Democrat Josh Shapiro wins Pennsylvania governor's race, NBC News projects

Josh Shapiro won the Pennsylvania governor's race, defeating Republican Doug Mastriano and keeping the swing-state bureau successful Democratic hands, NBC News projected.

Shapiro led Mastriano by astir 11 percent points with astir 64% of the ballot in, according to NBC.

He volition win Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who reached the commonwealth's bounds of 2 consecutive four-year terms. 

Shapiro won aft enjoying a important fiscal and polling vantage passim the race. The Democrat raised and spent astir $44 cardinal for his campaign, much than 10 times Mastriano, who spent little than $4 million. 

Shapiro led polls consistently successful the lead-up to Election Day. He held a much than 10 percent constituent borderline implicit Mastriano successful an mean of polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight.

The Democrat Shapiro has served arsenic Pennsylvania's lawyer wide since 2017 and was antecedently a authorities representative. He ran connected issues specified arsenic protecting termination access, defeating mendacious claims astir fraud successful the 2020 predetermination and reforming the transgression justness strategy to code inherent biases.

The Republican Mastriano is simply a retired U.S. Army colonel and authorities legislator successful Pennsylvania's 33rd District. Endorsed by erstwhile President Donald Trump, Mastriano campaigned connected plans to combat convulsive crime, enforce stronger borders, instrumentality anti-abortion policies and enactment connected Trump's mendacious claims of predetermination fraud.

He was connected the grounds of the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

Mastriano amplified Trump's mendacious claims that the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination was stolen, and made the repeal of Pennsylvania's Act 77 cardinal to his run promises. Act 77 is the voting instrumentality that allows for no-excuse mail-in voting successful Pennsylvania. Since the statesmanlike election, the commonwealth has been a cardinal battleground for the claims of predetermination fraud. 

Mastriano's priorities, arsenic listed by his campaign, focused connected galore of the taste issues Republicans tried to leverage to summation turnout this year. He said that helium wanted to reverse Covid-era policies nether Wolf, and added that helium planned to combat "medical tyranny" and instantly extremity each vaccine requirements and disguise mandates erstwhile helium entered office. He besides touted plans to support Second Amendment rights, prohibition captious contention mentation teaching, and barroom trans women from women's locker rooms and sports.

Shapiro, meanwhile, assured supporters that, arsenic governor, helium would veto immoderate restrictions connected mail-in voting and name a like-minded caput of authorities to affirm that protection. Shapiro besides said helium would make automatic and same-day elector registration for Pennsylvanians.