Scoop: Shapiro boosted Republican to retaliate against fellow Dem, ally says in recording
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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro at the NFL Draft last month in Pittsburgh. Photo: Lauren Leigh Bacho / Getty Images
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro secretly helped a Republican state treasurer's 2024 reelection bid after the official's Democratic opponent had criticized Shapiro as a potential VP pick, a close Shapiro ally said last week.
- Bob Brooks, a Shapiro-backed candidate for the U.S. House, made the surprising comment Wednesday to a small group of Democratic college students. Axios obtained a recording of his remarks, which also were confirmed by a person at the meeting.
Why it matters: Helping a Republican over a Democrat — especially in response to personal criticism — could become a liability if Shapiro runs for president in 2028, as many expect.
- It also could feed the idea — held even by some Shapiro supporters — that he can be vindictive, take critiques too personally and be willing to push aside allies to get ahead.
Zoom in: Brooks' comments referred to summer 2024, when Shapiro was being vetted by Kamala Harris' team as her possible running mate.
- The Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania treasurer at the time, Erin McClelland, had publicly questioned whether Shapiro could be a subordinate to a female president.
Brooks, who's also the president of Pennsylvania's firefighters union, told students at Lehigh University last week that Shapiro had asked his union to back Republican Stacy Garrity over McClelland in the 2024 state treasurer's race.
- "That was a request, ironically, from Gov. Josh Shapiro because Erin McClelland was running against her," Brooks told the students.
- Brooks added: "Josh Shapiro had requested because Stacy, er, Erin McClelland came out hard about something on Josh Shapiro, and really, the Democratic Party as a whole turned on Erin McClelland. And he said, 'I would like you guys to endorse Stacy Garrity.'"
- Brooks mentioned Shapiro's move after a person at the Lehigh gathering asked Brooks why his union had backed Garrity in 2024.
What they're saying: Asked to comment for this story, Brooks said in a statement: "I misspoke and made an inaccurate comment."
- "Many people in our party — including organized labor across the commonwealth — were upset with McClelland's bad-faith attacks against our governor. The governor did not ask my union to make any endorsements."
- Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder said Brooks' Wednesday comment was "inaccurate," adding, "The governor did not ask Bob Brooks to make any endorsements in that race — and the only races he is focused on are winning up and down the ballot this November."
- Spokespeople for Shapiro and Brooks declined to make them available for interviews. A Garrity spokesperson did not provide a comment.
- Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association secretary-treasurer Pat Martin said McClelland didn't apply for the union's endorsement in 2024.
Shapiro is close to Brooks and has gone all out to support him in his bid for a U.S. House seat, encouraging him to run and then appearing in a direct-to-camera TV ad for Brooks in a crowded Democratic primary.
Between the lines: The episode described by Brooks on Wednesday appeared to reflect Shapiro's penchant for hardball political tactics — even against fellow Democrats.
- Harris' team heard complaints about Shapiro from Pennsylvania Democrats as it vetted him for the VP nomination. Harris eventually chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
- Shapiro wrote in his memoir that he took himself out of contention to be Harris' No. 2 late in the vetting process.
Flashback: McClelland's break with Shapiro went public in July 2024, when she posted on X: "I want a VP pick that's secure enough to be second under a woman, is content to be VP & won't undermine the president to maneuver his own election & doesn't sweep sexual harassment under the rug."
- That was a reference to Shapiro's former top aide, Mike Vereb, being accused of sexual harassment in 2023. Vereb stayed in his position for months after a complaint was filed, and Shapiro's administration reached a settlement with Vereb's accuser for $295,000.
- Shapiro maintained he didn't know about the complaint by Vereb's accuser until months after it was made. The governor declined to endorse McClelland in 2024.
State of play: Garrity won reelection to her state treasurer post in 2024 — and, in a twist, is challenging Shapiro for governor this year.
- Pennsylvania's Democratic Party has called Garrity an "election denier" with an "extreme MAGA agenda."
- Garrity spoke at a rally at Pennsylvania's capitol on Jan. 5, 2021, that called for decertifying the state's vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Later, at a Donald Trump rally in 2022, Garrity said, "We know that he won."
- More recently, Garrity has tried to walk back some of her past comments about the 2020 election.
Shapiro is heavily favored to defeat her, given his double-digit lead in polls and massive fundraising advantage.
