{"id":503060,"date":"2026-01-09T05:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T05:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/503060\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T05:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T05:45:09","slug":"gov-josh-shapiro-kicks-off-reelection-bid-with-pittsburgh-philadelphia-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/503060\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Josh Shapiro kicks off reelection bid with Pittsburgh, Philadelphia events"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barely 20 miles from where Gov. Josh Shapiro held his 2022 Election Night party \u2013 when he gave his victory speech<\/a> to an energetic crowd at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center \u2013 the governor capped off his 2026 bid announcement at the Alan Horowitz \u201cSixth Man\u201d Center in Philadelphia on Thursday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kicking off his long-expected reelection campaign for Pennsylvania governor, Shapiro held his first event at the Carpenters Union Local 432 hall in Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoon before jetting across the state to the Philadelphia event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs many of you know, for me, public service is grounded in my faith and my family,\u201d Shapiro said to open his remarks. \u201cMy faith has called me to serve others with empathy and with a devotion to repairing the world around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move comes just a day after Shapiro\u2019s campaign announced he has a $30 million war chest entering 2026 to begin the year \u201cin a position of unprecedented strength,\u201d having raised more than $10 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 and north of $23 million throughout last year.<\/p>\n

Shapiro, 52, was considered a potential running mate for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in 2024, but Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz instead. Shapiro\u2019s 2026 run has both statewide and national implications amid ongoing rumors that he is eyeing a 2028 presidential run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shapiro is likely to face state Treasurer Stacy Garrity<\/a>, a Republican who set a record in 2024 for the most votes received<\/a> in a statewide election. In 2022, Shapiro defeated Republican candidate Doug Mastriano \u2013 an outspoken far-right state senator from Franklin County \u2013 by nearly 15 points, the largest margin for a non-incumbent candidate for Pennsylvania governor since 1946.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having never suffered an electoral defeat, Shapiro\u2019s political path includes stops as state representative, Montgomery County commissioner, state attorney general and his current role as a leading face of the Democratic Party both in Pennsylvania and nationwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The opening pitch<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shapiro began his campaign launch video by touting his work in rebuilding a portion of I-95 in Philadelphia that collapsed, bringing it back online in just 12 days. He reiterated one of his catchphrases, \u201cGet Shit Done,\u201d to highlight his work in promoting apprenticeship and trade union jobs and investing in universal free breakfast programs and additional mental health staffing in public schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe Pennsylvanians, we are a state of builders, a state of doers and a state of get shit done-ers,\u201d Shapiro said, invoking one of his favorite phrases and the principles of William Penn in the same breath. \u201cFrom our founders to our skilled workers who built our cities and towns, to those who descended beneath the surface of the Earth to power our country \u2026 Power isn\u2019t just wielded in large actions and on big stages \u2013 you have enormous power.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a \u201cGovernor for all Pennsylvanians\u201d banner \u2013 and a crowd of \u201cGSD\u201d signs, Shapiro and his allies pitched the campaign as one that can counter the \u201cchaos\u201d at the national level and create opportunities for commonwealth residents from all walks of life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not possible to tell the story of our accomplishments, about the progress that we\u2019ve made, the lives we\u2019ve touched, without acknowledging the challenges to the founding principles of our commonwealth because of the chaos, the cruelty and the corruption in Washington,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lineup of speakers, including state Sen. Vincent Hughes, state Rep. Jordan Harris, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, touted the administration\u2019s accomplishments since taking office, adding that the commonwealth needs leadership ready to meet the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Pennsylvania, we\u2019ve chosen a much different path,\u201d Davis said, alluding to the divisive nature of politics in the nation\u2019s capital. \u201cWe put progress over partisanship, compassion over division, and solutions that work above all else. We’ve shown leadership that expands opportunity instead of restriction, leadership that fights with hope not fear, and leadership that gets shit done.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Shapiro has boasted about his ability to work with a divided legislature, the inability of Harrisburg lawmakers to produce a state budget on time during Shapiro\u2019s tenure is one of a few obstacles he\u2019s faced while in the governor\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pennsylvania Republican Party, chaired by state Rep. Greg Rothman, countered Shapiro\u2019s \u201cGSD\u201d slogan in a statement Thursday by arguing that Shapiro \u201cflip-flops\u201d when speaking in front of the camera.<\/p>\n

\u201cPennsylvanians have had enough of Josh Shapiro\u2019s lack of leadership and broken promise,\u201d Rothman said in a statement. \u201cStacy Garrity is a proven warrior who served her country with honor, earned the trust of voters statewide, and received more votes than any candidate in the history of our Commonwealth. She actually gets stuff done; she doesn\u2019t just talk about it on the campaign trail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nationally noteworthy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shapiro\u2019s campaign will likely draw even more attention to Pennsylvania, a bellwether state for both the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election. Not only is Shapiro on a shortlist of potential Democratic presidential candidates, but he\u2019s also gone across the country to tout his \u2013 and his party\u2019s \u2013 successes on television shows and podcasts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s expanded his communications and digital teams, planned a book tour for the end of January and sat down for a number of high-profile interviews with journalists, commentators and content creators alike. In 2025 alone, Shapiro appeared on more than 26 podcasts, spanning politics, sports, and pop culture, to expand his digital presence and online engagement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a potential audition for 2028, Shapiro\u2019s 2026 bid will be closely watched \u2013 and likely criticized \u2013 by many. But with his favorability remaining relatively strong at over 50% in the commonwealth, according to a Franklin and Marshall College Poll conducted last year, his chances of reelection remain high.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barely 20 miles from where Gov. Josh Shapiro held his 2022 Election Night party \u2013 when he gave…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":503061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,1448,2830,1311,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-503060","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-pa","10":"tag-pennsylvania","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115863560191214512","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}