A Lehigh Valley native is going to have one of the most powerful jobs in Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro’s administration
When Dana Fritz starts her new job next month in Harrisburg, she’ll hold her Lehigh Valley roots near and dear.
The Coplay native will become chief of staff for Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro, the top job in the new administration and the culmination of years of working with the state’s new top Democrat.
Fritz, who is 32 and now lives in Philadelphia, has been with Shapiro since his time as a Montgomery County commissioner. She moved with him to the attorney general’s office and most recently served as the manager of his successful gubernatorial campaign.
“I’ve worked with Dana Fritz for a decade — she’s an incredibly talented leader and committed public servant. She has been my most trusted adviser for years,” Shapiro said.
He credited her with unmatched leadership skills, knowledge of the state and “sharp instincts.”
“I have complete confidence in her ability to lead our administration and help move Pennsylvania forward,” Shapiro said.
The new job will involve high pressure, long hours and weighty decisions. In her words, her role will be “captaining the ship to get [Shapiro’s] priorities done.”
She said her childhood in the Lehigh Valley has always served as a sort of inner sounding board. She sometimes asks herself what family members — her grandmother, her mother or some other close relative — would think of a situation.
“I have kept that very close to my heart,” she said.
Growing up in the Coplay area, Fritz wanted to become a professional figure skater. Her mother took her for a skating lesson when she was 5 years old and she got hooked, with aspirations of making it to “Disney on Ice.”
She skated competitively into her years at Allentown Central Catholic High School. She graduated from Temple University and realized, over time, that she enjoyed politics and the concept of public service.
She worked for the state Democratic Party and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s 2012 reelection campaign. Afterward, she managed finances and political efforts for Shapiro, then a Montgomery County commissioner.
Her posts since then include deputy campaign manager for Shapiro’s successful 2016 run for attorney general, a multiyear stint as deputy chief of staff and communications director in that office, and then managing Shapiro’s 2020 reelection campaign.
In her latest role, Fritz steered a gubernatorial campaign that achieved a massive 14-percentage point victory over Republican candidate state Sen. Doug Mastriano.
Shapiro will be sworn in Jan. 17. Fritz said her biggest challenge will be cobbling together a team of Cabinet members and staff to carry out Shapiro’s intentions and visions for the state.
Shapiro will need to work with a Legislature where Republicans have control of the Senate.
While Democrats won a majority of seats in the House, they will at least temporarily be in the minority in practical terms because two Democratic winners were elected to other positions they plan to accept. A third, Tony DeLuca, died in September. A special election will be held to fill his seat.
Shapiro, Fritz said, has a long history of working across the aisle.
Fritz said Shapiro heard plenty about crime from Pennsylvanians during his time on the campaign trail. Asked how she would advise him on the issue, Fritz said, “I would advise him to remember what he has heard.”
The economy may be one of the most pressing issues. Fritz said Shapiro has made it clear he wants to build an economy that “will lift more people up.”