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CAMP HILL, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) woke up after Election Day two years ago shaken after President Donald Trump carried Pennsylvania while GOP candidates prevailed in all statewide races.
Shapiro said he was convinced the outcome would hurt Pennsylvania residents, a concern he said was reaffirmed when Republicans in Congress passed a budget last year that cut Medicaid and food assistance. So this year, Shapiro decided to punch back by helping turn his state into an epicenter of Democratic victories in Tuesday's election.
Shapiro won reelection by about a 22-point margin, the largest for a Pennsylvania governor in more than two decades, according to preliminary returns. Democrats won control of the state Senate and expanded their majority in the state House, giving the party its first governing trifecta since 1993. Democrats also flipped four congressional seats in the Keystone State after Shapiro personally recruited the candidates.
"I realized the only thing I could do is change the makeup of Congress in order to stop the cruelty and stop the chaos," Shapiro said in an interview Wednesday.
The sweeping victories, which Shapiro spent $10 million in campaign funds to help achieve, represent a turning point for a 53-year-old politician and could strengthen his standing among Democrats looking for a new generation of national leaders.
Shapiro is frequently mentioned as a possible 2028 presidential candidate. On Wednesday, he said his chief focus was working with other state Democrats on a legislative agenda. But when asked whether he was committed to keeping his focus local, he was less definitive: "You will see what my plans are when I execute them."
Shapiro's successes on Tuesday offer a window into a politician who has developed a reputation for being a pragmatic, moderate focused on "getting [expletive] done," as his campaign motto put it. He has tried to position himself as a champion for lowering political rhetoric ever since a man approached the governor's mansion last year and set it ablaze as Shapiro and his family were sleeping after a Passover dinner.
Shapiro has pushed to reposition the Democratic Party around kindness and empathy, even as he sharpens his attacks on Trump and GOP policies. He said on Wednesday that voters had rejected "small and selfish men" who have been "plundering our nation."
Still, as Shapiro looks to his political future, Republicans and even some Democrats caution he faces considerable hurdles in broadening his appeal as his party continues to drift to the left.
"He will have money and he will work really hard, but what will the moment be calling for after this," said Mike DeVanney, a national Republican consultant based in Pennsylvania. "He tries to be a tough guy because Trump is a tough guy … Are people going to want something a bit gentler?"
Shapiro campaigned on expanding free lunches to all students, boosting public safety, streamlining government and cutting taxes for seniors. Several of his other priorities, such as raising the state's $7.25 minimum wage and legalizing marijuana, were consistently blocked by a Republican-controlled state Senate.
But at the heart of his campaign was a broader argument that he was a diligent, competent manager who made state government run effectively. He frequently noted that his administration rebuilt a bridge that had collapsed in Philadelphia in only 12 days.
Shapiro has also tried to set himself up as a foil to Trump, opposing efforts to open U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in the state and challenging the administration's attempts to be more involved in state elections. He has also sharply criticized the administration's health care policies, including changes to vaccination guidelines that Shapiro blames for a measles outbreak that has so far killed six Pennsylvania residents.
"The cruelty in Washington is trying to pit one against the other," Shapiro said at his final campaign event in suburban Philadelphia on Monday. "That cruelty is not who we are."
The approach won over voters across the state, including heavily red areas. On Tuesday, Shapiro became the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate to win Lancaster County, the heart of the state's Amish population, since 1990.
Berwood Yost, the director of opinion research at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, said Shapiro has succeeded because "people don't see him as a radical."
"He is one of those politicians who are able to communicate effectively and really stay on message," Yost said, adding that he considers Shapiro to be the state's most talented politician since former Republican governor William Scranton was in office in the 1960s.
In the closing months of his campaign, Shapiro attempted to rally support for Democrats in downballot races. He appeared in several political TV ads asking voters to give him a governing trifecta.
Shapiro's success in that effort could help him distinguish himself on the national political stage. Political observers note that other governors, including Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat and former governor, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), raised their profiles within their parties after helping deliver downballot victories.
But in a divided political environment, some say Shapiro could run the risk of appearing too moderate, especially as some young voters have been embracing more liberal stances on matters such as Middle East policy and police reform.
Paula A. Holoviak, a philosophy and government professor at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, noted that Shapiro has generally "not been willing to go into culture wars." While that has benefited him in Pennsylvania, it might not "work for his national footprint," she said.
"I don't think he has any hook, because he's so centrist," Holoviak said.
DeVanney, the Republican consultant, is also skeptical that Shapiro has a broad enough record to attract voters outside of Pennsylvania.
"I think there are some minor victories," DeVanney said. "But no one thinks Pennsylvania is a dynamic force in the new economy."
Shapiro backers counter that his ability to appeal to both moderates and progressives could instead become his strength. State House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D) said that in Shapiro, Democrats have a possible future presidential candidate who "can win elections and accomplish progressive things."
In addition to raising the minimum wage, Shapiro has pledged to work with Democrats to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, expand funding for public transportation and expedite new housing construction.
"We don't need a social media superstar," said Bradford, who described himself as a progressive. "We need a Democratic candidate that cannot only stand up to Trumpism but beat Trumpism."
Kevin Boozel, a Democratic county commissioner in Butler County, said what could be trickier for Shapiro is navigating divides among those in his own party. Boozel, a member of the Democratic State Committee, said the divides between liberal and moderate Democrats are even increasingly on display even in heavily Republican counties like his.
But Boozel, a self-described "blue dog Democrat," believes Shapiro has the political skills to "thread the needle between staunch progressives and moderates."
"He has been basically weaving the blanket between them," Boozel said.
Across Pennsylvania this week, voters offered mixed opinions about whether they see a national future for Shapiro.
At a polling location here in Camp Hill on Tuesday, retired police officer Greg Greene said he voted for Shapiro even as he voted for the Republican candidate in his congressional race. Greene, 69, said he wants Shapiro to run for president because he's the type of Democrat that he could support.
"There should be change but there are a lot of issues with the Democratic Party that scare me," said Greene, an independent. "He is a lot more centrist than the other people."
Andrew Fitcher, 44, also voted for Shapiro. But Fitcher, a union electrician, said while the governor has generally been good for the state, he's not sure he would support him for president.
"I don't know if he is progressive enough for my tastes," Fitcher said. "I want real change, and I don't know if he's the real change that I want."
Still, plenty of other Pennsylvania voters said they would be keeping on close tabs on Shapiro's next political move.
At Shapiro's final campaign event before the election, near his personal residence in Montgomery County, four women lined up lawn chairs to hear him speak.
"He would be great, a very even-keeled, fair person," said Ruth Hartz, 88.
But Hartz and her neighbors wondered whether Shapiro was suited to the rigors of a presidential campaign. He might be too nice, they said.
"It's the hardest job in the world and people can be horrible," said Sandi Young, 77. "And he is not a bully."
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