Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, is beginning to campaign on a message aimed at both state power and national political leverage, as Democrats and Republicans look to next-year control of Washington through the results of the 2026 midterms. Though Shapiro is “heavily favored” to win reelection as governor, The Associated Press reports that his campaign activity is meant to demonstrate how much political capital he can marshal this year—especially within his party.
At a packed coffee shop in Lock Haven, Shapiro said Democrats need to win the governor’s race and also win control of the state legislature, an outcome he wants to deliver “for the first time in decades.” He also described pushing Democrats in competitive congressional primaries as an effort to shape the party’s slate in the elections that will determine control of Congress.
In remarks to The Associated Press after speaking with Democrats in the small-town setting, Shapiro said, “The only thing I am focused on is beating my opponent for governor and helping other Democrats get elected here and sending a clear message to Donald Trump that the chaos, cruelty and corruption that he’s been engaged in is not something that we support here in Pennsylvania.”
Asked about political ambition beyond the governor’s office, the AP report said Shapiro has never stated whether he is interested in running for president, but he has said he wants “a voice in his party’s future.” He argued that Democrats should focus on delivering results—saying the party needs to “get stuff done”—and he said he wants to be “part of that conversation” as national politics moves toward the 2028 presidential contest.
Shapiro’s strategy includes influencing the Democratic Party organization ahead of primary and general-election matchups. Ahead of the campaign season, he put his stamp on the state party by getting committee members to elect his hand-picked chair and by putting more than $900,000 into the organization’s accounts, according to the AP report. Shapiro also told voters Pennsylvania is the “center of the political universe” in the fight for control of the U.S. House.
Democrats want to flip four House seats in Pennsylvania, and the AP report said Shapiro’s endorsed candidates include Paige Cognetti, mayor of Scranton; Bob Brooks, president of the state firefighters’ union; and Janelle Stelson, a former television news personality who narrowly lost two years ago. The report said Shapiro already cut an ad for Brooks, who is running in a four-way Democratic primary for a chance to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.
Other Democrats have not ceded space to Shapiro’s preferred slate. The AP report said Ryan Crosswell, a former federal prosecutor running against Brooks, issued a campaign memo that described Crosswell as having “no party machine behind him, no power broker network, no favors to call in,” in what the report described as a veiled reference to the governor. Shapiro responded by saying he was focused on “trying to elevate good people” and added, “Hopefully they’ll all win.”
Republicans, meanwhile, are highlighting Shapiro’s national political ambitions as a political liability. Stacy Garrity, the Republican state treasurer running for governor, said Shapiro can’t hide his ambition and argued that it is “bad for the state,” according to an interview in the AP report. Garrity said, “We all know that he’s more interested in Pennsylvania Avenue than helping Pennsylvania families,” adding, “He thinks if he can hand Pennsylvania on a platter to the Democratic Party, then maybe they take a harder look at him.”
The report also described how national Republicans may be tying Pennsylvania’s House and Senate battles to broader presidential politics. It said House Speaker Mike Johnson made a fundraising swing through Pennsylvania earlier and that Trump, Vice President JD Vance and cabinet secretaries have already visited contested congressional districts, and that Republicans are treating those races as part of a larger effort to protect seats—an effort for which Johnson’s political operation spokesperson Greg Steele said the speaker is focused on helping members defend their positions.
As Shapiro begins appearing on the campaign trail, the AP report said he has drawn attention in Pennsylvania’s more out-of-the-way areas, including events where local party leaders said the crowds included “brand-new people” and even Republicans and independents. Clinton County Democratic Party chair Bre Brannan said she saw “brand-new people” and also people who “have not been engaged in the party in years.” Shapiro has told audiences a Democratic “trifecta” would help him push legislation stalled by Republicans, including raising the state’s minimum wage and expanding legal protections for LGBT residents, and he has also promoted a housing affordability plan this year.
For Democrats, the stakes are not only about the governor’s race but about whether Shapiro can help organize and finance down-ballot contests that matter to voters and donors. The AP report said the one-seat Democratic majority in the state House and the absence of a state Senate majority for more than three decades make consolidating legislative control a large task. It also quoted Democratic strategist Mike Mikus, who said money and organizing in lower-level races “doesn’t guarantee anything,” but is still “definitely something” that helps when candidates line up donors, endorsements, and finance chairs—and that such backing is “compelling” to them.
In its analysis, the AP report said Pennsylvania is difficult for Democrats to navigate politically, and that strategists across the party are watching how Shapiro performs as he tests his political capital. Paul Begala, a Democratic campaign strategist and commentator and a senior aide to Bill Clinton when Clinton was president, said Democrats most want “a winner,” with a close second “a fighter,” and that the election gives Shapiro a chance “to show that.”