2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election


The 2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania. Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro defeated Republican state Senator Doug Mastriano to win his first term in office. Shapiro succeeded Democratic incumbent Tom Wolf, who was term limited.
In the primaries on May 17, 2022, Shapiro was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Mastriano, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, won the Republican nomination with 44% of the vote over former congressman Lou Barletta and former U.S. attorney William McSwain. Although the election was expected to be competitive due to Pennsylvania's reputation as a swing state, Mastriano had trouble fundraising, made few media appearances, committed multiple gaffes, was accused of antisemitism against Shapiro, and generated controversy from his far-right positions. Mastriano's struggles helped Shapiro take a strong polling lead that continued up to the election.
Shapiro defeated Mastriano by almost 15 points, the largest margin for a non-incumbent candidate for Pennsylvania governor since 1946, and earned the most votes of a Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate at just over three million. His large margin of victory was credited with helping down-ballot Democrats in concurrent elections. The victory also marked the first time since 1844 that the Democratic Party won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in Pennsylvania, and the first since 1950 that any party had done so. According to exit polls, Shapiro won independent voters by a 31-point margin, which contributed to Mastriano's defeat.

Democratic primary

Governor

Campaign

ran unopposed and was described as the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee by The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pennsylvania Capital-Star early in the campaign, with the Capital-Star reporting that efforts to recruit a primary challenger to the left of Shapiro had failed.

Candidates

Nominee

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Nominee

Results

Republican primary

In the Republican primary, leading candidates included former congressman Lou Barletta, Montgomery County commissioner Joe Gale, political strategist Charlie Gerow, former U.S. Attorney William McSwain, state Senator Doug Mastriano, and former Delaware County councilmember Dave White.
Several key issues, such as school choice, natural gas exploration in PA, and tax reform, were early themes in the Pennsylvania GOP debates before the primary election, while voting laws in the Commonwealth were a later topic of debate.
Due to his support for overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election and his role in the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack, many Republicans expressed concern about Mastriano's ability to win the general election. As a result, the party encouraged other candidates to drop out to allow for an alternative to Mastriano to gain traction.
On May 12, president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate Jake Corman dropped out and endorsed Barletta. On May 14, former president Donald Trump endorsed Mastriano. On May 12, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that former U.S. Representative Melissa Hart would also drop out and endorse Barletta. Mastriano won the primary with almost 44% of the vote, defeating his nearest competitor, Barletta, by over 23 points.
The New York Times reported in mid-June that Mastriano had been aided in the primary by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and Shapiro's campaign with an ad equating him to Trump. Shapiro defended the move, saying the ad demonstrated the contrast between him and Mastriano as part of the general election campaign. The Times saw it as part of a nationwide strategy to gain easier opponents in November.

Governor

Candidates

Nominee

Endorsements

Polling

Graphical summary

Source of poll
aggregation		Dates
administered		Dates
updated		Lou
Barletta		Jake
Corman		Doug
Mastriano		William
McSwain		Dave
White		Other
Margin
Real Clear PoliticsMay 3–16, 2022May 17, 202220.3%2.7%34.3%15.3%9.8%17.6%Mastriano +14.0

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Nominee

Results

Libertarian nomination

The Libertarian Party nominees qualified for the general election ballot on August 1.

Governor

Nominee

Nominee

  • Tim McMaster, IT analyst, farmer, and nominee for state senator from the 48th district in 2021