Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Democrats\u2019 blue wave blew up the 2028 battle map. But Josh Shapiro insists Texas isn\u2019t going to replace Pennsylvania as the \u201cultimate swing state.\u201d<\/p>\n
He needs it to be true.<\/p>\n
Shapiro\u2019s theory of the case for 2028 has long rested on his ability to win resoundingly and repeatedly in what has recently been the nation\u2019s biggest battleground state. On Tuesday, he helped deliver Democrats four congressional flips and their first trifecta in Harrisburg in three decades, all while running up a more than 20-point margin in his own reelection bid. He plowed over $10 million into state Democrats\u2019 campaign arms<\/a> and helped recruit and cut ads for candidates across House and state Senate races. He also flipped 11 counties President Donald Trump won in 2024 and, his team argued in a post-election memo<\/a> shared first with POLITICO, showed \u201cunique strength\u201d with voters skeptical of the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a significant show of force even in a wave election \u2014 one that could springboard him into a presidential bid if he chooses, even as Democrats turn their attention to redder turf<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe common-sense approach we\u2019ve taken to governing, the kind of candidates we recruited to run for Congress who won, I think that that can be a model for our party,\u201d Shapiro told POLITICO by phone late last week. And \u201cit\u2019s going to be important that we share our Pennsylvania model from what I would maintain \u2026 is still the ultimate swing state.\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro continues to play coy about his presidential ambitions. He phoned Democrats\u2019 primary kingmaker, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.)<\/a>, after the election, but declined to discuss the details. When POLITICO asked Shapiro his timeline to decide a 2028 run, he replied: \u201cI just wrapped up a meeting with the legislative leaders and my senior team to work on our agenda going forward, and that’s what I’m focused on right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s more from POLITICO\u2019s chat with Shapiro, edited and condensed for length.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got your trifecta. What\u2019s your No. 1 priority?<\/p>\n The first bill that will reach my desk will be to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. I’ve been able to get a lot of stuff done through the Republican Legislature, but that’s an example of something that hasn’t.<\/p>\n Is signing onto the National Popular Vote Compact something you\u2019d be interested in?<\/p>\n I have said that I am open to that, I think I\u2019ve voiced some positivity toward it. As it relates to the trifecta, though, the leaders and I agreed that we would speak with one voice in announcing our initial agenda.<\/p>\n A lot of Democrats are saying the biggest message that they got out of this wave election was the economy. Do you think that that’s the biggest takeaway?<\/p>\n I think in part that is correct, and that’s why the first new law I want to pass in Pennsylvania is to put more money in people’s pockets. I also think there was something deeper. \u2026 Substantively the issue that obviously mattered most was the high cost of everything; I think underneath that was a real fear that people had about the direction this country was going in, and they wanted to use their power to change it.<\/p>\n Do you think the path to the presidency is moving out of the Blue Wall and into states like Texas, into the Sun Belt?<\/p>\n Democrats are proving that we can win everywhere. \u2026 We added back to the Blue Wall. Ohio, with Amy [Acton]’s incredible victory there. I was proud to campaign for her.<\/p>\n We\u2019re showing we can win in these southern states. So I think the takeaway from Tuesday night is the map got a whole lot bigger for Democrats. And so long as Republicans continue to follow Trump and [Vice President JD] Vance off the cliff, their map is getting much smaller.<\/p>\n Do you think that Texas will take over from Pennsylvania as the nation’s biggest swing state?<\/p>\n I mean, they’re a big state, and they were just won by two outstanding Democrats. I was so impressed with both of them and how they ran their campaigns. And I imagine Texas is going to have a lot to say about the future leadership in our country.<\/p>\n But not necessarily taking over Pennsylvania\u2019s spot \u2014<\/p>\n I mean, come on. I\u2019m Pennsylvania first. You\u2019re never going to get me to come off of Pennsylvania being the ultimate swing state.<\/p>\n