Gov. Josh Shapiro won’t endorse the Democratic nominee for treasurer, who criticized him during VP talks

Gov. Josh Shapiro will not endorse the Democratic nominee Erin McClelland for treasurer.

The political outsider made waves over the summer when she criticized Shapiro while he was under consideration to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

Shapiro, a Democrat, has chosen not to endorse any candidate in the row office race for treasurer, a spokesperson said in a statement, a notable break from political tradition. However, he is supporting the two other Democratic row office candidates: Eugene DePasquale for attorney general and State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D., Philadelphia) for auditor general.

Shapiro’s decision to stay out of the treasurer’s race is the latest blow to McClelland’s long-shot campaign to unseat incumbent Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity, after Garrity gained the support of key labor unions that usually support Democrats, including the Philadelphia Building Trades Council and the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters.

McClelland was the upset winner in the April primary election, beating the party’s endorsed candidate, State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro (D., Erie). But since winning the party’s nomination, she’s had little support from the party, as demonstrated by her minimal fundraising since the primary. According to campaign finance reports released last week, McClelland raised a little over $148,000 — including a $100,000 loan from McClelland to her own campaign — compared to Garrity’s nearly $1.2 million war chest.

McClelland had drawn Pennsylvania Democrats’ ire when she publicly criticized Shapiro in July during the heated veepstakes when the nation’s eyes were trained on the governor, who had become a front-runner to join Harris on the ticket. Instead, McClelland, a political outsider, advocated for Harris to choose North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper as her running mate over him.

“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,” McClelland wrote on X in July, referring to a sexual harassment scandal in Shapiro’s office last year.

Shapiro’s top legislative liaison was accused of sexual harassment and the governor’s office quietly reached a settlement with the accuser for $295,000. The liaison, Mike Vereb, did not resign until months after an internal complaint was filed, records show, and Shapiro was criticized for his administration’s handling of the scandal.

While Shapiro never responded to McClelland’s remarks, Sen. Sharif Street (D., Philadelphia), the Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman, said her post offended him at the time and that he planned to discuss it with her privately.

“Every day when [Shapiro] gets up, he talks to Madame Speaker and Madame Pro Temp[ore],” Street said, referring to the titles of House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) and Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), the two top officials of their respective chambers. “Gov. Shapiro has shown an effective ability to work with them, and I think a suggestion to the contrary is deeply offensive.”

The treasurer’s office is Pennsylvania’s top fiscal watchdog and is responsible for saving, investing, and withdrawing $150 billion in state funds. It’s one of Pennsylvania’s three independent row offices, which are all politically elected positions that maintain mostly administrative functions.

Traditionally, party operatives will endorse their favored candidate in the primary election, but will support their party’s nominee no matter who it is. But Shapiro, the top Democrat in the state, chose to stay out of the race, using his political capital to weigh in on further down-ballot races for state House, as well as his support for Kenyatta and DePasquale.

“Governor Shapiro is endorsing and campaigning for candidates up and down the ballot who have asked for his support and where he can make the biggest difference in electing candidates who will deliver for Pennsylvanians,” said Manuel Bonder, Shapiro’s spokesperson.

Shapiro’s lack of involvement in the race has given Garrity a chance to make the claim that he is supporting her instead.

Last week, at a GOP candidate forum in a West Chester retirement community, Garrity told the crowd that in addition to the labor union support she’s received, Shapiro told her in a phone call he was “supportive” of her. This was in reference to a call between Shapiro and Garrity to plan a joint government event, in which Garrity said Shapiro told her that although they disagree on politics, he believes she’s done a good job as treasurer.

McClelland’s campaign declined to comment on Shapiro staying out of the race, but that Garrity “continues to say whatever untrue things she thinks voters want to hear, like that Donald Trump won Pennsylvania in 2020.”

“Stacy Garrity should show the respect to the voters that they deserve and stop refusing to debate Erin McClelland to defend her record so that all voters can make an informed decision in this race,” McClelland’s campaign manager Chuck Pascal said in a statement.

Garrity has so far declined to debate McClelland ahead of the Nov. 5 election.