As the days get longer and pumpkin spice takes over the known universe, the General Election season is in high gear, headed toward its early November showdown. Every four years, voters in Pennsylvania elect a governor. Especially in a year when a U.S. Senate seat is not up for grabs, the gubernatorial campaign and its candidates command the spotlight.
But that isn’t happening this year.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, continuing his inexorable journey from womb to White House, is seeking re-election. His campaign has less to do with winning another four years to occupy the mansion on the Susquehanna than it does with positioning himself in a crowded Democrat Primary race filled with candidates who are better known nationwide.
The Shapiro Administration recently unveiled proposed health department regulations so draconian even Anthony Fauci would blush. The proposed regulations run afoul of two state constitutional amendments overwhelmingly approved by voters to rein in former Gov. Tom Wolf’s COVID-19 overreach.
Shapiro is also proposing to rename “pregnant woman” as “pregnant individual” and mother of a newborn as a “postpartum individual.” The ideologically driven changes in terminology are designed to appeal to his party’s left-wing base.
The governor has likewise flip-flopped on the issue of data centers, abandoning his previous steps to lure such facilities to the commonwealth and issuing an executive order that basically encourages data center developers to take the high-paying jobs and billions in property tax payments to Ohio and other states.
Shapiro is on the wrong side of his party’s divide over support for Israel. The governor is Jewish and thus has rejected calls from radicals within his party to end military and other aid to Israel. Support for Palestinian terrorists is a litmus test for Democrat presidential candidates, and it is a test Shapiro cannot pass.
A high-profile re-election campaign would typically be just the platform for Shapiro’s attempt to position himself as a serious contender for the 2028 Democratic Presidential nomination – but he has been upstaged by U.S. Senator John Fetterman.
Fetterman has emerged as something of a national phenomenon by being, well, rational. He has rejected the wacky Democratic-Socialist wing of his party speaking out against its candidates. A stout defender of Israel, Fetterman has also departed from Democrat orthodoxy on illegal immigration and other issues. He has especially raised Democrat ire by refusing to engage in Donald Trump bashing and even — gasp — had dinner with the president.
The cherry on top of the sundae came during the recent Republican mid-term convention when Fetterman made a video appearance introducing and praising his Republican counterpart, U.S. Senator Dave McCormick. Standing in front of a U.S. Steel plant, Fetterman talked about how he and McCormick work together on issues that benefit Pennsylvania.
Senators of opposing parties working together for the benefit of their state is nothing new, but in today’s hyper-partisan environment it is grounds for excommunication. The left-wing media has denounced him, and candidates are lining up to challenge him in the 2028 primary.
Fetterman appears not to care. He is a regular on Fox News and — clad in his signature gym shorts and hoodie – has become one of the most recognizable members of the U.S. Senate.
Thus, Fetterman — whose disdain for Josh Shapiro is well known — has stolen the spotlight from the governor. And while that surely irritates the governor, it may actually be in his best interest.
That is because Shapiro has spent the last few months shooting himself in the foot. His disdain for anything Trump-related caused him to jilt Pennsylvania’s booth at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C. He claimed he couldn’t get any sponsors. But, over the course of one weekend, Senators McCormick and Fetterman put together the state’s display — which went on to be named best in the show.
Then, in his haste to attack U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he called a news conference putting out misleading information related to two deaths in Lancaster County, falsely attributing them to the measles outbreak. Again, his ambition ran ahead of the facts.
The problem for Republicans is the Fetterman sideshow is also taking the spotlight from state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, who is fighting to unseat Shapiro in the upcoming November election.
Fetterman will continue being Fetterman, and so the sideshow will continue. And the candidates will continue lining up to challenge him in the 2028 primary. They will embrace the Democratic socialists claiming to be the “big tent” party. But the tent is not big enough to include a senator who votes with them 90% of the time.
Josh Shapiro should take note.
Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal and American Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org.
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