If Harris Picks Shapiro as VP, Can He Deliver Pennsylvania?

The question of whether Josh Shapiro can deliver the biggest, baddest swing state is complicated.

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Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania at a rally in support of Vice President Kamala Harris in Ambler Pa., on Monday.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s supersonic veep search is in its final stages, and she heads into the weekend with much to consider before she announces her choice.

There is the question of vibe, of whom she gets along with. Harris will also need to consider the future of her party, given that she herself is living proof of how a vice-presidential pick can be a future Democratic standard-bearer.

And then, of course, there is the electoral map.

Harris’s shortlist has narrowed to six names, with Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona seen as the leading contenders in a medley of white guys that also includes Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Only two men on that list represent swing states. And only one of those states is seen by Democrats as an absolute must-win.

So today, amid a whirl of speculation, we’re going to home in on just one guy — Shapiro — and the biggest, baddest swing state of them all: Pennsylvania, which has 19 electoral votes. Shapiro, 51, became a Democratic darling when he won the 2022 governor’s race by nearly 15 percentage points, and he has since become the state’s most popular first-term governor since the early 1990s.

But the question of whether that means he can deliver Pennsylvania for the Democrats is a little more complicated.

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