10
Loading video...
By James Bickerton
News Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The prospect of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro being selected as Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 running mate is making prominent Republican politicians and strategists in the key swing state nervous, according to media reports.
As of August 1, Shapiro had emerged as the strong favorite to be Harris' running mate in November, according to the betting website PredictIt.org. On Thursday, the governor called off a planned fundraising trip to Long Island, New York, sparking renewed speculation online. Harris is due to hold a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday, which her vice presidential pick is expected to attend.
Speaking to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bill Bretz, the Republican Party chair for Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County, said about Shapiro: "Of the people she could possibly pick, he would be the one that makes it the most challenging because that's a name that people are familiar with."
Read More on U.S.
Republican strategist Guy Ciarrocchi made a similar point, noting President Joe Biden's personal connection to Pennsylvania, which he won in 2020 after it backed Donald Trump in 2016.
He told the outlet: "There's no state where trading out Joe Biden for Kamala Harris is more detrimental than Pennsylvania.
"If you switch out the blue-collar, 'I was born in Scranton and everybody call me Joe,' and you replace him with someone who people don't know as well, who's from California, who doesn't really share that working-class background, you want a running mate who helps with that."
...
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, another prominent Pennsylvania Republican said: "In what we know is gonna be a close race, I don't think anyone wants to see Shapiro on the ticket."
Newsweek contacted Shapiro's press office, representatives for Harris and Trump's 2024 presidential election campaign for comment by email outside regular business hours.
Other prominent Democrats reportedly under consideration by the Harris campaign for the vice president role include Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Speaking to Newsweek, Thomas Gift, a political scientist who runs the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, said selecting Shapiro as her running mate would put Pennsylvania "in play" for Harris.
"While most polling has shown Trump leading Pennsylvania by a nontrivial margin, Harris picking Shapiro puts PA's 19 electoral votes in play—pure and simple," he said. "Shapiro is a moderate, pragmatic, popular governor whose proven appeal in a purple state would be a boon to the Harris ticket.
"Even if Trump wins Pennsylvania, selecting Shapiro would force him to expend significantly more resources in the Keystone State to do it, siphoning off value cash and energy from other battleground states."
A Newsweek poll of voters who said they were planning to back Harris in November found that Buttigieg and Kelly were the most popular potential Democratic running mates, with 17 percent of respondents selecting each as their first choice. They were followed by Shapiro with 11 percent and Beshear with 7 percent.
A YouGov survey of Republican voters conducted between July 25 and 29 found that 59 percent preferred a president under the age of 75.
Harris, 59, became the presumptive Democratic nominee in July after 81-year-old Biden dropped out of the presidential contest amid concerns over his age and ability to beat Trump, 78, in November.
Update 08/02/24, 8:00 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Thomas Gift, director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines