(The Center Square) – At a rally launching Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis’s re-election campaign Thursday, the stakes were made clear: the 2026 election is about the trajectory of the nation as a whole.
Amid swirling rumors about a presidential bid, Shapiro pledged his commitment to act as a servant leader ready for another four years in office.
Over the course of the evening, speakers painted two portraits. One was Shapiro the family man guided by faith, humility, and a desire to serve. The other was a man of bravado and ambition, proud of the “sh**” he gets done. Among the victories highlighted were economic investments of more than $32 billion and the improbable twelve-day repair of a collapsed section of I-95 in Philadelphia.
The governor gave credit to his second-in-command, Austin Davis, who leads the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The administration boasts a 42% reduction in gun violence which they attribute to a combination of violence prevention programs and a bolstered police force.
As Pennsylvanians imagine whether they could see their current governor as the future president, whether they can see Davis at the helm of the commonwealth is a natural follow-up. The lieutenant governor spoke about the shooting on his block in McKeesport that inspired him to pursue public service.
“I was proud to grow McKeesport in a working-class community and a working-class family where I learned that community meant that it should be about looking out for one another, that dignity isn’t something you earn—it’s something that everyone deserves, that safety opportunity and a fair shot in life should never depend on your ZIP code or how you grew up, and that we have a responsibility to show up, to give back and to fight for one another,” said Davis. “That’s why I chose to step forward and why I’ve stayed in this fight.”
Even with marks in his favor against the Trump administration, Shapiro hasn’t had an easy year. He and his family were the victims of an arson attack in the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg in April, and despite what he described as daily talks with leadership, the divided legislature over which he presided passed their 2025-2026 state budget 130 days late.
One of Shapiro’s top goals, finding a permanent funding solution for the state’s mass transit, was unfulfilled. The Republican-led Senate rejected plans to dedicate sales tax dollars to the service, plans to legalize adult-use recreational cannabis, and plans to tax widely used skill games. Ultimately, Shapiro funneled money from the capital funds to keep Pittsburgh and Philadelphia’s transit systems afloat.
Despite the often intractable divisions within the state legislature, the governor drew a contrast between civility and bipartisanship in Pennsylvania and the “chaos, cruelty, and corruption” of Republicans in Washington, D.C.
The Republican frontrunner to take on Shapiro is Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a leader in the state who worked congenially with the governor prior to announcing her run for the executive office. Where Shapiro highlights his legal victories against the Trump administration, Garrity calls herself “a strong ally of President Trump.”
Alignment with Trump proved a risky move in the typically uneventful off-year elections held last November which saw Democratic upsets across the country. Shapiro’s approval ratings have consistently won out over Trump’s since the president began his second term, hitting 60% in an October poll from Quinnipiac University.
The GOP is circling around vulnerable congressional seats like those of Reps. Rob Bresnahan in Luzerne County, Brian Fitzpatrick in Bucks County, and Ryan Mackenzie in Lehigh County. The three broke ranks with Republican leadership to force a vote on Affordable Care Act tax credit extensions. Several more in the House followed suit Thursday, passing the bill with a bipartisan majority.
“In Pennsylvania, the biggest swing state that always decides it all, you have the ability in this election to decide the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Shapiro told the crowd.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker affirmed Shapiro’s potential to see it through, reminding the crowd that the governor had flipped wealthy Montgomery County blue for the first time in 140 years with his election to the role of County Commissioner.
