On Wednesday, Sept. 14, Attorney General Josh Shapiro appeared at a fundraising event at The Mulberry in Center City Philadelphia featuring some small business and LGBTQ+ leaders in the Philadelphia region.

Organized by business leaders Evan Urbania and David Davis, both emphasized not only the impact of the donations being made on the night, but also the importance of voting come Nov. 3, 2022 in Pennsylvania.

“This race couldn’t be more important,” Urbania told AL DÍA.

That’s especially true, he said, when it comes to reproductive rights, voting rights, trans rights, and environmental protections, which Republican candidate Doug Mastriano has vowed to drastically change and restrict. 

Urbania called Mastriano “dangerous,” and it’s why he and Davis felt the need to gather their diverse networks for a fundraising effort in support of Shapiro.

“This impacts everybody. No matter where you fall, wherever you came from, this race is so important that everyone has to be represented here,” he said.

On Davis’ part, he told the crowd before introducing Shapiro to spread the message of the fundraiser to their own networks at home elsewhere.

“We need you talking to your community, your circle of friends, to get people to vote,” Davis said. 

Attendee Uva Coles, who was there not as a PA voter, but supporter of Shapiro’s message on personal time, echoed Davis’ sentiment about the importance of voting, and the consequences of not carrying out the civic duty.

“Tu voz es tu voto (your voice is your vote),” she said. “We have seen the impact of being complacent with our vote.”

Coles went on to put further emphasis on state and local elections as more important because of their more immediate impact.

“They create the pathway,” she said.

That pathway is one Coles said could “set us up for more success or four or more years of heartache.”

When Shapiro took the microphone at the event, he warned of the possibility of “generations” of freedoms Pennsylvanians have been relying on are being taken away.

“We worry right now about the fate of our democracy,” he said.

Despite that somber feeling leading into Election Day, Shapiro also struck a chord of hope among the crowd that the same democracy would prevail.

“We have to do our part to protect it,” said Shapiro. “Our democracy is predicated upon each and every one of you.”

Shapiro will face off with Mastriano on Nov. 3, a day that will not only decide the future of Pennsylvania, but likely the whole country.