Exclusive: Ward says ‘we are the stopgap’ after Ciattarelli praises Shapiro

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(The Center Square) – The commonwealth’s divided government means “getting stuff done,” as Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro likes to say, doesn’t come easily.

If it did, according to Republicans in the state, the commonwealth might become the “California of the East.”

“If we weren’t here, knowing that he wants to be the Democratic nominee for president, just imagine the progressive policies he’d support,” said Kim Ward, the highest-ranking Republican in the state Senate, during an interview with The Center Square. “We are the stopgap.”

Her comments come after New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican, told Politico that Pennsylvania’s energy policies and softening business tax climate could teach legislators in the Garden State a thing or two. This, after current Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy once said he wanted New Jersey to become “the California of the East.”

Critics, such as the Common Sense Club, point out that under Murphy’s leadership, the state has pursued policies to ban the sale of new gas vehicles, offered noncitizens a haven from immigration enforcement, and bolstered high taxes for property owners and businesses, much in the image of California itself.

The right-wing nonprofit raises the profiles of local candidates who support lowering taxes, giving parents more educational rights and strengthening immigration laws. Though it has not publicly backed Ciattarelli, its priorities closely align with the Republican candidate’s platform.

Though considered a deep blue state, Ciattarelli’s three-point loss in the 2021 gubernatorial election signaled to some political observers that voters may be looking for a change.

It’s unclear yet if those results were merely a fluke, given President Donald Trump’s victory in 2024. Ciattarelli does not seem to think so, crediting his influence for flipping seven seats in the state legislature and cementing the party’s best election performance in 30 years.

Still, his admiration for Shapiro appears misguided, Ward said.

She noted that the air of centrism that Ciattarelli so admires only exists because the Republican majority Senate pushes for permitting reform and business tax reductions, which were first approved in 2022 under former Gov. Tom Wolf.

Case in point, last year’s budget included a provision to accelerate the reduction of the state’s corporate net income tax ahead of schedule. The notorious policy is believed to have deterred investments from major companies, such as Amazon and Intel, over the last five years.

“That happened because the Republican Senate put that bill forward and we had to negotiate for it,” Ward said. “He didn’t come on board easily.”

Indeed, bipartisanship has been at the heart of the state’s most heated battles since Shapiro took office in 2023.

Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El, D-Lancaster, laughed when The Center Square asked him about Ciattarelli’s admiration for the divided state’s handling of legislative issues.

“I think there's a lot about Pennsylvania that other states can aspire to, and when we do deliver bipartisan legislation, it is good legislation that makes a difference for working people,” he said. “That being said, we are undergoing a budget impasse and I'd encourage my colleagues in the Senate to focus on making sure that we pass a budget that actually provides for the schools we have a constitutional obligation to. To say nothing of housing programs and nonprofit programs.”

“We don't always get it right, but Pennsylvania is my favorite state in the union,” he added.

Pennsylvania’s energy climate is decidedly more partisan. While Ciattarelli praises the commonwealth’s standing as a top energy producer and exporter, Ward and others point out that the governor’s own commitment to joining carbon tax programs will keep prices high for all consumers sharing in the same power grid, including those in New Jersey.

According to a report from the American Legislative Exchange Council, the commonwealth’s energy affordability ranks 32nd in the nation, just eight spots above New Jersey.

But joining the carbon-limiting Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, RGGI, or enacting a state-centric version of the program, could quadruple energy prices, Republicans say. Shapiro recently appealed a Commonwealth Court ruling that struck down the state’s entry into RGGI without legislative approval, promising to withdraw if legislators supported his Pennsylvania-only plan instead.

A spokeswoman for Ward noted that Shapiro’s tenure as state Attorney General shows his willingness to skewer the natural gas industry at the behest of progressive-minded donors.

“If you look at his track record as AG, he’s the leftist of left funded by Bloomberg and Soros,” she said.

In 2020, two years before he was elected governor, Shapiro’s office released a scathing grand jury report that said the economic windfall of natural gas extraction blinded Pennsylvania regulators to its adverse health and environmental impacts and encouraged a culture that discredited the complaints of those living closest to drilling sites.

It came on the heels of charges he brought against Texas-based Range Resources after it dumped 2,000 gallons of polluted gas well wastewater onto properties neighboring its Washington County hydraulic fracturing operation.

Both the Departments of Health and Environmental Protection said the grand jury based its findings on anecdotal evidence and refused to engage with them to discuss how the complaints were handled.

For his part, Shapiro has billed himself as an “all-of-the-above” energy supporter, though his dissatisfaction with PJM, the regional power grid operator, has bolstered a growing movement of Democratic governors angling to break with the organization amid struggles to get green energy projects up and running.

He told Politico that he stands behind Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for governor in New Jersey, as the candidate who will “get things done.”

The campaign for Stacy Garrity, the Republican Pennsylvania treasurer vying to unseat Shapiro in 2026, didn’t mince words, pointing to the state’s lagging economic and infrastructure gains as evidence of “Mr. Get Stuff Done’s” failures.

“The Shapiro administration can’t even negotiate a budget, hurting Pennsylvania children, seniors, and businesses each and every day,” wrote Jim Tkacik, Garrity’s campaign manager, in an email to The Center Square.

He pointed to the low-interest loans she proposed earlier this month for state-funded programs buckling under the weight of the three-month budget impasse.

“Treasurer Garrity is the one statewide leader who has stepped up to the plate and provided a bandage to the problems Shapiro’s administration has caused, and as governor she will be the leader who once again makes Pennsylvania the Keystone State for innovation, opportunity, and prosperity,” he said.

On Monday afternoon, Senate Democrats in a press conference said Garrity's loan proposal is unconsitutional.

The Center Square was unsuccessful getting comment prior to publication from the Shapiro administration and Ciattarelli’s campaign.