Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro keeps the door open to being Kamala Harris’ VP

PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Monday did not deny that he has spoken with Vice President Kamala Harris about being her running mate if she secures the Democratic presidential nomination. He also did not say he would turn down the role if she offered it to him.

Shapiro said Harris now has an “important decision” to make, and that is “who to run with, who should be her running mate.”

“It’s a decision she needs to make, who she wants to govern with, who she wants to campaign with, and who can be there to serve alongside her,” he said, calling it a “deeply personal decision.”

“She will make that decision when she is ready,” he added. “And I have all the confidence in the world that she will make that decision along with many others in the best interest of the American people.”

Shapiro spoke at a news conference here to announce nearly $400 million in Environmental Protection Agency grants to the area, but he was peppered with questions about being Harris’ running mate.

Asked by NBC News whether and Harris discussed the possibility of his being her running mate during a conversation they had Sunday, Shapiro said they talked about how to win in November.

“Our conversation was all about how we beat Donald Trump and protect our freedoms here in this commonwealth,” Shapiro said.

Pressed again, Shapiro reiterated his answer.

“We spoke only about defeating Donald Trump and our shared commitment to that,” he said in response to a question from NBC News. “I immediately gave her my endorsement and said I would do everything in my power to support her here in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Since Biden’s announcement Sunday that he was dropping out of the presidential race, Harris’ most likely competitors — including prominent governors like Shapiro, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Roy Cooper of North Carolina — have all said they back her taking Biden’s place at the top of the ticket.

Whitmer and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told reporters Monday they weren’t interested in becoming Harris’ running mate.

Shapiro repeatedly praised Harris during the question-and-answer session with reporters, saying he has known her for roughly two decades. Both previously were their states’ attorneys general.

“We have both been prosecutors; we have both stood up for the rule of law,” he said. “And we have always both been for the people. That is diametrically opposed to everything Donald Trump has stood for.”

Shapiro was asked about being her running mate or about conversations the two may have had more than a half-dozen times.

“I’m focused on doing my job here in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” he said, adding he was focused “every single day on three letters: GSD. We focused on getting s— done.”

NBC News asked Shapiro what he would say to Americans who are uncomfortable over Biden’s exit from the race — after he already secured enough Democratic primary delegates to clinch the party’s presidential nomination. Shapiro pointed to Biden’s endorsement, saying he “knows she has what it takes to be president.”

“She has been preparing for this, and she is ready to go,” he said. “And I’m proud to stand with her as our scores of Democratic elected officials, as well as Democrats and Republicans and independents I’ve spoken to in the community who are excited about this, who understand the very serious threat that Donald Trump poses to our fundamental freedoms, who understand the very serious risks our democracy faces if Donald Trump is given the keys to the White House again.”

“Those folks I’ve talked to, they want to win,” he added. “And they believe Kamala Harris is our best chance to win. And I believe that, too, which is why I endorsed her immediately yesterday after the president.”

Democrats and Republicans viewed Shapiro as one of the front-runners to be Harris’ running mate. He won a landslide victory in 2022 over state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a Republican, and has performed better than Biden and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton when he has appeared on the same ticket. Recently, members of both parties have praised him for his handling of the aftermath of the attempt to assassinate Trump, which took place in his state.

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, who also spoke at the news conference Monday, told NBC News that she thought Shapiro would make an excellent vice president and that the only “bummer is that he wouldn’t be our governor.” She added that his experience winning by large margins statewide in Pennsylvania would be hugely beneficial.

“He kind of gets all the different levels of government,” she said. “He started out in the state House, he served as a county commissioner, attorney general, and now as our governor. So having that perspective of all levels of government to think about how you move money and make [programs] a reality for people on the ground so they can actually be transformative, that is a unique experience that he has that I think would really lend itself to being a great vice president.”