Gov. Shapiro Meets With Kamala Harris, VP Announcement Coming Tuesday

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Gov. Josh Shapiro has returned to his home in Montgomery County after his weekend meeting with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Washington D.C., just a day ahead of Harris's planned announcement of her running mate. The meeting came amidst the final stages of the search process and as a series of controversies swirl around the Pennsylvania governor.

Harris will appear with her VP choice at a rally on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. The timing of the VP announcement is still not set, but it will occur sometime during the day Tuesday before the rally, according to NBC News.

The vetting process, spearheaded by former Attorney General Eric Holder, has now concluded, according to multiple reports, including 6ABC, and the process has been fully turned over to Harris.

Shapiro is still widely considered the frontrunner for the job, ahead of Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, though several issues have bubbled to the surface in recent days that could jeopardize his chances.

Most notably is the revelation that a former Shapiro aide, Mike Vereb, used Shapiro's name while bullying and intimidating a woman, according to reports from the New York Times and ABC News.Vereb reportedly repeated Shapiro's name, telling her "by the time he and Josh were done with me, I would be worse than nothing."

Vereb was also embroiled in a separate sexual harassment case, which was settled in the fall of 2023. He resigned his position in the Shapiro administration weeks later.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman expressed concerns about Shapiro to Harris's camp, noting that Shapiro is too preoccupied with his own personal ambitions, according to Politico. While Fetterman and Shapiro have, until recently, resided on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum within their party, the communication to Harris was reportedly purely about Shapiro's capabilities, not his policies.

"Fetterman’s advisers offered his 'unvarnished assessment' (to Harris) of Shapiro 'that is not about policy differences or other public baggage,'" the report states.

Related: Gov. Shapiro's Transition Sets New Tone: Gifts, NDAs, 'Dark Money'

Shapiro also faces critics from the left over his previous statements on the bloodshed in the Middle East and his stance on Palestine and Israel. In a paper in college, Shapiro wrote that "Palestinians will not coexist peacefully," calling them "battle-minded," according to Newsweek. While Shapiro and his administration have insisted his views have shifted to support for a two-state solution in the Middle East, progressive leaders have expressed concerns over his unquestioning support of Israel since Oct. 7 and his aggressive response to pro-Palestinian protests.

However, some Democrats say that Shapiro's various policies criticized by progressives give him more credence with independents and moderate Republicans. Shapiro rose to the national spotlight with a resounding defeat of MAGA gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano in 2022, and many pointed to his ability to speak to moderates and the undecided as the reason.

Given Pennsylvania's importance as a swing state that could determine the election, Shapiro, who won by much more in 2022 than President Biden did in 2020, could prove invaluable.

In hypothetical polling between Trump and Harris, Trump leads by an average of 0.8 points, according to RealClearPolitics. That's notably less than the 3 point lead Trump held over Biden before the president declared he would not seek a second term. Trump still leads Pennsylvania by 1.8 points.