Shapiro hopes Democrats will win control of the state Senate in addition to retaining the governorship.

Gov. Josh Shapiro on May 6 told Erie County Democrats the time to win back control of government is now and that the upcoming midterm election is no time for complacency.

"I believe this is a moment where we can't give up hope," Shapiro said, "where we can't just — and you've heard some people say this — turn off the TV and hope it goes away, or pull up the covers because we just can't take it anymore.

"This is a moment where we've got to engage," he continued, "where we've got to do our part, where we've got to do more. I know this room understands that and I know this room instinctively knows what is at stake."

Shapiro was the keynote speaker for the Erie County Democratic Party's Spring Dinner at the Sheraton Bayfront Hotel. He's seeking a second, four-year term as governor as speculation looms about a potential 2028 presidential run.

Here are the highlights from his nearly half-hour speech.

'A republic if you can keep it'

Shapiro made several historical references throughout his speech. He told the audience to "imagine the pressure" of working in an office with portraits of William Penn and other former governors "looking down on you."

"In 1682, a man named William Penn arrived on the shores of what is now our home of Pennsylvania," he said. "He came here on a ship named 'Welcome,' and when he stepped on our shores and began to form a government in 1682, he said that we were going to be bound together by three basic principles: the freedom of expression, the freedom of religion, and free elections. Those would be the three things that would pull us together as a people, and I would argue more than three centuries later, we have a responsibility to carry that forward."

Moments later he quoted Benjamin Franklin when Franklin was asked if America would be a monarchy or a republic as he exited Independence Hall in Philadelphia. "A republic if you can keep it," Franklin said.

Shapiro referenced this year's 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but suggested what the founding fathers fought for in 1776 was again at stake.

"There were heroes in our communities who sat down at lunch counters so others could stand up with more rights," he said. "There were heroes who put on a uniform and landed on beaches overseas to defend our freedoms at home and defeat fascism abroad. In every generation, our story has been written not by people with titles next to their names, but by ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things, creating a more just society standing up for more rights and freedoms for the next generation."

No mention of opponent Stacy Garrity

In 2022, then-state Attorney General Shapiro easily won election against Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano. Three polls — Quinnipiac, Franklin & Marshall and Susquehanna — conducted in February and March show Shapiro with a wide lead over the only Republican gubernatorial candidate, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity. He was ahead by 20 points, 53% to 33%, over Garrity in an average of those polls, according to RealClearPolling.com.

Perhaps it's that comfortable lead in the polls and a large campaign cash advantage over Garrity or maybe it's because he was addressing the home team that he didn't mention her by name once or even attack any specific policy position she holds throughout his speech. He made only a single reference to "my opponent," but made no other mention of Garrity.

However, he took plenty of swipes at President Donald Trump.

Shapiro on President Donald Trump, administration

Shapiro said he's proud to govern in a way "where we show you can lift all people up" and "work for everyone," but said that's not what Americans are getting under Trump.

"Sadly," he said, "this model (of government) that we built here is the opposite of what we are seeing from Donald Trump and his enablers, people who work every single day to tear people down. His enablers, including your congressman" ― a reference to Rep. Mike Kelly, of Butler, R-16th Dist. ― "and my opponent, who know better, but yet who stand there every day and say, 'Whatever you want, Mr. President.'"

Shapiro said Trump "pushed a button to raise your costs every day" by starting trade wars with allies through the use of tariffs, and cutting taxes for the wealthy while cutting Affordable Care Act subsidies, which he said has led to 120,000 Pennsylvanians losing health care coverage with another 310,000 set to lose Medicaid next year. He criticized Trump's decision to go to war with Iran, calling it a "war of choice that was wrong to get into.

"And now he doesn't know how the hell to get out of it," Shapiro said.

He said Trump's Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, "reminds me of an 8-year-old playing with toy soldiers."

And he said he would not allow Trump's Department of Homeland Security to use two warehouse facilities in Berks and Schuylkill counties to hold as many as 9,000 immigrants detained by Immigration & Customs Enforcement.

Using terms like "cruelty" to describe the Trump administration, Shapiro said the president is also trying to "stoke fear" and "create chaos."

"He's trying to get you to stay home and not participate in our democracy," Shapiro said. "His policies are designed to create so much chaos that you just simply don't want to engage."

'We need to look inside ourselves'

Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Sam Talarico used his time at the dais to rattle off a string of successive wins for the party at the federal, state and local levels, including that nationwide Democrats have flipped 30 state legislative seats while Republicans have not flipped one from blue to red.

"So the wind's at our backs, everything is pointing in the right direction," Talarico said, before urging the audience to reject complacency.

Shapiro, too, noted that Erie County voted overwhelmingly in 2025 in support of retaining three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices. He's now hopeful not only to be re-elected, but for voters in November to build on the party's slim majority in the state House and deliver him a "trifecta" by winning control of the state Senate.

"This is our moment now," he said, "a moment where we can't look to others to do this work. A moment where we can't simply look to the history books and think someone there is going to have some magic formula, but rather we need to look inside ourselves and see if we have what it takes."

Matthew Rink is a USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania investigative journalist.