You know, I am proud to be standing here with all of you, in Johnstown, to kick off my campaign to be your Governor, here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in our general election. And I'm proud to be standing in front of the Firefighters Memorial Bridge. And there's a reason why I'm here today. 
 
You see this bridge spans the Stoneycreek River, which flows into the Conemaugh River, and it goes upstream to the Allegheny River. And it was on the banks of the Allegheny River, standing in Pittsburgh, that I first stood up and said that I was running to be your Governor here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
 
And after leaving Pittsburgh that day, I've traveled all across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – rural communities, urban communities, suburban communities, a lot of communities that have been left behind and forgotten. You know what I did when I showed up there? I listened. 
 
I listened to the moms in Erie standing next to their minivans, talking to me about how the rising costs were making them wonder whether or not they were going to be able to take their kids to the activities that they wanted to go to. 
 
I talked to the teacher's aide in Lower Bucks County, who talked to me about the mental health challenges she saw the kids in her classrooms battling. 
 
The mom in a rural community living right next to a polluted area, worried that when she bathed her child, whether the water coming out of the tap was gonna poison her kid. 
 
I listened to people in communities that oftentimes felt ignored and forgotten. The person who called the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania when the pandemic hit and they lost their job, and couldn't even get their calls returned. 
 
I’m mindful of the grandma in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, quite literally grabbed me by the lapels and pulled me into her face and said do not let us go back to what it was like before Roe.
 
The countless people who have stopped me along the way and just wondered whether or not our democracy was gonna get through this. I have listened and I have heard those concerns, and I'm running to be your Governor not just to win an election, but to meet this moment, to address that worry, and to move Pennsylvania forward. 
 
That's why I'm running to be your Governor. 
 
Now I know, as Governor, we got a lot of work to do, and it starts by making sure every single kid in this Commonwealth gets a good quality education. That's where it starts. 
 
I've seen it. Listen, I've seen it up close in our urban communities, our rural communities – schools that have been chronically underfunded, where government has left these kids behind and not had the backs of our teachers. 
 
But I'm also here to tell you tonight in Johnstown, that it's not enough just to write the check. It's not enough to simply fund our schools. It's what we do with those dollars and how we care for our kids. 
 
It's about making sure that when we put the dollars into those schools, we make them go far and we make the changes necessary so our kids can learn. Let me tell you what I mean. 
 
When I am Governor, we will finally end our reliance on standardized testing here in Pennsylvania. We will. Because it is not a measure of how well a student is going to do and it certainly isn't a measure of how well a teacher teaches. Let's reclaim that time in the classroom or arts and humanities, and let's teach our kids history and civics. We can do that here in Pennsylvania. 
 
Let's reclaim that time for vocational, technical, and computer training in every single high school classroom in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, because here's what I know, we can help our kids meet their full potential if we stop letting the bureaucrats in Harrisburg decide and start letting these kids meet their opportunities. 
 
So here's what I mean by that. If you want to go to college we'll help you afford college, we have to do a better job of that in Pennsylvania. But if you want to go in the workforce, we will show you the way – that's what our high schools are gonna look like in Pennsylvania when I'm Governor. 
 
Every school building, you're gonna walk into a classroom and our kids will have the books they need, the computers they need, exceptional teachers to teach them. When that student has a challenge, and when that student walks out of that classroom looking for help, you know what else they'll find in their school buildings? They'll find a mental health counselor in every single school building in our Commonwealth. Our kids' mental health challenges are real, and it's high time we address that in our schools. 
 
So we're gonna build good schools for our kids, and here's the other thing, we got to make sure every single one of our kids, every Pennsylvanian, gets to live in safety and security in all of their communities. 
 
I've seen this firsthand as your Attorney General, and when I'm Governor we will hire 2000 more police officers in our communities to make sure people are safe. 
 
And hear me on this. We are going to bring the police and the community closer together. When you hire more police officers, that's an opportunity for that police officer to get out of the patrol car and walk the streets and see the humanity in our children and know their names and listen to the people who really run the neighborhoods, and that is the grandmoms sitting on the porches. They're the ones who run our neighborhoods and the police and the grandmoms and our kids are gonna be closer together. 
 
That's a critical thing that government must do. That is keeping people safe. 
 
Especially when they go to school, especially when they go to school. Lori and I are blessed to have four children. We don't want to worry when we send our kids to school. I don't want you to worry when you send your kids to school. Your kids' safety in their schools, in their churches, at a movie theater, that will be my top priority. We will make sure every community in Pennsylvania has the safety and the security that you deserve. I promise you that. 
 
We're gonna build strong schools and safe communities, and we're gonna build an economy that lifts everybody up. I've seen too many communities ignored, too many forgotten, too many people left out. 
 
Here's how we're going to begin to build our economy in Pennsylvania and make it work for all. It starts by making sure every single household business, farm is connected to the internet. We will do that when I'm Governor. 
 
It is unacceptable that we have 17% of households here in Cambria County not connected to the internet – and we've got to make sure when you're connected, it's affordable and it's high speed. We will do that here in Pennsylvania. 
 
We will make sure that we take advantage of the opportunities that we have in the Commonwealth. It starts, I believe, with investing in energy. I will be an all of the above energy Governor. A Governor that makes sure we protect the jobs that exist and we create more jobs, green energy jobs. 
 
By the year 2030, when God-willing, I've concluded my two terms as your Governor, with your help, we will be at 30% renewable energy consumed here in Pennsylvania. That's going to help make sure we have an abundance of affordable energy and put people to work, protect our planet – don't tell me that we have to choose between the dignity of work and environmental justice – that's a false choice. We can do both. We will grow our energy economy here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
 
We've also got to cut costs for families. I talked about those moms in Erie and so many others I've talked about, I've heard from, I've listened to. 
 
We have got to make sure we cut costs, and it's going to start by helping people deal with the pain at the pump. Every single person with a car is gonna get a $250 gas tax rebate to help offset the costs of fuel in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
 
Seniors are going to get double the property tax rebate to be able to stay in their homes and we're going to end those nuisance taxes that are holding us back in Pennsylvania. Gone will be the Pennsylvania cell phone tax which costs you and every taxpayer $317 million dollars a year. We're gonna end those nuisance taxes, cut costs, and let Pennsylvanians keep more money in their pockets. We can do that together. 
 
We're gonna cut costs, we're gonna cut taxes, we're gonna increase wages, and we are going to protect the union way of life when I am Governor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I've been an Attorney General that's been focused on protecting union rights, I'll be a Governor that expands union opportunity when I serve as your chief executive. 
 
Now listen, We're going to improve our schools and create safer communities and we're going to make sure we have an economy that lifts everybody up. And you know what else I'm gonna do? I don't know how to fit this on a bumper sticker yet, but I'm gonna make sure Pennsylvanians don't get screwed. 
 
Seriously think about it. We have seen too many people get ripped off by corporations putting profits before people, right? How about those student loan companies as an example. I've taken them to court and as a result of our fight against those student loan companies, today, Pennsylvania students and families have $130 million dollars back in their pockets in student loan debt forgiveness, because we had the courage to take them on in court. We never shy away from a big fight. 
 
We’ve taken on those opioid companies in Cambria County. You know, we have arrested over 8,100 drug dealers since I've been your Attorney General. But understand what happens on our street corners didn't start on our street corners. This opioid crisis, which claims the lives of 15 Pennsylvanians every single day, was manufactured in the boardrooms of pharmaceutical companies. And they need to be held to account and that's why I took them to court and how we brought $1.1 billion dollars back to the people of Pennsylvania for treatment because drug addiction is a disease, not a crime, and people need our help and their getting it.
 
I remember talking to the woman behind the counter at Sheetz not too far from here four years ago. She talked to me about her husband who was dying of cancer. She was worried because he was about to lose his doctor, because a bunch of healthcare executives were battling, at Highmark and at UPMC. 
 
1.9 million Western Pennsylvanians were about to lose access to health insurance, and we stepped in. And today, healthcare was protected in Western Pennsylvania, you get to go see your doctor, your kids see their doctor, and that mom behind the Sheetz counter was able to make sure her husband made it through his cancer diagnosis. 
 
Standing up to powerful interests is what I've done as Attorney General. I'll continue to make sure you don't get screwed when I'm your Governor. 
 
Now it's not just the big corporations that are trying to screw over Pennsylvania. You know who else is? Let's speak frankly, my opponent is trying to screw over a whole bunch of Pennsylvanians. 
 
And let me explain what I mean by that. Let's talk fact. He's put forth no plan to improve our schools, no plan to grow our economy, no meaningful plan to create safe communities. And instead and hear me on this, what he's all about, is trying to take away your freedom. Trying to take away your rights. That's what he's all about. 
 
He loves to cloak himself in the blanket of freedom, right? You've heard him talking about this. He loves to cloak himself in the blanket of freedom. 
 
But hear me on this, it's not freedom, it's not freedom, when he tries to tell the women of Pennsylvania what they can do with their own bodies. That's not freedom.
 
It's not freedom when he says to you, you have to work a full-time job, play by the rules, yet you still can't make ends meet. That's not freedom. 
 
It's not freedom when he tells you, you can't join a union. That is not freedom. 
 
It's not freedom when he tells you what books your children can read. That's not freedom. 
 
And it sure as hell isn't freedom when he tells you, you can vote, but he'll pick the winner. That's not freedom. 
 
And that is not how we do things in the United States of America and when I'm Governor it is not how we will do things in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I believe in freedom, you believe in freedom, and it's up to us to defend our freedoms here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
 
And you have a unique responsibility to defend that freedom. Listen, you sit here in Johnstown, in Cambria County, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the ultimate swing state in our nation. Think about this for a minute, the last two presidential races were settled by less than a percentage point. Think about the immense power that you have. Think about it for a minute. 
 
Y'all are in the know. You're union leaders, you're community leaders, you're teachers, you're firefighters, you're police officers, you're people who care about your community. Think about what it means when you put that lawn sign on your lawn and the neighbor walks by and says tell me about Shapiro. Think about what it means. 
 
Think about what it means when you have that quiet conversation when you're leaving church, that talk with your neighbor at the checkout counter. Those conversations, you letting people know what's at stake, the opportunities and the threat to freedom. You having those conversations, that's what's gonna make the difference in this election. 
 
You have immense power and I'm here tonight to respectfully ask you to use it. And I would argue that it's not just the opportunity you have to make a difference in an election, because I think this is far more than just winning an election. I think you have a responsibility to defend our democracy. A democracy that was born here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, albeit a few miles down the road in the city of Philadelphia. 
 
But all eyes of the nation, and all eyes in this Commonwealth, are going to be on communities like this. And to know what you did when you had the opportunity, to defend that freedom and those rights. 
 
Folks ask me all the time, why do you do what you do? Some days I wonder myself. But I want to tell you why I do what I do. Why I'm involved in public service. 
 
Because of my family and because of my faith. Lori and I are blessed with four children. I look in their eyes every day. And I want a better future for them. I worry about them. I worry about your kids and your grandkids. I want to build a better future for all of our children in Pennsylvania.
 
So my family is why I do this work, but I also do this work because I am grounded in my faith. I recognize we may not worship the same God, or worship at all, and that's fine. But I want to tell you what my Scripture teaches me. And that is that “no one is required to complete the task, but neither are we free to refrain from it.”
 
Let me tell you what that means to me. What it means is that each of us has a responsibility – responsibility – to get off the sidelines, to get in the game, and to do our part. 
 
So I'm here tonight because I would respectfully submit to you that you have a responsibility as well. Yes, I'm humbly here asking you for your vote and your time and your hard work. But what I'm really asking for is something more, something greater than that. And that is to make sure that communities like this don't get forgotten. And that people like you that are in the know, meet this moment and exercise that level of personal responsibility we have. To defend our democracy, to protect our freedoms, and to create the kind of opportunities that I see for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
 
I believe that we will meet this moment together. I believe that we will build a better bridge to a better tomorrow. And I do believe that for as broken and challenging as our politics feel right now, that there are brighter days ahead. And it happens in communities like this, as it flows through the rivers of Pennsylvania, from town to town. 
 
We will rise up together. We will meet this moment. We will do our part. We will meet our responsibility. We will win an election. And we will have brighter days tomorrow. Folks thank you all so very much. God bless you and thank you for your support, I appreciate you so much. Thank you.