Nationwide, and in Pennsylvania, the Democratic bench is thin.

The Democratic Party is in desperate need of young up-and-comers who can rise up the ranks in the years ahead.

As a result Josh Shapiro, 43 year-old newly elected Attorney General, stands out among PA politicos.

Shapiro’s actually been considered a rising star for years now. In fact, Democrats wanted him to take on Pat Toomey this year in the Senate race. For a variety of reasons, though, he chose to seek the AG position instead.

With 99.93% of the vote in, Shapiro not only defeated GOP nominee State Sen. John Rafferty, he scored more support than any other statewide candidate:

1. Josh Shapiro 2,985,166

2. Joe Torsella 2,923,879

3. Donald Trump 2,905,958

4. Eugene DePasquale 2,890,199

5. Pat Toomey 2,886,455

Of course, there aren’t any clear upward paths at the moment with incumbent Democrats Tom Wolf and Bob Casey seeking re-election in 2018 for Governor and Senator respectively.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, however, as sometimes pols can try to move up too fast. After all, four years ago Kathleen Kane pulled off this same feat and became the talk of the commonwealth. Look how well that turned out.