James Moore

Tonight brings this campaign to an end. But it does not bring my fight for Pennsylvania to an end. Not even close. First, I want to thank everyone who supported me through this. Everyone who shared a post, told somebody about the campaign, signed a petition, sent me a message, defended me when people dismissed this campaign, encouraged me when things got difficult, and especially everyone who walked into a voting booth and wrote my name on that ballot. I will never take that lightly. You had other choices. You were told repeatedly that voting outside the two major parties was pointless, that an independent could not win, that you were wasting your vote, or that your vote somehow belonged to somebody else. And you voted for who you believed in anyway. Thank you. I also want to thank the people who disagreed with me but did it civilly. Some of the best conversations I had during this campaign were with people who had absolutely no intention of voting for me. We argued policy, challenged each other, exchanged information, and sometimes walked away still completely disagreeing. That is how politics is supposed to work. I never expected everyone to agree with me. Hell, I would be suspicious of anybody who agreed with me on everything. What I wanted was for people to think for themselves. And after going through this campaign from the outside looking in, I believe that more than ever. Democrats may have had a successful election night, but winning elections does not mean their problems disappeared. There are real divisions inside that party, growing ideological battles, and millions of people who do not believe either major party represents them anymore. Republicans have even more difficult questions to answer. They need to stop assuming that dissatisfaction with Democrats automatically translates into Republican votes. They need to ask why so many working families are still struggling, why promises are not connecting with voters, why loyalty to personalities sometimes seems more important than results, and why candidates can be chosen by the party establishment and then left struggling to build the support necessary to actually win. And that is the perspective I intend to keep bringing to Pennsylvania. I am an Independent. That means I do not wake up every morning looking for a way to defend Republicans or attack Democrats. I do not have to pretend Trump is right because Republicans support him. I do not have to defend Shapiro because Democrats had a good election night. I do not have to make excuses for anybody because they happen to wear the right political jersey. If Republicans are right, I will say they are right. If Democrats are right, I will say they are right. And when either one of them is full of shit, I am going to say that too. The same applies to Libertarians, independents, local government, Harrisburg, Washington, corporations, political organizations, and anybody else whose decisions affect the people of Pennsylvania. No party gets a free pass from me. Because somewhere along the way politics became more about protecting your team than protecting the people you are supposed to represent. I have no interest in playing that game. This campaign also showed me just how difficult the system makes it for anyone outside the two major parties to compete. Ballot-access barriers, fundraising, media exposure, debate access, party infrastructure, and the constant argument that voting outside the system is somehow throwing your vote away all reinforce the same cycle. But I also saw something else. There are cracks. There are Republicans tired of Republican bullshit. Democrats tired of Democratic bullshit. Independents tired of being treated like spectators. People who disagree on plenty of issues but agree that government should actually work for the people paying for it. That is where I believe something different can eventually begin. So tonight I am closing one chapter. I am not closing the book. I will continue fighting for property-tax reform, affordable utilities, better schools, transportation reform, healthcare accountability, election reform, public safety, government transparency, and every other issue I talked about during this campaign. I will continue asking the questions politicians do not like being asked. I will continue digging past the slogans and political talking points. And I will continue calling bullshit when I see it. Actually.... you are going to be hearing quite a bit more of that very soon. No party filter. No protecting “our side.” No carefully rehearsed political answers. No spin. No bullshit. Just reality. I will have several announcements coming over the next week or two about what comes next, and I think some of you are going to like where this is headed. To everyone who supported me, voted for me, challenged me, debated me, criticized me fairly, or simply took the time to listen.... thank you. I entered this race believing Pennsylvania deserved more choices and more honest conversations. I leave it believing that even more strongly. The campaign is over..... The fight for Pennsylvania isn't. THIS IS NOT THE END. THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING. James Moore Unbought. Unafraid.

The polls are closing, and before anything else, I want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who voted today. And I mean everyone. If you voted for Josh Shapiro, thank you for participating. If you voted for Stacy Garrity, thank you. If you voted Libertarian, Independent, wrote in another candidate or wrote in my name, thank you. We have spent too much time in this country treating people like enemies because they reached a different conclusion in a voting booth. We can argue. We can disagree strongly. We can call each other's policies bullshit when they deserve it. But at the end of the day, Pennsylvania still belongs to all of us. This campaign became something I never expected when I started it. I came into this without millions of dollars, without television advertising, without major donors, without a political machine and without one of the two major parties clearing the road in front of me. I was told I could not win. I was told to quit. I was called a spoiler, a disruptor and a vote splitter. I was told that running outside the two major parties meant I was wasting my time. I kept going. Not because I believed one election would magically fix Pennsylvania, but because somebody has to start pushing back against the idea that ordinary people are only allowed to participate in politics when Republicans or Democrats give them permission. Whatever the numbers ultimately say, that does not end tonight. I am not disappearing. I am not walking away from Pennsylvania. I am not suddenly going silent because Election Day is over. There are things I have been working on that I have not announced yet, and those announcements will come soon. PA Reality Check will continue. The policy work will continue. The push for structural reform will continue. And the effort to build something outside this broken political system is only beginning. Tonight belongs to the voters, though. So whether you stood in line, mailed a ballot, researched every candidate, changed your mind at the last minute or walked into that booth knowing exactly what you were going to do, thank you for caring enough to participate. Tomorrow we find out what Pennsylvania decided. Then we get back to work. Whatever happens tonight, remember one thing: I’m not going anywhere. James Moore Unbought. Unafraid. mooreforpa.com

We are down to the final hours. If you have not voted yet, do not let somebody else make this decision for you. Do not stay home because you hate both major parties. Do not stay home because somebody told you your preferred candidate cannot win. And do not stay home because years of political bullshit have convinced you that your vote does not matter. That is exactly how the system keeps winning. Pennsylvania now has an enormous and growing number of voters outside the two major parties, and millions more Republicans and Democrats disagree with their own parties on major issues. Yet we are still constantly told that the only meaningful choice is between the two candidates the political establishment hands us. Bullshit. If you want Garrity, vote for Garrity. If you want Shapiro, vote for Shapiro. If you want Krawchuk, vote for Krawchuk. If you believe in what I have laid out, write in James Moore. But make the decision yourself. Look at the policies. Look at the numbers. Look at the records. Ask who is actually offering structural change and who is offering another temporary check, another slogan or another reason to fear the other party. There is still time. Use it. Your vote does not belong to a party. It belongs to you. James Moore for Governor They counted us out. Now write us in. Unbought. Unafraid. mooreforpa.com #MooreForPA #ElectionDay #Pennsylvania #Independent #YourVoteYourChoice

We are halfway through Election Day, so if there is one thing I want people to remember about this campaign, it is that I did not run on one slogan or one enemy. I ran on restructuring Pennsylvania. My property-tax reform would cut school property taxes by 50% within three years, reduce county and municipal burdens, protect homeowners, renters and family farms, and stop pretending rebate checks are a substitute for fixing the underlying system. My education reforms restructure governance, expand vocational and career preparation, emphasize practical life skills and demand that graduating actually mean being prepared for adulthood. My transportation reforms would phase down passenger tolls and eventually the gas tax, restructure Turnpike debt, bring transportation under a more accountable system and force government to explain where transportation money actually goes. My healthcare reforms attack prescription costs, prior authorization abuse, medical debt and Medicaid waste. My utility reforms strengthen rate review, consumer protections and shutoff protections while requiring massive industrial users to pay the infrastructure costs they create. My election reforms create fairer ballot access for independents, stronger auditing and paper records, voter ID with free identification, and eventually a top-four open primary system. My public-safety reforms support police, firefighters and EMS while addressing bail, repeat violent crime, mental-health treatment and a justice system that too often handles poverty and dangerous criminal behavior as though they are the same thing. You can disagree with parts of that. That is politics. But nobody can honestly say I refused to tell Pennsylvanians what I would try to do. Plans first. Party second. People always. James Moore for Governor They counted us out. Now write us in. Unbought. Unafraid. mooreforpa.com #MooreForPA #Pennsylvania #ElectionDay #RealReform #Independent

Election Day is here. For one day, forget the commercials, the party labels, the polling and all the people telling you who can and cannot win. Forget the R and the D for a minute and ask yourself a much more important question: what kind of Pennsylvania do you actually want to live in four years from now? I want a Pennsylvania where people are not being taxed out of homes they already paid for. Where education is judged by whether children are actually prepared for life instead of by how much money Harrisburg spends. Where graduating students have real choices between college, trades, military service, entrepreneurship and the workforce. Where transportation is funded without permanently burying drivers underneath tolls and fuel taxes. I want utility companies answering to consumers instead of the other way around. I want healthcare decisions made by doctors and patients instead of insurance-company algorithms. I want government to show you where your money goes. I want major corporations and data centers paying the infrastructure costs they create instead of passing them onto families. And I want independent candidates to have a fair opportunity to compete without first asking permission from Republicans or Democrats. Most importantly, I want a Governor who remembers that Pennsylvania comes before party. That is what my platform is built around. Structural reform instead of temporary rebates. Long-term fixes instead of campaign-season checks. Plans instead of slogans. Whatever choice you make today, make it because you believe in it. Do not let fear make the decision for you. The ballot belongs to you. James Moore for Governor They counted us out. Now write us in. Unbought. Unafraid. mooreforpa.com #MooreForPA #ElectionDay #Pennsylvania #IndependentVoice #VoteYourConscience

Tomorrow, Pennsylvania makes a decision. For months I have watched the same political game play out over and over again. Attack ads. Party slogans. Fear of the other side. Promises without numbers. Candidates spending more time telling you why the other person is terrible than explaining exactly how they intend to fix anything. I chose a different path. I put my plans out there publicly for people to read, question, criticize and tear apart if they wanted to. I have proposed cutting school property taxes by 50% within three years while restructuring how education is funded, reducing county and municipal property taxes, phasing out passenger Turnpike tolls and eventually the gas tax while replacing that revenue through a completely restructured transportation system, and changing education so graduating students are actually prepared for college, a trade, the military, business or the workforce. My reforms also take on healthcare costs, prescription prices, prior authorization abuse and medical debt. They strengthen utility oversight and require massive users like data centers to pay the infrastructure costs they create instead of dumping those costs onto ordinary Pennsylvanians. They reform ballot access so independents have a legitimate opportunity to compete, strengthen election auditing and accountability, and address public safety while recognizing that dangerous criminals and people who are simply poor should not be treated as though they are the same problem. You do not have to agree with every one of my ideas. I would rather you disagree with an actual plan than blindly support another slogan. Tomorrow, vote based on the Pennsylvania you actually want to live in. Not because somebody scared you into voting against the other side. Not because of the letter beside somebody's name. And not because someone told you there are only two acceptable choices. Read the plans. Ask the questions. Look at the numbers. Then make your own decision. Your vote belongs to you. James Moore for Governor They counted us out. Now write us in. Unbought. Unafraid. mooreforpa.com #MooreForPA #Pennsylvania #ElectionDay #Independent #PoliticalReform #WeThePeople

Welcome to Pennsylvania’s political clown show. On one side, Josh Shapiro promised a $250 gas rebate and never delivered. He spins procedural court wins like they were sweeping constitutional victories, and people act like he personally “saved democracy” every time a judge slows down a bad federal move. On the other side, Stacy Garrity is throwing out $750 driver-check promises, gas-tax holidays, and slogan-filled attacks as if the math just magically works itself out. Then there is the dishonest spin. Garrity acts like Shapiro created Pennsylvania’s gas-tax mess, even though the current structure traces back to Act 89 in 2013 under Corbett. She also pushes the line that Shapiro “gave himself” a raise, while conveniently leaving out that Pennsylvania’s salary increases are automatic under state law and that her own Treasurer salary rose under that same system too. And Shapiro is no better when it comes to packaging politics. He sells image, fear, and national talking points while too often acting like he alone is standing between Pennsylvania and total collapse. This is exactly why so many people are fed up. We keep getting slogans, spin, half-truths, and campaign theater while regular Pennsylvanians are asking basic questions: Where does the money come from? What is the actual plan? What gets cut? What gets restructured? And why does nobody from either major party ever seem to want to answer in plain English? Stop the circus. Demand numbers. Demand facts. Demand real plans. Pennsylvania deserves better than two candidates acting like the loudest sales pitch wins. James Moore for Governor They counted us out. Now write us in. Unbought. Unafraid. mooreforpa.com #MooreForPA #Pennsylvania #Independent #VoteIndependent #PoliticalReform #DemandBetter #NoMoreSlogans

This is exactly why politics has become so fucking ridiculous. Take one real statistic, rip away the context, blame everything on the other party, throw in the military record again, make a few big promises without showing the math, and apparently that is supposed to qualify as a plan for governing Pennsylvania. And I absolutely despise the fact that this bullshit keeps forcing me to defend Josh Shapiro even in the slightest. Let’s start with the claim that Pennsylvania is “at the very bottom for jobs and economy.” Pennsylvania did rank 47th in one U.S. News composite economy ranking. That is real, and it deserves criticism. But that is not the same thing as saying Pennsylvania is 47th in jobs. Our unemployment rate is currently 3.6%, below the national rate, and Pennsylvania employment is up significantly from a year ago. We have real economic problems.... slow long-term growth, affordability, business competitiveness, population issues, young people leaving the state.... so attack those. There is plenty there. But stop turning one composite ranking into a slogan that makes it sound like Pennsylvania is literally at the bottom in employment. Then we get, “Shapiro is giving you some of the highest gas taxes and prices in America.” Pennsylvania does have one of the highest gas taxes in the country. That part is true. But Josh Shapiro did not fucking create it. The modern gas-tax structure largely came from Act 89 in 2013 under Republican Governor Tom Corbett and a Republican-controlled legislature, with bipartisan support. Shapiro didn’t create it, didn’t pass it, and didn’t personally cause Pennsylvania’s gas tax to become one of the highest in the country. Gas prices themselves are also above the national average right now, but Pennsylvania is not even among the five most expensive states for regular gasoline. And pretending the governor of Pennsylvania personally controls the price of gas is just fucking stupid. Then we get the “Mr. Incompetent just made himself the highest-paid governor in America” line. No, he fucking didn’t. Shapiro is the highest-paid governor in America, but Pennsylvania law automatically adjusts the governor’s salary based on inflation. He did not sit behind his desk and decide to give himself a raise. And here is the part Garrity’s ad conveniently leaves out: the same automatic statutory cost-of-living adjustment increased her salary as Treasurer too. So you do not get to benefit from the same automatic raise and then make a commercial pretending Shapiro personally wrote himself a bigger paycheck. That is dishonest political framing. Then there is the property-tax promise. “I’ll cap school property taxes.” Okay. And? Capping future increases at 0.5% without voter approval is not comprehensive property-tax reform. Expanding rebates is not comprehensive property-tax reform either. You are still leaving the same broken funding system underneath it. You are basically saying, “We’ll let the system keep operating, but we’ll slow the increases and send some people more money to offset the pain.” That is tax limitation and tax relief. It is not structural reform. Pennsylvania already limits school-property-tax increases under Act 1. Garrity wants a tighter cap. Fine. Say that honestly. But do not sell a lower allowable increase and bigger rebate checks like you have somehow fixed Pennsylvania’s property-tax system. You haven’t. And then, right on schedule, we hear it again: “I served America in the Middle East and earned the Bronze Star twice.” We... fucking... know.... I respect Garrity’s military service. I have said that repeatedly. But she is running for Governor of Pennsylvania. She has also been Pennsylvania State Treasurer for years. Before that, she spent decades at Global Tungsten & Powders and eventually became vice president of government affairs. So talk about that record too. Talk about the experience that actually relates to state finances, government, business, and policy instead of constantly falling back on the same military biography. More importantly, explain the plans. How does the economic plan work? How much revenue disappears under the tax cuts? What replaces it? What does the property-tax proposal actually cost? Where does the rebate money come from? Those are the questions that matter. “Shapiro failed you. This soldier won’t.” That is a fucking slogan. Military service deserves respect. It does not substitute for a governing plan. And this constant bullshit where Republicans pretend everything wrong in Pennsylvania started with Josh Shapiro is every bit as ridiculous as Democrats pretending everything good happened because Josh Shapiro walked into the Governor’s Office. There is more than enough legitimate material to attack Shapiro on without manipulating statistics, pretending he created taxes that predate his administration, implying he personally gave himself a raise, and selling a property-tax cap as if you rebuilt the entire system. Stop treating Pennsylvania voters like idiots. Stop selling the biography. Stop selling the fucking slogans. SHOW US THE NUMBERS AND SHOW US THE DAMN PLAN.

“Remember, remember, the fifth of November.” Most people know the line because of V for Vendetta. It comes from the old Guy Fawkes rhyme, but I am not talking about what happened in 1605. I am talking about what the line represents today: the moment ordinary people finally decide they have had enough of being ignored, manipulated, divided, and told they only have two choices. November 5, 2024 reminded this country that voters still have the power to shake the political establishment when enough people decide they are done accepting politics as usual. But I do not believe America’s real “fifth of November” has happened yet. I think the pressure is still building. And Pennsylvania may be one of the biggest political powder kegs in the country. Not because people are looking for violence. I mean politically. Look at what is happening here. More voters are registering outside the two major parties. More people are willing to cross party lines. More people are openly saying they do not feel represented by either side. More than a million independent and third-party voters are still largely shut out of the primary process, even though they pay the same taxes and fund the same elections as everyone else. That disconnect matters. People are tired of being told that their only responsibility is to choose between the candidates the two major parties hand them. They are tired of slogans instead of plans, party loyalty instead of accountability, and politicians who seem more concerned about protecting their side than fixing the problems people actually live with every day. Pennsylvania also has something else going for it: political independence is already part of our DNA. This is the state where some of the biggest arguments about representation, government, and individual political power were fought at the birth of this country. That history does not mean we live in the past. It means Pennsylvania has always been a place where political pressure can turn into national change. That is why I believe this state could become the starting point for something much bigger. Not because one independent candidate wins one election and suddenly destroys the two-party system. It will not happen that way. It starts smaller. A few independent candidates run and refuse to disappear. A few voters stop automatically voting for a party label. A few local races get won by people outside the political machine. Independent registrations keep growing. People start realizing that their vote belongs to them, not to Republicans, Democrats, donors, consultants, or party leadership. Then the ripple gets bigger. That is the revolution I am talking about. A political revolution through elections, organizing, accountability, independent candidates, open competition, and regular people finally deciding that government belongs to them again. It has to be peaceful, but it cannot be weak. It has to be hard, strong, organized, persistent, and absolutely undeniable. The political class has to reach a point where it can no longer dismiss independent voters as irrelevant, ignore third-party candidates, hide behind party labels, or assume people will keep voting the way they are told. Because the alternative worries me. This country has already lived through one period where political division and public anger turned into something far darker from 1861 to 1865. I do not want America anywhere near that road again. That is exactly why change needs to happen now, through the ballot box and through people getting involved before frustration turns into something much worse. The political establishment has spent decades convincing people that it holds all the power. It does not. WE DO!!! And Pennsylvania may just be the place where enough people finally remember that. “Remember, remember, the fifth of November.” Maybe America’s real one is still ahead of us. James Moore for Governor They counted us out. Now write us in. Unbought. Unafraid. mooreforpa.com #MooreForPA #Pennsylvania #IndependentVoice #PoliticalReform #BreakTheTwoPartySystem #WeThePeople

Serious question for people supporting either major-party ticket. If you support Garrity/Richey, give me a reason that has nothing to do with Stacy Garrity’s military record and nothing to do with “she’s not Josh Shapiro.” What specific policies, reforms or plans make you believe they would actually improve Pennsylvania? What have they proposed that makes you think they would govern differently and get better results? And if you support Shapiro/Davis, same question. Give me a reason that has nothing to do with Trump, MAGA or “he’s not Stacy Garrity.” What specific policies, reforms or results make you believe they deserve another term? What have they actually done, or proposed to do, that earns your support? I’m genuinely curious. Too much of politics anymore is just voting against the person or party you dislike more. I want to know what you are actually voting FOR. Not the R. Not the D. Not Trump. Not Shapiro. Not Garrity. Not military service. Not party loyalty. What is the actual case for the ticket you support?

Josh Shapiro signed Pennsylvania's bell-to-bell school cellphone ban today, and I actually agree with the policy. Phones have become a massive distraction in schools, and getting them out of students' hands during the school day makes sense. But let's give credit where the damn credit belongs. This was Senate Bill 1014. It was sponsored by senators Devlin Robinson, Vincent Hughes and Steve Santarsiero, passed the Senate 47-3, passed the House 141-62, and then landed on Shapiro's desk. Shapiro did call for a statewide ban earlier this year, so yes, he supported it and deserves credit for signing it. But this wasn't some solo executive achievement. It was a bipartisan legislative effort that had overwhelming support before the Governor ever picked up the pen. Politicians love taking a group project and turning it into a one-man victory lap. The law is good, Legislature did its job and the Governor signed it. That's the actual story. James Moore for Governor mooreforpa.com

For those who want to know more about me and where I stand, here is the short version. I'm James Moore, an independent candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania, small-business owner, longtime youth sports organizer and President of the Connellsville Basketball Association. I'm running independently because I believe policy should come before party. My platform includes major education reform, a 50% reduction in school property taxes over three years, transportation reform that phases out passenger tolls and the gas tax, stronger government accountability, expanded school choice, election reform, healthcare and prior-authorization reform, stronger protections for taxpayers and utility customers, responsible energy and data-center development, repeal of the inheritance tax, regulation of skill games and stronger public-safety policies. I support getting cellphones out of classrooms, focusing schools on academics and life preparation, cutting government waste before raising taxes, protecting farmland from unnecessary development, requiring major industrial projects to pay their own infrastructure costs and reducing the amount of power concentrated in the executive branch. I also believe Pennsylvania's problems go much deeper than one Governor or one political party. Many of these issues have been building for decades under both Republicans and Democrats. My full positions, proposals and reforms are available at: mooreforpa.com

Take a damn good look at what is happening in France right now, because anyone who thinks something like this could never happen here is fooling themselves. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets over the cost of living, deteriorating public services and frustration with their government. Most were peaceful, but violent groups used those protests as cover for something much uglier. Cars were burned, businesses were looted, police were attacked, public buildings were targeted and a historic town hall was torched. More than 2,400 people have now reportedly been arrested and roughly 1,000 police officers injured. And then look at how some of it was initially reported. CBS ran an AP story describing “scuffles” between police and “small groups of protesters.” Technically, there were scuffles and smaller violent groups inside much larger peaceful protests. But when buildings are burning, stores are being looted, police are being attacked and arrests are climbing into the thousands, “scuffles” sure as hell doesn't tell the whole story. That is another problem we need to start talking about. People lose trust in institutions when what they see happening with their own eyes looks nothing like the sanitized language being used to describe it. No, Pennsylvania is not France. But the ingredients that create this kind of instability aren't unique to France. People here are pissed off too. Costs keep climbing, families are struggling, schools have problems, infrastructure is aging, healthcare is expensive and politicians from both parties spend half their time blaming somebody else while telling us everything is going great. When people stop believing government listens to them, stop trusting the media to tell them what is actually happening and stop believing the system works for them, frustration turns into anger. Then extremists, criminals and agitators have an angry population they can exploit. France should be a warning. You don't rebuild public trust after everything starts burning. You rebuild it before it ever gets that far. James Moore for Governor

Stacy Garrity says Pennsylvania’s 3.07% personal income tax should be cut. Okay. TO WHAT? That should not be a difficult question when cutting the tax is part of your campaign platform. Is the target 3%? 2.8%? 2.5%? How much revenue does Pennsylvania lose at the proposed rate? What specific spending comes down with it? How much do you expect economic growth to replace, and over what timeline? What happens if the growth projection misses? I support tax cuts when the numbers work. What I do not support is politicians treating “lower taxes” like a magic incantation that eliminates the need to balance the budget. Pennsylvania’s schools, roads, Medicaid program, prisons, public safety, and other obligations do not disappear because somebody lowered a percentage on a campaign flyer. If you are running to manage a $50 billion plus state government, put a damn number on your tax plan. James Moore for Governor They counted us out. Now write us in. Unbought. Unafraid. mooreforpa.com #MooreForPA #JamesMooreForGovernor #StacyGarrity #IncomeTax #TaxReform #PennsylvaniaBudget #ShowTheMath

Josh Shapiro keeps bragging that Pennsylvania is finally “competing” for big business. What he talks about a lot less is how much taxpayer money Pennsylvania is putting on the table to do it. Since Shapiro took office, his economic-development team has pledged nearly $457 MILLION in grants, loans and tax credits to roughly 90 companies. The state is now averaging about $121.8 million a year in business incentives, more than double the annual amount under Tom Wolf. Even more interesting, the ten biggest deals account for about 65% of all those subsidies. And here's the part that really bothers me: the state board created to review the performance of tax-credit programs and other government spending apparently hasn't met since 2023. So Harrisburg is dramatically increasing the amount of taxpayer money being handed out to corporations while the board that's supposed to help evaluate whether these kinds of programs actually work isn't even meeting? That's backwards. I'm not against Pennsylvania competing for jobs. I'm against calling every giant subsidy package an “investment” before anybody proves the taxpayer actually got a return. If you're handing out hundreds of millions of dollars, the damn scorecard should be running BEFORE the checks go out, not years afterward when nobody remembers who promised what. James Moore for Governor mooreforpa.com

I am getting pretty damn tired of Harrisburg politicians bragging about how much money they spend like the price tag itself is proof they accomplished something. Pennsylvania’s latest General Fund budget is $50.85 billion, and Shapiro’s administration cannot stop using words like “historic investment” every time another pile of taxpayer money gets pushed across the table. Fine. Some of those investments may be worthwhile. Now show me what the hell we actually got for them. Show the measurable improvement. Show the programs that worked and the ones that failed. Show the administrative waste that was eliminated, the duplication that was cut, and the programs that were shut down because they were not delivering enough for what taxpayers were paying. Stop giving Pennsylvanians press releases full of dollar signs and pretending spending is the same thing as success. Government can spend $50 billion or $100 billion and still waste money. The number that matters is not how much Harrisburg managed to spend. It is whether Pennsylvania families, schools, roads, communities, and taxpayers are actually better off because of it. SHOW THE DAMN RESULTS. James Moore for Governor They counted us out. Now write us in. Unbought. Unafraid. mooreforpa.com #MooreForPA #JamesMooreForGovernor #JoshShapiro #PennsylvaniaBudget #GovernmentAccountability #Taxpayers #PAPolitics

Josh Shapiro says Pennsylvania should abolish the death penalty because he doesn't believe the Commonwealth should be in the business of executing people. Fine. That's his position. But Pennsylvania law STILL HAS THE DEATH PENALTY, and instead of convincing the Legislature to repeal it, he has continued the moratorium and promised to issue a reprieve every time an execution reaches him. And I have a hard time with the moral line he's drawing here. Shapiro strongly supports abortion rights under Pennsylvania's current law and he has fought efforts to further restrict them. He also proudly stood at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant supporting weapons production for Ukraine and even wrote a message on a finished 155mm artillery shell. Yet when it comes to someone lawfully convicted of the absolute worst murders imaginable, suddenly the Commonwealth taking a life crosses an absolute moral line? Right here in Fayette County, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against two people accused in the horrific death of 2-year-old Maggie Nunn. They are innocent unless and until proven guilty. But if a jury finds beyond a reasonable doubt that someone intentionally tortured and murdered a 2-year-old child, I believe Pennsylvania's death penalty should mean something. If Shapiro believes otherwise, take it to the Legislature and CHANGE THE DAMN LAW. Don't leave capital punishment on the books and then use executive power to guarantee it will never be carried out. My position is simple. For the absolute worst murderers, especially those convicted of intentionally torturing or murdering children, enforce the death penalty. If Pennsylvania wants a different law, change it through the legislative process. James Moore for Governor mooreforpa.com

Well, this is interesting. Josh Shapiro is asking Pennsylvanians to elect him to another four-year term as Governor, but last week he refused to promise that he would actually serve the entire four years. Now, just days later, he creates a federal PAC and officially starts building political infrastructure at the national level. But I'm sure that's all just a coincidence. His campaign says the PAC is currently about helping Pennsylvania congressional candidates. Fine. I'm not going to claim he's officially running for President when he hasn't announced that. But come on. Pennsylvanians have every damn right to ask what they're actually voting for in November. Are you asking people to elect you Governor for another four years because you intend to serve Pennsylvania for another four years, or are you asking them to give you another term while you build the machinery for whatever comes next nationally? You already had the opportunity to clear this up during the debate. All you had to say was, "Yes, if reelected, I will serve my full term." You wouldn't do it. And now you have a federal PAC. If your focus is Pennsylvania, then say you'll serve the term you're asking Pennsylvanians to give you. That's not a difficult question. James Moore for Governor mooreforpa.com

Josh Shapiro is back out there bragging about more than $1.1 billion in Property Tax/Rent Rebates since he took office and calling the expansion one of his “tax cuts.” Can we please stop playing this game with words? The Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program can absolutely help seniors and disabled Pennsylvanians who qualify. I have no problem saying that. But you have to APPLY for it every year, eligibility is income-based, the standard rebate tops out at $1,000, and the underlying property tax bill is still sitting there waiting for you. That is relief, but it sure as hell is NOT structural property-tax reform. If my property tax goes up $1,500 and Harrisburg hands me $500 back, Harrisburg didn't “cut my property tax.” They gave me some of my money back after the tax was already charged. Politicians love rebates because they get to put their name on the check. Actual tax reform is harder because you have to fix the damn system that produced the bill in the first place. Help the people who need the rebate. Absolutely. Just stop pretending a rebate and a tax cut are the same damn thing. James Moore for Governor mooreforpa.com

I agree Pennsylvania should opt into the federal scholarship program. If there is an opportunity to give Pennsylvania families more educational options and additional resources for their children, we should take advantage of it. But we need a hell of a lot more than school choice. School choice is one piece of education reform. It does not fix the underlying problems in Pennsylvania's education system. Moving a child from one school to another doesn't magically fix an entire system that continues to struggle with reading and math, social promotion, weak accountability, staffing problems, special education, discipline, outdated funding structures and preparing kids for life after graduation. This is exactly what frustrates me about the education argument in Harrisburg. Republicans act like school choice is the entire solution, while Democrats act like spending more money is the entire solution. Neither one is enough. Give parents choices. Absolutely. Pennsylvania should participate in this program. Then get serious about fixing the damn education system those families are trying to escape in the first place. James Moore for Governor mooreforpa.com