EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — In an Eyewitness News exclusive, we speak one-on-one with Josh Shapiro, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania.
It’s Shapiro’s first broadcast interview since officially becoming the Democratic candidate. We asked Shapiro questions on a wide range of topics and issues in Pennsylvania.
Including gas prices the state’s election process and bridging the political divide in the nation and here in the commonwealth.
Current Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro wants to be the Governor of Pennsylvania. On Thursday he released his plans and says he will save Pennsylvanians money.
“Get rid of the cell phone tax. You know here in Pennsylvania when you pay your cell phone bill it costs 11 percent more because of the state cell phone tax. Let’s get rid of that,” stated Shapiro.
Shapiro is also proposing to expand the property and rent of the state rebate program to make more Pennsylvanians eligible for that program and the rising fuel costs are on his radar.
“I want to make sure that we help people at the pump. You know we are seeing gas prices surge again. It’s a global market plan leading to higher prices at the pump,” Shapiro stressed. “What I’m going to do is put a rebate a refund back in the pockets of every Pennsylvanian who owns a car. I’m going to give you $250 bucks immediately to offset the high gas prices. If you own two cars you get 500 bucks, three cars 750 bucks and so on and so forth,” said Shapiro.
The Country and most Pennsylvanians would agree about a political divide. Shapiro explains how he would bring people together to get things done.
“I have a long track record doing just that, finding, common ground between Democrats and Republicans and making progress,” said Shapiro.
Eyewitness News also asked Shapiro about the recently approved new legislative maps in Pennsylvania.
“I’m not sure I’m qualified to speak about every single district but what I know is that the map seems fair. Unlike previous maps that had been gerrymandered. In my view, we have to let voters decide who their representatives are,” Shapiro explained.
Many Americans and Pennsylvanians are looking at inflation skyrocketing, mentioning gas prices before they blame the Biden administration. We asked Shapiro if he is concerned about any backlash to any Democratic candidates?
“I don’t pay attention to what happens in Washington D.C. or how people perceive Washington D.C. I’m a proud Pennsylvania Democrat with a strong track record of winning where many other Democrats didn’t win,” expressed Shapiro.
We also asked Shapiro about the ongoing debate in Harrisburg about how elections are run in Pennsylvania.
“When I’m governor I’ll appoint a Pro-Democracy Secretary Department of State to ensure we have a free, safe and secure election. I’ll protect vote by mail, have automatic voter registration to qualified eligible voters to make sure we have more participation in our democracy,” stated Shapiro.
The last question we asked was who is Josh Shapiro?
Well, most people see me dressed in a suit, right. The first thing I do when I go home is put sweats on put on a t-shirt just be a dad. Spend time with my kids. Laurie and I are blessed with four children. My family, my faith, are the most important things in life it’s what keeps me going,” Shapiro stressed.
Ten candidates are vying for the Republican nomination, for a full list of Republican nominees running for Governor of Pennsylvania head over to the Pa Voter Services website.
