Gov. Josh Shapiro lays out priorities with new mandate in Harrisburg

Joined by Democratic leaders one day after securing historic wins across the state, Gov. Josh Shapiro celebrated the party’s midterm victories and offered a glimpse of what Democrats could prioritize with a new mandate in Harrisburg. 

Shapiro, who won his race for reelection by a 21-point margin, said during a Wednesday press conference at the Governor’s residence in Harrisburg that Democrats will work swiftly to advance their agenda, now that they have control of both chambers of the General Assembly. 

“What last night’s election showed is that I have a mandate to continue to lead our commonwealth forward,” Shapiro said. “Now I’ve got a whole lot more partners in progress, a whole lot more GSD Democrats, ready to do this work alongside me.”

Shapiro vowed to make mass transit funding, raising the minimum wage, codifying abortion rights and investing in housing the top priorities in his second term. He added that he and top-ranking Democrats in the General Assembly will release an agenda for their first 100 days of 2027 in the coming weeks. 

The governor was joined by Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, House Majority Leader Matt Bradford and House Appropriations Committee Chair Jordan Harris at Wednesday’s press conference, as well as state Sen. Vincent Hughes, the current minority chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and current Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, whom Shapiro said will likely proceed over the Senate as the chamber’s next president pro tempore. 

Shapiro said history was made Tuesday as Democrats flipped four seats in the state Senate, giving the party a majority – 26 seats to Republicans’ 24 – for the first time in decades. He added that Republicans who fell on Tuesday “lost because their leaders sent them down a path of trying to obstruct progress.”

“Oftentimes, they were enabling the president and stopping progress in this commonwealth. The voters saw right through that,” he added. 

Both Costa and Hughes credited Shapiro for taking an active role in working to flip state legislative seats in the 2026 election cycle. 

“You need to understand: This governor, this lieutenant governor, put it all on the line and sacrificed their own political advance to make sure that the House grew and that the Senate flipped,” Hughes said. “You all need to understand that – he was the leader in making that happen in Pennsylvania.”

Costa added that House Democrats have passed over 200 bills, including an increase in the state’s minimum wage and mass transit funding, that have failed to advance in the GOP-controlled state Senate; they pledged to prioritize those measures next session. 

“These are issues that pass the House in many cases in a bipartisan way, but our obstructionist Senate Republican colleagues do not want to see any action on them. We need to move those bills forward,” Costa said. 

House Democrats also expanded their majority on Tuesday. The party won a one-seat majority in the 2022 election cycle, but after flipping at least 11 seats this cycle, Democrats will return to Harrisburg with at least a 113-90 majority – a gap that could widen as election results for outstanding races are tallied. 

State Sen. Greg Rothman, chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, acknowledged that the results were disappointing for the GOP. 

”Elections bring both victories and setbacks, but our responsibility to the people of Pennsylvania doesn’t change,” Rothman said Wednesday in a statement. “We have work to do, and we will take the time to analyze these results, strengthen our organization, and ensure we are prepared for the challenges ahead.”

While Shapiro celebrated Democrats’ wins on Wednesday, he vowed to work with lawmakers across the aisle, including Senate Republicans, to benefit Pennsylvania. 

“I’m someone who wants to bring people together to get stuff done,” Shapiro said. “If they want to work with us, we will work with them. If they choose to be intransigent, well, then there’ll be 24 ‘no’ votes, and these guys will put up 26, and we’ll make progress. But I want them at the table.”