Josh Shapiro Could Help Kamala Harris Win Jewish Voters, but Is a Big Risk

Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania is at the center of speculation that he could be Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice for running mate in the 2024 presidential election.

Shapiro, who was elected to Pennsylvania’s highest state office in 2022, is one of several potential vice presidential picks who has been asked for vetting materials by the Harris’ campaign, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

Pennsylvania is a key swing state that was crucial to President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory and Shapiro’s faith has been discussed as an asset for Harris among Jewish voters.

Newsweek has reached out to Shapiro’s office via email about his potential selection as Harris’ running mate.

Harris and Israel

Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty

Some commentators have already argued that Harris could benefit from adding Shapiro to the Democratic ticket, particularly if she’s seen as being more vocally critical of Israel and the country’s actions in Gaza.

White House National Security Council officials toned down parts of a speech Vice President Harris on Gaza in March before she gave it, according to an NBC News report. In the speech, Harris called for an immediate six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas but the original draft was reportedly harsher toward Israel. The vice president’s office denied the speech had been toned down.

The vice president will also not preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session Congress this week, according to Reuters. In her capacity as president of the Senate, she would have had to sit behind him. She is to instead attend a previously scheduled event for the Zeta Phi Beta sorority in Indianapolis.

“Harris is right to not participate in this, but it will not help the chatter among some Jews that she harbors hostility for Israel,” Alex Zeldin, a columnist for The Forward, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.

“It’s not the only reason to pick him, but the best way to shut down that nonsense is to put Josh Shapiro on the ticket,” Zeldin added.

According to its website, The Forward “delivers incisive coverage of the issues, ideas and institutions that matter to American Jews.”

Jacob Kornbluh, senior political reporter at The Forward, published an article on Sunday examining what Shapiro as vice president would mean for American Jews and for Israel, citing the governor’s “high approval rating, oratory skills reminiscent of President Obama, lack of political baggage.”

“Shapiro proudly and publicly embraces his Judaism,” Kornbluh wrote in an article that also highlighted Shapiro’s strong stance against antisemitism. “He keeps a kosher kitchen at the governor’s mansion and hosts Shabbat dinners with his family.”

Shapiro has called Netanyahu “a failed leader” who had taken Israel in a “very dangerous direction” before Hamas’ deadly surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, by his support for right-wing government and his much-criticized attempt to reform the Israeli judiciary.

“It would seem that under his leadership, the government took the eye off the security risk to Israel,” Shapiro said in December. “And as a result, over 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas’ terrorist attack.”

Those views may chime with the vice president’s own opinion on the Israeli prime minister, though she has been less direct in her public comments.

Democrats and Gaza

The war in Gaza remains a flashpoint among Democrats, particularly those on the left whose support Harris is likely to need over the course of a campaign with little over 100 days to run.

Political scientists told Newsweek that Harris’ position on the war on Gaza could please young voters, while also complicating a potential vice presidential nod for Shapiro.

If Harris chooses Shapiro, he would be the second Jewish person in U.S. history to run for vice president on a major party’s ticket. The first was late Senator Joe Lieberman, who was former Vice President Al Gore’s running mate in 2000.

“It’s a sad commentary that, in 2024, a candidate’s religion could be a political liability,” said Thomas Gift, founding director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, whose home state is Pennsylvania,

“At the same time, it’s quite possibly the reality, and—amid the political tinderbox that is the war in Gaza right now—it’s something that Harris will consider among other factors in whether she selects Shapiro,” Gift told Newsweek.

“One can hope that Shapiro is judged on his own merits—as the popular governor of a crucial swing state who has already proven he can work across party lines to get things done,” he added.

Balancing the Ticket

Josh Shapiro attends his swearing-in as governor of Pennsylvania on January 17, 2023 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state.

Mark Makela/Getty Images

Choosing Shapiro would also entail an opportunity cost and Harris would have to reject candidates such as Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. Both are from key swing states and have been asked for vetting materials, according to The Wall Street Journal’s report.

“Josh Shapiro is, on paper, a very strong candidate to be Kamala Harris’ running mate,” according to Mark Shanahan. He is an associate professor in politics at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom and co-editor of The Trump Presidency: From Campaign Trail to World Stage.

“But the fact he’s Jewish could unbalance the race in what’s likely to be a very tight contest,” Shanahan said. “Harris’ appeal is to women, minorities and, she hopes, the young. Her VP candidate will also need to be focused on winning other votes—notably Midwesterners in swing states that will probably decide the election.”

Shanahan noted that as governor of Pennsylvania, Shapiro has “good credentials, but a Jewish VP pick alongside a candidate with a Jewish husband may not provide quite the balance the campaign needs.” Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the vice president’s husband, is Jewish.

“Sure, it would cement the Jewish vote, but that’s only 2 percent of voters nationwide, most already lean Democrat and many are concentrated in heavily Democrat areas anyway,” Shanahan went on.

“The key for Harris is bringing in the young vote where Gaza is a key issue. Someone without religious ties to Israel—the likes of Kentucky’s Andy Beshear—may seem to be a better fit for this campaign,” he added.

Kentucky Governor Beshear has endorsed Harris but he has reportedly not yet been asked to provide vetting materials to the campaign.