Shapiro, seen as potential 2028 presidential candidate, wins second term as Pennsylvania governor

By JONATHAN D. SALANT

(JNS.org) – Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, was reelected to a second term on Tuesday, the Associated Press said.

The AP called the race for Shapiro one minute after the polls closed.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro attends the ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the new Fidelity Bank Corporate Center, in Scranton, Pa., Sept. 18, 2026. Credit: The office of Gov. Josh Shapiro

With 22% of votes counted at press time, Shapiro had 864,167 votes, or 72.9%, to 309,173, or 26.1%, for state treasurer Stacy Garrity, the Republican.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, head of the Democratic Governors Association and another potential 2028 presidential contender, praised Shapiro’s record in his first term and said he would “continue working hard for Pennsylvanians by standing up for their freedoms, keeping communities safe and making life better for families across the commonwealth.”

Shapiro, who is Jewish, had drawn a strong Republican challenger in Garrity, but she failed to raise money for her campaign and GOP outside groups were forced to allocate their spending elsewhere, as the party’s candidates faced unexpected challenges in states that they were originally favored to win.

Shapiro raised $55 million, while Garrity brought in less than 10% of that amount, $5.3 million.

The result was that 44% of Republicans in a recent Franklin & Marshall College poll said that they didn’t know enough about Garrity to express a favorable or unfavorable opinion of her. But among Democrats asked the same question, 38% said that they didn’t know enough about her, because more of them heard of her through Shapiro’s advertisements.

Garrity was endorsed early by U.S. President Donald Trump, but his plummeting approval ratings appeared to work against her.

Only 29% of Pennsylvania voters approved of his performance in office, according to a Franklin & Marshall College poll released last month. More than half of Pennsylvanian voters, 58%, said that they were worse off economically now than a year ago, and 59% said that Trump’s policies have hurt them, compared with 37% who said they have helped.

Pennsylvania, the most populous battleground state, has become a must-win for Democratic presidential candidates, and Shapiro has now carried the state by wide margins twice for governor.

He also sought to help Democrats capture the House of Representatives by campaigning in competitive races and to help the party take control of state legislature, providing a governing trifecta in advance of a potential 2028 run for the White House.

Jonathan D. Salant has been a Washington correspondent for more than 35 years and has worked for such outlets as Newhouse News Service, the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, NJ Advance Media and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.