Josh Shapiro is raising huge amounts of cash for the Pennsylvania governor’s race

In a midterm election year when Democrats are expected to face fierce political headwinds, Shapiro has two important advantages.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia last month.Read moreTHOMAS HENGGE / Staff Photographer

by Andrew Seidman and Chris Brennan

Published Feb. 2, 2022, 10:28 a.m. ET

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the only established Democrat running for governor in 2022, raised a whopping $13.4 million in campaign cash last year, a sum that may exceed the entire GOP field combined.

In a midterm election year when Democrats are expected to face fierce political headwinds, Shapiro has two advantages: He won’t face a serious primary challenge, and he’s raising a ton of money.

Shapiro ended the year with $13.5 million in the bank, according to financial disclosures filed this week (he started 2021 with $2.7 million in cash and spent most of it). His fund-raising prowess even came up during a GOP debate last week. “Josh Shapiro will have a ton of money, and we’re going to need to be able to raise it,” Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R., Centre) said then.

Shapiro’s annual report runs more than 3,000 pages, demonstrating support from small-dollar donors, contributors with deeper pockets, and several special interests, especially labor unions.

The Carpenters Union in Philadelphia gave him $500,000 in February; the Western Pennsylvania Laborers PAC in Pittsburgh gave him $185,000 in three contributions last year; the Laborers District PAC in Philadelphia and Local 5 of the electricians union in Pittsburgh each gave him $125,000; and Local 19 of the Sheet Metal Workers Union in Philadelphia gave him $200,000.

Karla Jurvetson and Jennifer Duda, both donors from California, contributed $1 million each.

In the Republican primary, at least five candidates raised more than $1 million last year, including two — Dave White and Jason Richey — who cut seven-figure checks to their own campaigns. Limited polling of the race so far suggests that former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta and State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin) have the strongest name recognition among GOP voters, meaning their rivals may have to spend big to close that gap. Both are staunch supporters of former President Donald Trump, whose shadow looms large in the campaign.