Last Thursday, I was in Philadelphia for the launch of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s reelection campaign, and I wanted to share some observations from that evening.
First, Shapiro wants to really get sh*t done with a legislative trifecta with Democrats potentially controlling the Pennsylvania House and Senate. Democrats currently hold a one-seat majority in the House and need two seats to flip the Republican-controlled Senate.
Following the launch, Shapiro told MS Now host Jen Psaki that he wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, reduce costs, build more housing and more what 4th thing?.
Second, I’ve been to a lot of political events over the past couple of years and this wasn’t your ordinary campaign event that former President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris would have held.
Shapiro carried union members by a 60% to 38% margin against State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) in 2022, and he’s looking to increase those numbers against Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity in 2026.
One of things that stood out to me the most about Thursday’s campaign launch was that a large portion of the crowd, if not a majority, were young union members or apprentices who were mostly in their early twenties and repping their union gear.
This comes at a time when Democrats and their consultants are sitting in rooms wearing their white lab coats trying to figure out how to crack the code with young male voters, who are starting to abandon President Donald Trump.
