Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, announced on Thursday that he is seeking a second term as chief executive of the nation’s most populous swing state.
A victory for Shapiro, 52, could put him in a strong position to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. He was a finalist for the vice-presidential nod that went to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in 2024.
“As your governor, I’ve stopped the federal government from coming between you and your doctor,” Shapiro said in his announcement video.
“I’ve stood up for parents who should make health care decisions for their kids, not politicians. I’ve shut them down when they try and throw out our votes and overturn fair elections,” he said. “Even with a divided state legislature, together, we’ve gotten a whole lot done on issues that have been stuck for decades.”
Shapiro and his family were victims of an antisemitic attack when an anti-Israel man set fire to the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg, Pa., after a Passover seder in April.
“That’s something that can affect any Jew of high profile,” Guy Ziv, associate professor of foreign policy and global security at American University and associate director of its Israeli studies center, told JNS.
“The fact of the matter is that he handled it well,” Ziv said. “He has not been deterred from continuing to serve the public, and I think that’s kind of the right message to not allow incidents like that to derail public service.”
The fire is one of three incidents regularly cited as examples of violent antisemitism, most recently this week in a U.S. Senate-passed resolution condemning the attacks. The others were the firebombing in June of participants at a rally in Boulder, Colo., calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the shooting deaths of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington in May outside the Capital Jewish Museum.
“The fact he wants to stay in the fight after all of that demonstrates real leadership,” Democratic consultant Joel Rubin told JNS. “I do think that it probably lays the foundation as well for a presidential run in 2028. We’ll see, but by staying in the governor’s race and being the likely favorite, I would assume that positions him very well to keep on going forward on the national level, as the 2028 field pulls itself together in a year or so.”
Shapiro has sided with Israel in the war against Hamas while criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
His approval rating stood at 60% in an October Quinnipiac University poll, including 28% of Republicans and 66% of independents. Just 28% disapproved of his performance in office.
‘More of a uniter than a divider’
“Gov. Shapiro has been incredibly effective and impactful, defending democracy, fighting for affordability, combating extremism and hate and delivering for the people of Pennsylvania,” Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, told JNS.
Shapiro had a double-digit lead against his GOP opponent, state treasurer Stacy Garrity, 55% to 39%, in the poll.
“He is somebody who is much more of a uniter than a divider,” Ziv told JNS.
“He’s somebody who has proven himself to be a vote-getter, and I would say an effective vote-getter, and one who kind of stays away from today’s politics of polarization and divisiveness,” the professor said.
“He’s typically given very high marks for his performance,” Ziv added. “He is somebody who can be seen as a kind of a national figure, who can begin to heal the nation’s wounds after an era of high polarization and hyper-partisanship.”
But the Republican Jewish Coalition’s political director, Sam Markstein, argued that Shapiro was out of step with most of his fellow Democrats.
“We feel sorry for Josh Shapiro,” he told JNS. “Josh Shapiro represents a dwindling and demoralized wing of the Democratic Party, which has been radicalized and overrun by far-left maniacs.”
Shapiro, then the state attorney general, was elected governor in 2022 with 56% of the vote. He successfully beat back Republican efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential race that Joe Biden won.
As governor, he gained notice early in his first term when he led an effort to reopen a segment of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia in just 12 days after a bridge collapsed after a truck fire.
As attorney general and then as governor, he joined several multistate lawsuits against U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies and efforts to cut federal funding for states.
That helped his national profile. He delivered a prime-time address at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and was a key surrogate at the event, energizing the delegates.
Markstein, though, said Shapiro’s pro-Israel bona fides didn’t sit well with many leaders of the Democratic Party and that he was passed over for Walz, “because Shapiro was too Jewish and too pro-Israel.”
“Put another way,” Markstein said. “National Democrats thought that Shapiro was more of a political liability than Walz, which tells you everything you need to know about why Democrats remain in the political wilderness.”
Shapiro said he was looking ahead to a second term as governor.
“There’s always more to do—more people to help, more Pennsylvanians to protect, more bridges to build,” he said in the announcement. “We’re moving our commonwealth forward. So join me, and let’s keep getting stuff done.”
