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Shapiro campaigns in Philly for Harris and down ballot Democrats on Sunday before election

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Shapiro campaigns in Philly for Harris and down ballot Democrats on Sunday before election

Nov 03, 2024 | 10:30 pm ET
By John Cole
Shapiro campaigns in Philly for Harris and down ballot Democrats on Sunday before election
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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (with microphone) campaigns for Democratic candidates outside the Montgomery County Courthouse Nov. 3, 2024 (Capital-Star photo by John Cole)

PHILADELPHIA— Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro spent the final Sunday before the general election stumping for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot in southeast Pennsylvania.

“Every day, as your governor, I’m focused really primarily on doing two things. First is fighting for your freedoms, and second, we live by three letters, GSD,” Shapiro said on Sunday afternoon at a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, in Philadelphia. “We’re focused on getting stuff done.”

“And I think at the end of the day, this election now is a referendum on those two things, which presidential candidate is really for our freedoms and which presidential candidate is going to get stuff done for all of us,” he added.

Shapiro promoted Harris’ economic agenda, saying it would boost the middle class and business owners alike, while claiming former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee for president, would give “his buddies” a tax cut and “screwing over most of you in this room and making it harder for us in Pennsylvania.”

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, also on hand at the campaign event in Philadelphia, said she was excited about Harris’ “opportunity economy.” 

In encouraging support for Harris, Shapiro also pointed to President Joe Biden and Harris’ administration as partners in helping make Pennsylvania the “clean energy capital of the world,” and highlighted investments made in affordable high speed internet.

Shapiro pointed to Harris’ pledge to codify reproductive rights into law, contrasting that with Trump’s record of appointing the three Supreme Court justices who helped to overturn Roe v. Wade.

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Shapiro, who was reportedly on the short list for vice president after Harris emerged as the candidate at the top of the ticket, referenced his long standing relationship with her when expressing confidence that she’s up for the top job. 

“I have known her for 20 years, she and I have grown up in this business of public service together,” Shapiro, a former state attorney general, said of Harris, who previously served as attorney general in California. “I know what makes her tick. I know what she cares about when she says, ‘I’m here for the people’ that is real, whether it’s on economic policy or it’s on our fights for freedom, she is the real deal.”

Shapiro cited some history during his speech and mentioned William Penn founding Pennsylvania on the premise of religious tolerance and the promise of inclusion.

“I’m not sure Penn ever imagined I’d be standing in a Black owned business as a Jewish governor talking to all of you about an AAPI woman who wants to be the President of the United States,” he said, to applause. “He’d be proud of that.”

While the presidential race for Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes is garnering the most headlines nationwide, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-Pa.) campaign for a fourth term against Republican challenger Dave McCormick may determine which party holds a majority in the chamber in 2025 and beyond.

Shapiro joined Casey for a campaign rally in Montgomery County on Sunday afternoon and promoted the investments made into Pennsylvania from legislation he’s supported in the Senate. 

“??It’s really important that you know this about Senator Casey from I-95 when it collapsed and we rebuilt it in 12 days, it was 100% funded by federal dollars that Senator Casey appropriated this year in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro told reporters.

He also said the state repaired more bridges than any other state last year, expanded affordable high speed internet, and clean drinking water were examples of Casey’s work put into action in the state.

“I know sometimes it’s hard. You hear a vote that gets cast and you wonder how that impacts your life,” Shapiro said. “This is common sense stuff.”

“These guys are getting done,” he added, standing alongside Casey and U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-4th District). “We need them here, and we desperately need to keep making progress in Pennsylvania, and they’re a key reason why we’re going to be able to do that.”

Casey’s closest race since winning a seat in the U.S. Senate was in 2012 when he defeated Republican Tom Smith by 9 points. His 2024 race is shaping up to be a close one, with national ratings outlet Cook Political Report recently shifting the race to its “toss-up” column.

This is the first time that Casey is running when Trump is the Republican candidate for president. He said that Trump being at the top of the ticket didn’t change his race much, but pointed to a different reason why he believes it’s become a close race. 

“This race is difficult mostly because not something that the presidential candidate did, or even what my opponent did. It’s a close race for one reason. You’ve got three super PACs in this state spending a record amount of money kicking the hell out of me. That’s why it’s close,” he told reporters. “And when you have more than $100 million dumped on your head, it’s gonna be close, no matter who you are.”

Still, Casey and Shapiro expressed optimism for his chances and for Harris.

“But we’re gonna beat these billionaires on Tuesday. I almost want to beat those billionaires as much as I want to beat McCormick,” Casey said. “We’re going to beat them all on Tuesday, but it’s going to be a long night.” 

“It’s probably not going to be decided till well into the early hours of Wednesday, but we’re going to win this race, because there’s too much at stake for our commonwealth and our country on rights and on these basic issues about whether or not we’re going to help people or they’re going to help the most powerful people on the planet,” Casey added.

“I feel real momentum for the vice president,” Shapiro said. “I think it’s exciting to see the crowds that have formed, not just by their volume of the crowds, the size of the crowds, but their willingness to leave and take action, to go, knock on doors, put up a lawn sign, talk to their neighbors. I think it’s really, really important to have that momentum coming down the stretch and I think she’s got it.”

Earlier in the day, Shapiro attended a church service with first lady Jill Biden. He also visited a diner in Northeast Philadelphia to campaign for state Sen. Jimmy Dillon (D-5th District) and state House candidate Sean Dougherty. Both seats are currently occupied by Democrats in a section of the city where Republicans are looking to make gains.

When responding to a question about why he selected the specific areas to campaign today, Shapiro said that one shouldn’t “read too much in it,” saying he’s been campaigning across the state and nation in “these races that matter most.”

“I wanted to make sure I was in Northeast Philly today because I need Sean Dougherty in the State House,” Shapiro said. “Remember, I’ve got a one seat majority in the House, and we’ve been able to get all this stuff done just with one seat. And I think Sean’s race is going to be really pivotal.”

“I think Northeast Philly is a pivotal place for Kamala Harris and Senator Casey,” he added.

The Trump campaign in June opened its first campaign office in Pennsylvania in Northeast Philadelphia, less than 3 miles away from the diner where Shapiro campaigned on Sunday.

Both candidates on the Republican Party’s ticket for president were campaigning in Pennsylvania on Sunday. Trump led a rally in Lancaster County and Vance held a rally in Delaware County.

Both presidential candidates are scheduled to be in Pennsylvania on the final day before the presidential election. Harris will hold rallies in Allentown, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Trump will rally supporters in Reading and Pittsburgh and Vance will be in Bucks County.