PA State AG Josh Shapiro, An Abington Resident, Will Be Running For Pennsylvania Governor

ABINGTON, PA — Matt Vahey recalls being recruited by a national democratic organization after college back in the early 2000s to work on the campaign of a young Montgomery County guy named Josh Shapiro who was running for a seat in the state House of Representatives.

Vahey, a fellow Montgomery County native, had gone to college out of state, but was coincidentally placed with Shapiro’s campaign right back here in southeastern Pennsylvania.

And so it was, Vahey was coming home to knock on doors to help try and get Shapiro elected as a first term rep.

“I was just struck by how competent he was and how I had no doubt he was going to win,” Vahey told Patch in an interview about working on Shapiro’s campaign for the 153rd Legislative District back in 2004.

Shapiro had a long road ahead of him – the incumbent he was trying to ouster was Jon Fox, who had held the 153rd seat for many years, and was a known name in the community. Fox was also on the other side of the political aisle, and Shapiro, a Democrat, was trying to flip the seat to his party.

Shapiro ended up beating Fox, who has since passed away, in what was to be the start of a very promising career in Pennsylvania government, first as a state legislator, next as a county commissioner and currently as the commonwealth's attorney general.

Now, Shapiro is running for governor, an announcement he made official on Wednesday.

'So Much Promise Early On'

“We won because Josh worked constantly,” said Vahey, who, after working on the campaign, became Shapiro’s chief of staff in the state House. “He just was so personable and could relate to people so easily. I couldn’t remember a bad interaction. He showed so much promise early on.”

Vahey, now 40, married with children, a lawyer at Ballard Spahr, and an elected township commissioner in Abington, the community where Shapiro lives with his own family, said he is still in touch with Shapiro to this day. They haven’t gotten together much since the COVID-19 pandemic, and because Shapiro is pretty busy serving as the state’s current attorney general, but when they do talk, it’s like no time has gone by.

“I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t worked for him for those years,” Vahey said. “He taught me so much. I don’t think I work as hard as him, but I am a very hard worker because of just watching him and following his example.”

Vahey said he doesn’t know if he would have attended law school had he not worked with Shapiro, and he said that experience “helped set the tenor for the rest of my career.”

Vahey is not the only one with fond memories of Shapiro’s time back here in Montgomery County.

Ira Tackel, who is the president of the Upper Dublin Board of Commissioners, and a longtime township resident, said he, too, recalls those early days when Shapiro was running for that state House seat way back when.

Tackel, who lived within the 153rd Legislative District, remembers seeing Shapiro at Upper Dublin polling places talking to individuals. He seemed incredibly genuine.

'Lucky To Have Such An Individual'

“I have the utmost respect and admiration for him as an individual, as a public servant,” Tackel told Patch. “We’re lucky to have such an individual.”

Tackel said he believes Shapiro is “imminently qualified” to be Pennsylvania’s next governor, saying Shapiro's accomplishments in state government “speak for themselves.”

“I’m just delighted that he has decided to run,” Tackel said.

Tackel recalls Shapiro’s work at the local level early on. He said Shapiro was instrumental in the rebuilding of the Evelyn B. Wright ball field in the North Hills section of Upper Dublin, a recreational area for local children and families. Shapiro was there with Tackel when the rededication ceremony for the ball field was held some years back.

“He’s just been a real supporter,” of Upper Dublin, and Montgomery County as a whole, Tackel said.

Following his time in the state House, Shapiro went on to become a commissioner in Montgomery County. His time on the board was marked by a historical turn for the county, as it was the first time he and another democratic commissioner took over the majority from what had been a Republican stronghold at the county level for many decades.

Michael Paston, a fellow Upper Dublin resident who once served on that community’s school board, has known Shapiro since Shapiro first became a state representative back in 2004.

Paston also worked for Montgomery County government at the time Shapiro served as a commissioner. He recalls Shapiro as the real deal.

'A True Leader'

“He’s a true leader in every sense of the word,” Paston told Patch. “He made it a point to get to know everyone in the county.”

Paston recalls Shapiro touring all the different offices at the county government building. This included the county Clerk of Courts office, a row office where Paston eventually ended up working, and one that Shapiro would visit during his tours.

“He understands that you’re not a leader unless you have followers and believers, and he makes people feel appreciated and important,” Paston said. “He made a good impression on people. You always knew he was going places.”

Paston recalls that during Shapiro’s time at the state House, he helped broker a cross-party deal that saw former Republican House member Dennis O’Brien become speaker during a time where the House had a democratic majority, albeit by one member.

The nearly unheard of move came after democrats failed to unify behind one of their own to become speaker. Under the deal, Shapiro, a democrat, would become deputy House speaker under O'Brien, a Northeast Philadelphia resident who went on to hold a city council term after his time in Harrisburg.

Paston said the move showed early on that Shapiro would be able to work in a bipartisan fashion to get things done in Pennsylvania government.

“It’s very rare that somebody that new could take charge of ethics reform and putting together a leadership government in a House that was basically tied,” Paston said.

Paston also said when Shapiro was a county commissioner, he worked well with Bruce Castor, the Republican commissioner serving on the board at the time.

“They understood the difference between politics and government,” Paston said. “When you get elected, and there’s three of you, you have to figure out a way to make it work.”

Paston believes that Shapiro would be a good governor given his past ability to work across the political aisle.

“It was really a model of how government is supposed to work, both what he did at the state level and the county level,” Paston said.

Keeping Busy As Attorney General

Shapiro's gubernatorial run comes as he has been quite busy running the Attorney General's Office. He was first elected to the position in 2016, following a scandal involving former Attorney General Kathleen Kane, whose prison sentencing made her ineligible to continue holding office.

Shapiro came into office with ethics reforms in mind. After serving out his first four-year term as attorney general, Shapiro was reelected to the role just last year. Kane had been the first democrat ever elected to the post, making Shapiro the second democratic attorney general in Pennsylvania history.

As the state's top law enforcer, he has focused on prosecuting environmental crimes, going after corporate polluters; he has focused on major societal ills such as the ongoing opioid crisis; and he has placed an emphasis on consumer protection, going so far as to recently sue the organizers of the Greater Philadelphia Comic Con for failing to issue ticket refunds after the event was cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

As for the governor's race, Shapiro remains the only Democrat currently in the running, with party leaders rallying strongly behind this Montgomery County native.