Josh Shapiro Polls Better Than Harris, Trump, Taylor Swift in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro remains the most popular government official in the key battleground state, receiving higher approval ratings than Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump — and even Pennsylvania superstar Taylor Swift herself, according to a recent poll of likely voters released Thursday by The Philadelphia Inquirer, the New York Times and Siena College.

Shapiro remains a wildly popular first-term Democratic governor in a key presidential battleground state who has made a national mark as a moderate who is willing to work with other parties. And his popularity helped him become Harris’s top running mate before she ultimately chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her No. 2 candidate.

About 59% of likely voters in Pennsylvania either “strongly approve” or “somewhat approve” of Shapiro’s leadership as governor of the state during the months he was Harris’ top vice presidential candidate.

Shapiro’s high ratings outpace those of Harris (51%), Trump (45%) and Swift (46%), who all supported Harris after last week’s presidential debate in Philadelphia.. Job approval ratings tend to be lower than favorable ratings, meaning the number of voters who personally like Shapiro may be higher than the number who approve of the job he is doing as governor.

A third of likely Trump voters still have a favorable view of Shapiro, according to a telephone survey of 1,082 likely voters conducted between Sept. 11 and 16. Shapiro received similar support among Trump supporters in a May poll by The Philadelphia Inquirer, the New York Times and Siena College.

Swift, for her part, is not a politician. But she has been a divisive figure in the polls, and her political influence is widely scrutinized. (Shapiro is a Swiftie, and said last year, after Swift performed on the Eras tour in Pittsburgh, that his favorite song is “Never Grow Up”.)

After Harris selected Walz as her vice presidential running mate, some pundits questioned whether she should have chosen Shapiro given his bipartisan support and position as the highest-ranking official in one of the most critical battleground states.

Pennsylvania last voted for a Republican presidential candidate in 2016. Meanwhile, it’s been more than 50 years since deep-blue Minnesota voted for one. Even in 1984, when 49 states voted for former President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, Minnesota still voted blue (albeit for Minnesotan Walter Mondale).

Nate Silver, founder of political polling site FiveThirtyEight, he wrote on his Substack earlier this month, Harris “wasted one big opportunity to hit the center by choosing Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro.” And local Republicans celebrated when Harris passed over Shapiro for the job.

A Philadelphia Inquirer/New York Times/Siena College poll on Thursday shows Shapiro still enjoying wide popularity in Pennsylvania despite weeks in the national spotlight that have made him the most criticized candidate to win the presidential election.

Stephen Sutton, a 78-year-old registered Republican and Upper Bucks County resident who participated in the poll, supports Trump in the upcoming election but said he thinks Shapiro has done a pretty good job as governor.

“He does a decent job,” Sutton said. “He works across the aisle. I was pleased with the way he handled the I-95 situation. He went in there and cut through the red tape. And, you know, I know it can be done.”

He added that if Harris had chosen Shapiro as her vice presidential running mate, Sutton would not have changed his mind about voting for Trump because any vice president would have been a “smokescreen.”

“If I really thought she was choosing someone who would do something good and contribute to her activities, I might have a different opinion,” he added.

Lisa Crosier, a 58-year-old from Washington, said she plans to support Trump in November but thinks Shapiro is doing a good job of leading the state.

“Kamala Harris wasted an opportunity,” Crosier added. “She should have chosen him… Shapiro is a much more impressive person.”

But Crosier said that even if Harris chose Shapiro as her running mate, it wouldn’t change her decision about who she would vote for in November.

“I don’t think she’s the right person for this job,” she added.

Harris’ campaign has not been shy about using the governor’s popularity as a campaign surrogate. Shapiro was chosen to launch a “reproductive freedom” bus tour of Pennsylvania and toured CNN’s State of the Union AND Fox News SundayHe also gave a prime-time speech before the Democratic National Convention last month, was one of Harris’ supporters in the spin room after the debate and is expected to be a key surrogate in the remaining weeks of the presidential campaign.

But Shapiro maintains that Walz is “the right guy for the job” and has often said that running for vice president is a “deeply personal decision” for Harris and himself. He loves his job as governor and has always wanted to be an executive, he added.

“I love what I do,” Shapiro said after the vice presidential election ended. “I love that I get to do it on my terms.”

Camille Baker of the New York Times contributed to this article.