{"id":270390,"date":"2026-08-22T23:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T23:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/270390\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T23:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T23:04:08","slug":"gov-josh-shapiro-rallies-berks-democrats-in-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/270390\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Josh Shapiro rallies Berks Democrats in Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Josh Shapiro is urging Berks County Democrats to turn their frustration with President Donald Trump into votes.<\/p>\n

Shapiro, a Democrat seeking a second term as governor, made the case Saturday during an afternoon rally in Reading, the final stop on a three-city tour that also took him to Lewisburg and Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Shapiro said the consequences of what he called the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cchaos and cruelty and corruption\u201d are being felt by families across Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that you\u2019re frustrated. I know that you\u2019re angry, and I know that you\u2019re worried about the world that we are in today,\u201d Shapiro told those gathered at the Berks County Democratic Committee headquarters, 1251 N. Front St.<\/p>\n

The governor pointed to tariffs, rising costs and federal changes to health care and food assistance as examples of Trump administration policies that are hurting Pennsylvanians.<\/p>\n

He urged Democrats to respond by organizing, knocking on doors and voting for the party\u2019s candidates up and down the ballot.<\/p>\n

Shapiro said 18,000 Berks residents are in the process of losing health care coverage and about 8,000 are losing food assistance. He blamed congressional Republicans and the president for approving tax cuts that he said came at the expense of working families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s cruel, and we\u2019re seeing the effect of that right here in our community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"PennsylvaniaPennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a visit Saturday to the headquarters of the Berks County Democratic Committee, 1251 N. Front St. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

Shapiro also attacked his Republican opponent, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, portraying her as closely aligned with Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Donald Trump deserves a rubber stamp here in the governor\u2019s office,\u201d Shapiro said. \u201cWe need to stand up for freedom. We need to stand up for opportunity. We need to stand up for all Pennsylvanians, no matter what you look like or where you come from, who you love or who you pray to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shapiro touted his first-term record, pointing to increased state funding for public education, investments in law enforcement and violence prevention, job growth and tax cuts.<\/p>\n

More than 1,000 additional schools have mental health counselors, he said, and the state has invested in hiring 2,000 police officers and spending $1 billion on violence prevention initiatives.<\/p>\n

\"PennsylvaniaPennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro greets Reading City Counci President Donna Reed during a visit Saturday to the Berks County Democrats, 1251 N. Front St. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

Shapiro reminded supporters of his electoral history in Berks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so good to be back in Reading, back in Berks County, a county that a lot of folks didn\u2019t think we could win last time,\u201d he said. \u201cWe won it last time. We\u2019re going to win it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shapiro carried the county during his 2022 campaign for governor.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s gathering also served as a call for Democratic volunteers to begin organizing ahead of the Nov. 3 election.<\/p>\n

Berks County Democratic Committee Chair Debbie Noel thanked volunteers and emphasized the importance of door knocking, phone calls and conversations with neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo campaign is won by one person or one individual alone or one candidate alone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"PennsylvaniaPennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro reacts to a speech by state Rep. Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz during a visit Saturday to the Berks County Democrats, 1251 N. Front St. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

Democratic state lawmakers Sen. Judy Schwank and Reps. Manuel Guzman and Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz also addressed the crowd.<\/p>\n

Schwank praised Shapiro\u2019s response to issues affecting Berks, saying she has watched him listen to residents and respond to their concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really listens and he gets the work done,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Guzman urged Democrats to help elect candidates beyond Berks, while Cepeda-Freytiz challenged those in attendance to reach voters who might not otherwise be engaged in the election.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach one reach one,\u201d Cepeda-Freytiz said. \u201cThis is about putting in the work. Talk is cheap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JacobJacob Socolar of Exeter Township holds up his daughter Isabele, 8, to see Gov. Josh Shapiro during a visit Saturday to the Berks County Democratic Committee, 1251 N. Front St. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

Among those who came to hear Shapiro was Jacob Socolar of Exeter Township, who attended with his wife, Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar, and their daughter Isabelle, 8.<\/p>\n

Socolar said racial and economic justice and environmental issues, particularly climate change, drew his family to the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here on the issues we care a lot about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The family developed a personal connection to Shapiro\u2019s campaign, he said, by hosting one of the governor\u2019s campaign staffers working in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a really nice way to connect a bit more with the organizing community here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he plans to knock on doors himself, Socolar said he expects to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters have a responsibility to protect American democracy, Shapiro said, invoking Benjamin Franklin\u2019s warning that the fledgling nation is \u201ca republic, if you can keep it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our opportunity,\u201d he said, \u201cand as Pennsylvania Democrats, we are the epicenter of all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Josh Shapiro is urging Berks County Democrats to turn their frustration with President Donald Trump into votes.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-270390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-essential-reading","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}