Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks at the 2026 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year award ceremony at the state Department of Education’s annual professional development conference in Hershey, Pa., Dec. 8, 2025
(JNS) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, announced on Jan. 8 that he is seeking a second term as chief executive of the nation’s most populous swing state.
A victory for Shapiro, 52, could put him in a strong position to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. He was a finalist for the vice-presidential nod that went to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in 2024.
“As your governor, I’ve stopped the federal government from coming between you and your doctor,” Shapiro said in his announcement video.
“I’ve stood up for parents who should make health care decisions for their kids, not politicians. I’ve shut them down when they try and throw out our votes and overturn fair elections,” he said. “Even with a divided state legislature, together, we’ve gotten a whole lot done on issues that have been stuck for decades.”
Shapiro and his family were victims of an antisemitic attack when an anti-Israel man set fire to the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg, Pa., after a Passover Seder in April.
“That’s something that can affect any Jew of high profile,” Guy Ziv, associate professor of foreign policy and global security at American University and associate director of its Israeli studies center, told JNS.
“The fact of the matter is that he handled it well,” Ziv said. “He has not been deterred from continuing to serve the public, and I think that’s kind of the right message to not allow incidents like that to derail public service.”
The fire is one of three incidents regularly cited as examples of violent antisemitism, most recently this week in a U.S. Senate-passed resolution condemning the attacks.
“The fact he wants to stay in the fight after all of that demonstrates real leadership,” Democratic consultant Joel Rubin told JNS. “I do think that it probably lays the foundation as well for a presidential run in 2028. We’ll see, but by staying in the governor’s race and being the likely favorite, I would assume that positions him very well to keep on going forward on the national level, as the 2028 field pulls itself together in a year or so.”
Shapiro has sided with Israel in the war against Hamas while criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
His approval rating stood at 60% in an October Quinnipiac University poll, including 28% of Republicans and 66% of independents. Just 28% disapproved of his performance in office.
“Gov. Shapiro has been incredibly effective and impactful, defending democracy, fighting for affordability, combating extremism and hate and delivering for the people of Pennsylvania,” Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, told JNS.
Shapiro had a double-digit lead against his GOP opponent, state treasurer Stacy Garrity, 55% to 39%, in the poll.
“He is somebody who is much more of a uniter than a divider,” Ziv told JNS.
“He’s somebody who has proven himself to be a vote-getter, and I would say an effective vote-getter, and one who kind of stays away from today’s politics of polarization and divisiveness,” the professor said.
“He’s typically given very high marks for his performance,” Ziv added. “He is somebody who can be seen as a kind of a national figure, who can begin to heal the nation’s wounds after an era of high polarization and hyper-partisanship.”
But the Republican Jewish Coalition’s political director, Sam Markstein, argued that Shapiro was out of step with most of his fellow Democrats.
“We feel sorry for Josh Shapiro,” he told JNS. “Josh Shapiro represents a dwindling and demoralized wing of the Democratic Party, which has been radicalized and overrun by far-left maniacs.”
