FILE – Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro speaks at an election night event, Nov. 8, 2022, in Oaks, Pa. Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro will take office with a decisive mandate from Pennsylvania voters, who overwhelmingly rejected a Republican drive to pare back abortion rights and voting laws in the premier battleground state. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro will take office with a decisive mandate from Pennsylvania voters, who overwhelmingly rejected a Republican drive to pare back abortion rights and voting laws in the premier battleground state. The state’s two-term attorney general will take the reins in a state riven by bitter partisanship over voting laws and the management of the COVID-19 pandemic by his predecessor. And, with the 2024 presidential election looming, big questions remain unresolved over the state’s voting laws. Still, Shapiro stresses that his blowout victory is a salute to crossover support from Republican voters. He says he has a “mandate” to bring people together and work with Republicans.