Pennsylvania Republicans Warn Josh Shapiro as Vice President Could Make Election More Difficult for Trump

As a growing group of Pennsylvania Democrats take an aggressive stance Josh Shapiro’s campaign to become Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate, Republicans in the state are watching with concern.

“In a race that we know is going to be tight, I don’t think anyone wants to see Shapiro on the ticket,” said a senior Pennsylvania Republican who asked not to be identified.

Republicans across the country have indicated see Shapiro, a first-term governor from a critical swing state, as Harris’ strongest vice presidential candidate.

In Pennsylvania, a dozen Republicans questioned largely agreed that Shapiro was the Democrats’ top pick. Privately, they expressed concerns that he could make it harder for former President Donald Trump to win the state and publicly tried to dissuade Shapiro from doing so.

“Of all the people she could have picked, he would be the one who would pose the biggest challenge because people are familiar with his name,” said Bill Bretz, chairman of the Westmoreland County Republican Party.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Pa.), a Trump ally, He also acknowledged that Shapiro could facilitate Harris in Pennsylvania, though he stressed that historically, the vice president has not changed the balance of elections and reiterated that he still thinks Trump will win the state.

“It might help some people, honestly, if he was actually willing to come together and get in line and be a part of what I think will be a losing campaign,” Meuser said. whose district stretches from Berks County to the New York border.

Besides his popularity in a key swing state, part of Shapiro’s appeal is his ability to appeal to more moderate voters and even some Republicans, something he did in his three previous state campaigns.

He has championed bipartisanship throughout his career and proudly boasts that he is the only governor in a state with a divided legislature. He would also replace at least a small bit of Pennsylvania that was on the ballot with President Joe Biden, who grew up in Scranton and often jokingly called himself the state’s third senator when he served in Delaware.

“There is no state where a Joe Biden-Kamala Harris swap would be more damaging than Pennsylvania,” said Republican strategist Guy Ciarrocchi.

“If you take a blue-collar guy who was born in Scranton and everybody calls me Joe and go with someone who people don’t know as well, who’s from California and doesn’t have that blue-collar background, you’re going to need a vice presidential candidate who can help with that,” Ciarrocchi said.

Shapiro has been campaigning for Harris across the state in recent days. He will hold an event Monday in Montgomery County, where he began his political career.

Hope Danoff, a Republican organizer from Bryn Mawr, said she worries that having Shapiro on the ticket will facilitate Democrats in his home state and across the country. She cited his full-throated support for Israel as one reason.

“I think he’s going to tighten that up a lot,” Danoff said at the opening of a GOP office in Montgomery County. “He’s Jewish. He’s pro-Israel. I think that appeals to a lot of moderates and independents.”

A Fox News poll in Pennsylvania released on Friday found that 61% of respondents rated Shapiro positively, compared to 49% positive for Harris and 46% positive for Trump. The poll also showed Shapiro would lead Trump by 10 points in a hypothetical matchup.

The poll showed Trump and Harris’ support levels were tied at 49%.

Several Republicans responded to questions about whether Shapiro could make it harder for Trump to win Pennsylvania by sharing advice for the governor — and trying to warn him against this move.

“If I were advising him, I wouldn’t get involved in this race,” Bretz said. “If I was Josh Shapiro and I knew he had presidential aspirations… I’m not sure I’d hitch my wagon to that ticket.”

Meuser said Shapiro will face attacks related to the border, taxes, government regulation and an “assault on domestic energy.”

Harris supported a ban on fracking as a candidate in the 2020 Democratic primary, a position she resigned from when she became Biden’s vice presidential candidateaccording to Axios.

“So if he wants to be a part of this, in many ways it’s not Josh Shapiro who’s presenting himself as governor,” Meuser said.

Sam DeMarco III, chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Party, said he doubted that Shapiro, who has built a brand as a moderate Democrat, would want to align himself with Harris, who was once considered “the most liberal senator in the country.”Harris earned this ranking in 2019. Shortly afterwards, the group GovTrack.plwhich compiled the ranking, concluded that a single year does not provide a reliable picture of ideology.)

DeMarco acknowledged that Shapiro’s presence on the ticket — as a popular governor in a swing state — could boost support for the Democratic ticket. And he noted his skills as a speaker and activist.

“I’m concerned that it could help them with turnout here in Pennsylvania, giving the Democrats — who I think would lack enthusiasm — a boost here,” DeMarco added. “But at the end of the day, voters vote for the name at the top of the list.”

The more muted tone of criticism shows how Shapiro has managed to forge connections with some Republicans in the state.

“Obviously, Harris’ team is considering Governor Shapiro for vice president,” said Jim Schultz, a Republican who was a senior legal adviser former Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, whom Shapiro appointed to direct the Delaware River Port Authority.

“[Harris’] anti-fracking and anti-gas stances make her particularly vulnerable here. To place the moderate, pro-energy, three-time state winner from a key swing state [on the ballot] “It would be a smart move.”

A GOP consultant who has worked on campaigns in Pennsylvania said one of Shapiro’s strengths is that despite his many liberal positions, he comes across as largely “non-threatening” to many GOP voters.

The consultant said the GOP is at least partly to blame for Shapiro’s rise, given that the party nominated a weak candidate, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, in the governor’s race.

Shapiro won decisively. “These are all defeats for the Pennsylvania Republican Party,” the consultant said.

Editors Andrew Seidman, Katie Bernard and Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.