Gov. Josh Shapiro did the right thing, in our opinion, by issuing a call for unity after voters chose Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States.

We’re sure it was a bitter pill for Gov. Josh Shapiro, given that he was at one time being considered to run alongside Kamala Harris for president and is still considered a rising star in the Democratic Party. We agree with Shapiro – the will of the people must be respected.

“I know the pundits will analyze every aspect of this election, but for my part, I’m going to continue to listen to the good people of Pennsylvania, show respect for their choices, and find ways to bring people back together and move the ball down the field to put points on the board for all of us,” Shapiro said in a statement Friday.

It’s a good goal to follow for both Republicans and Democrats who hold statewide office. It would have been easier for both parties if state voters had moved toward the type of one-party rule seen in New York state, where Democrats hold the governor’s office and both houses of the state Legislature. It’s easier to get things done, but large swaths of the state find themselves feeling their voices don’t matter. That isn’t the case in Pennsylvania. Control of the state House of Representatives is tenuous, separated the past two years by only one vote. Republicans control the state Senate and Shapiro holds the governor’s office. That means viewpoints carry weight in the state Capitol. It also means Shapiro has to be a unifier and a dealmaker to accomplish his goals for the state as he nears the halfway point of his first term in office.

One of the challenges for the governor will be how he handles the conflict between moving “the ball down the field to put points on the board for all of us” and what we’re sure Shapiro will be asked to do as a rising star in the Democratic Party that will spend the next four years both opposing President-elect Donald Trump and raising money for the next presidential race based on that opposition. It will be a tightrope for Shapiro to navigate. He will be called upon, we’re sure, to be a public voice of opposition to Trump while, at the same time, having to be measured enough in his opposition not to turn off Republicans who worked hard in Pennsylvania to help return Trump to office.

Unity is a great goal. If Shapiro can achieve it over the next two years in Pennsylvania, he may find himself in position to be a national unifier.