2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election
Turnout	60.5%
	Shapiro: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% ; Mastriano: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Tie: 40–50% 50% No data
Governor before election; Tom Wolf; Democratic	Elected Governor ; Josh Shapiro; Democratic

The 2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Pennsylvania and lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania. State Attorney General Josh Shapiro defeated State Senator Doug Mastriano by 14.8 percentage points to succeed term-limited incumbent governor Tom Wolf (D). Primaries were held on May 17, 2022. Shapiro won the Democratic nomination after running unopposed and Mastriano won the Republican nomination with 44% of the vote. Mastriano's nomination drew attention due to his far-right political views.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Pennsylvania only voted for President Joe Biden by 1.2% in 2020 and many Republicans were hopeful that they could pick up the governorship. Days before the Republican primary, multiple Republican candidates dropped out and endorsed former congressman Lou Barletta as they believed that Mastriano would lose a general election.^[5]^[6] After his primary win, Mastriano had trouble fundraising, made few media appearances, made multiple gaffes and was accused of antisemitism against Shapiro.^[7]^[8] Shapiro ultimately defeated Mastriano by almost 15 points, a margin consistent with most polls. Shapiro's landslide victory did not come as a surprise to many political pundits, despite many of them predicting a favorable environment for Republicans.^[9]

Shapiro scored the largest margin for a non-incumbent candidate for Pennsylvania governor since 1946,^[10]^[11] and his victory marked the first time since 1844 that the Democratic Party won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in Pennsylvania. Shapiro also made history by earning the most votes of any gubernatorial candidate in the state's history, garnering just over three million votes. Austin Davis was elected lieutenant governor, and became the second African American elected to statewide office in the state's history, following Timothy DeFoor in 2020.

Shapiro's large margin of victory has been widely credited with helping down-ballot Democrats in concurrent elections.

^ Otterbein, Holly; Montellaro, Zach (May 10, 2022). "Pennsylvania GOP panics over possible Mastriano nomination". Politico. Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
^ Epstein, Reid J. (May 17, 2022). "Doug Mastriano, a far-right 2020 election denier, is Pennsylvania Republicans' choice for governor". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
^ Smith, Allan (May 17, 2022). "Far-right election denier Mastriano wins GOP race for governor in Pennsylvania". NBC News. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^ Dunklau, Sam (May 17, 2022). "A far-right election denier wins GOP governor primary in swing state of Pennsylvania". NPR. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^ Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference BarlettaHart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Epstein, Reid J. (September 26, 2022). "Mastriano's Sputtering Campaign: No TV Ads, Tiny Crowds, Little Money". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
^ Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Schoen, Douglas E. (October 31, 2022). "How the impending red wave could become a tsunami". The Hill. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
^ Scolforo, Mark (November 10, 2022). "Pennsylvania Democrats kept suburbs, gained rural voters". WESA (FM). Retrieved November 15, 2022.
^ Platt, Larry (November 11, 2022). "The Jewish Obama, Niceness Makes a Comeback, The Best PA Reporter Commutes From London (Midterm election recap)". The Philadelphia Citizen. Retrieved November 20, 2022. Why did Shapiro win this week by the largest margin of any non-incumbent gubernatorial candidate since 1946

[RepublicanPanic-1] Otterbein, Holly; Montellaro, Zach (May 10, 2022). "Pennsylvania GOP panics over possible Mastriano nomination". Politico. Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved May 11, 2022.

[RepublicansChoice-2] Epstein, Reid J. (May 17, 2022). "Doug Mastriano, a far-right 2020 election denier, is Pennsylvania Republicans' choice for governor". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2022.

[3] Smith, Allan (May 17, 2022). "Far-right election denier Mastriano wins GOP race for governor in Pennsylvania". NBC News. Retrieved May 19, 2022.

[4] Dunklau, Sam (May 17, 2022). "A far-right election denier wins GOP governor primary in swing state of Pennsylvania". NPR. Retrieved May 19, 2022.

[:9-5] Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[BarlettaHart-6] Cite error: The named reference BarlettaHart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[7] Epstein, Reid J. (September 26, 2022). "Mastriano's Sputtering Campaign: No TV Ads, Tiny Crowds, Little Money". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 24, 2023.

[:10-8] Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[9] Schoen, Douglas E. (October 31, 2022). "How the impending red wave could become a tsunami". The Hill. Retrieved April 24, 2023.

[10] Scolforo, Mark (November 10, 2022). "Pennsylvania Democrats kept suburbs, gained rural voters". WESA (FM). Retrieved November 15, 2022.

[11] Platt, Larry (November 11, 2022). "The Jewish Obama, Niceness Makes a Comeback, The Best PA Reporter Commutes From London (Midterm election recap)". The Philadelphia Citizen. Retrieved November 20, 2022. Why did Shapiro win this week by the largest margin of any non-incumbent gubernatorial candidate since 1946

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