Josh Shapiro for Governor

The board members of Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania (DJOP) announced their “enthusiastic endorsement” of PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro for Governor of Pennsylvania.

Jill Zipin, Chair of DJOP, explained that traditionally the 13-year-old political action committee supports candidates for federal office in general elections. But she said the board determined that the Republican Party’s ongoing assaults on voting rights and reproductive rights of women demonstrate that governors have an increasingly important role in shaping these and other policies.

“Our organization’s mission is to help elect those candidates who best reflect Jewish values, including assisting the less fortunate, treating strangers and foreigners with kindness, and striving for equality for all,” Zipin said.

“These very values have long informed Josh Shapiro’s public service as a state representative, as a Montgomery County Commissioner and most recently as Attorney General,” she added. “Our board was unanimous in agreeing to endorse his candidacy. Many of us have known him for many years and we look forward to playing an active role in his campaign for Governor.”

Zipin said that those DJOP board members who attended Shapiro’s announcement of his gubernatorial candidacy “were very much impressed by his assessment of the serious threat to our values that have become central to the agenda of the Republican party,” including the GOP’s state-by-state drive to eliminate the right to abortion, to restrict voting opportunities and to gerrymander voting districts.

She noted that Shapiro has been consistent and effective in his support for gun safety, reproductive choice and the protection of minors from sexual abuse.