You’re running for reelection with the theme of getting stuff done, and you have a sizable lead in the polls. What's the one accomplishment from your first term you'd want voters to judge you on?
My Administration has a GSD attitude – we get stuff done for the people of Pennsylvania. And we have gotten a lot of stuff done over our four years in office, investing an historic amount in our kids’ education, making our communities safer, and creating jobs and more economic opportunity all across Pennsylvania.
Let me give you just one example of how we’ve gotten stuff done:
At 7am on a Sunday morning in June of 2023, I got a call from my Chief of Staff that a tanker truck had crashed under I-95 in Philadelphia. The crash started a fire so intense that it melted the steel and concrete supporting the highway, causing a 150-foot-long section to literally collapse. That section of I-95 carries 175,000 cars and trucks every single day. When it’s closed, it takes longer to get to school and work, shipments get delayed, and the economy suffers.
The experts told us it would take months to rebuild and reopen. But by empowering strong leadership on the ground, speeding up bureaucracy, encouraging creativity, and working together – especially with the Philadelphia Building Trades – we got I-95 open in just 12 days. When the nation’s eyes were on Pennsylvania, we showed that we can do big things again.
I believe in my heart that we can do big things here in our Commonwealth. That the work we did together in Northeast Philly on that stretch of road wasn’t the exception – it should be the norm.
Artificial intelligence and data centers have become some of the biggest topics nationally this election cycle, and you just spoke at a major AI conference in Pittsburgh. What would you like to see happen in terms of regulations and, if any, industry collaboration?
Pennsylvania has been a model for safe and effective AI deployment to our Commonwealth employees from the beginning. But I’m mindful that we’re just one state – and despite our commitment to collaboration and the leadership of folks in Pennsylvania– we can’t address this alone.
We need the federal government to establish strict rules of the road – and then enforce those rules to ensure a level playing field. Rules that require independent, third-party oversight of frontier models; increase transparency into the development of these models; and prioritize safety above all else.
The future of a technology this powerful should be shaped by the American people and their representatives. While information from industry leaders is helpful and welcome, they should not exclusively guide the regulatory policy of this nation.
The federal government needs to work with leading researchers and experts – as we’ve done in Pennsylvania – and with the American people to develop strict guardrails on this technology, its development, and its deployment in the real world. We should work with our allies and our adversaries to put these protections in place. That might mean placing limits on technology sharing and slowing down frontier AI development until we can be sure these systems are safe.
For my part, I will be leading the conversation here in Pennsylvania around the safe, responsible use of AI. People are counting on us to get this done.
You’ve served at the state and local levels of government in Pennsylvania. What’s a story from your career that has stuck with you and still influences how you serve as Governor?
As Attorney General, I exposed systematic abuse in the Catholic Church by hundreds of predator priests and prosecuted abusers for their crimes. We fought to give survivors a voice — but we’re still fighting for real accountability.
Survivors need to have their day in court. If someone has been a victim of abuse, they have no doubt been forced to deal with the cost of therapy, the cost of dealing with their life after being victimized by a priest or a coach or a doctor or a teacher; it shouldn't be on that survivor to have to pay their own way. They should have the right to confront their abuser in court.
During this, I was able to meet with a group of brave, strong people who had experienced this terrible trauma. I listened to their truth. Their stories are powerful and traumatic and I was inspired by their courage."
I think the people of Pennsylvania wanted me and other prosecutors to go out and hold powerful institutions accountable, not shield them from the reach of the law. And that is exactly what we did in this clergy abuse case.
Just to be clear, I'm fighting to make sure that every single survivor's truth is told. None of them should be redacted. No one survivor's truth is less important than another.
As Governor, I vow to continue fighting for accountability for victims of sexual abuse.
Partisanship in America is arguably the most divided it's been in recent memory. You yourself have had to deal with a Republican State Senate and Democratic State House. What do you think Democrats, nationally, can learn from how you’ve balanced a divided government and a diverse Democratic party in a swing state?
This is the fourth year in a row where – despite working with one of the only divided legislatures in the country – we brought Democrats and Republicans together to get stuff done. We managed to find compromise – without compromising our core values – and we passed a state budget that invests in our schools, grows our economy, expands our workforce, and makes our communities safer.
From day one, my Administration has been laser-focused on delivering results for the people of Pennsylvania — and what we’re doing is working. In a divided legislature, we’ve proven time and again that Democrats and Republicans can come together to get stuff done for the good people of Pennsylvania — cutting taxes, investing in education and workforce development, and keeping the economy growing. By listening to Pennsylvanians and working together, we’re solving problems and building on the last three years of real progress. We’re showing that when you stay at the table, we can do big things and get stuff done.
Pennsylvania hosted six World Cup matches and the MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia, the PGA Championship at Aronimink and the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, all in under three months. Which one was the most fun, and is there anything you're still trying to land for Pennsylvania sports fans?
Pennsylvania is where it all began for the United State of America. Our nation was born in Philadelphia 250 years ago when our founders signed the Declaration of Independence at Independence Hall, and as we celebrated that important milestone this year, our Commonwealth was once again at the center of the universe.
We worked for years to bring all of these events to Pennsylvania during 2026, and they've all set records. Look where we started with the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh – 820,000 people, more than any other host city. Then you look at Aronimink and the PGA Championship. We set records there. At the FIFA Club World Cup, we had the most-attended FIFA Fan Festival in the country, and we sold out every match. Then you had the All-Star Game, which was amazing. Don't forget we worked hard to bring UFC here.
In these divided, challenging times, sports is a great unifier. It's an opportunity for us to come together. When you see hundreds of thousands of people coming to these events, those are people with different views on life, different politics, and different backgrounds. Yet they're coming together with joy. They're coming together with purpose to cheer for their team, and they're coming together to experience something we'll never experience again in our lifetime.
That's a beautiful thing, and it's all happening right here in Pennsylvania.
(Photo: Gov. Josh Shaprio, via Commonwealth Media Services)