Gov. Josh Shapiro campaigns with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Montco as veepstakes heat up

The veepstakes came to Montgomery County.

The conversation capturing the American political world — whom Vice President Kamala Harris will pick to be her running mate — converged in the Wissahickon High School gymnasium in Ambler on Monday as two popular Democratic governors considered to be in contention for the role rallied alongside one another.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke to about 1,000 supporters and implored them to work to deliver the critical battleground of Pennsylvania to Harris. They framed the race between Harris and former President Donald Trump as a battle for fundamental freedoms.

For Shapiro, who’s reportedly a front-runner for the vice presidential nomination, it was an opportunity to audition for the job in his own backyard. The governor is a Montgomery County native and former county commissioner, and he lives in Abington.

“It is not freedom to tell women what they’re allowed to do with their bodies. That’s not freedom,” Shapiro said. “It’s not freedom to tell people they can go vote, but he’s going to pick the winner. That’s not freedom. And that is what we have to stop.”

And Whitmer, who has been named on short lists of potential Harris running mates but said she wants to stay in Michigan, repeatedly described another Trump term as “going back,” touching on what has become a Harris campaign rallying cry. Attendees responded by chanting: “We’re not going back.”

“Trump and [his running mate JD] Vance want to take us backwards, but we are not going back,” Whitmer said. “Our response to them is: hell no.”

The rally was the first major campaign event Shapiro headlined since Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee following President Joe Biden’s exit from the race.

The undercurrent that went unmentioned by both Shapiro and Whitmer is that they’re both attracting national attention as potential running mates for Harris, and that both had at a time been considered potential presidential nominees themselves.

Shapiro, a first-term governor and the former state attorney general, has largely avoided engaging in speculation about his potential spot on the ticket, even as some reports suggest he’s among the top contenders. Despite dozens of Pennsylvania Democratic leaders, donors, and labor unions lining up behind him, Shapiro has repeatedly declined to confirm whether he’s being vetted for the role or if he’s interested in it.

While Whitmer is also considered a potential running mate for Harris, she quieted some speculation about it Monday, telling reporters she has not been vetted and that she intends to remain in Michigan. She is cochairing Harris’ campaign.

The governors gushed about one another, with Whitmer referring to Shapiro as one of her “very best friends” and ticking through his accomplishments as governor, saying he’s “another example of Democratic governors who believe in our three-part strategy: get s— done.”

Shapiro in turn praised Whitmer, referring to her by her nickname of “Big Gretch,” saying that’s how she’s referred to in her home state because she gets “big things” done.

“She has fixed the damn roads in Michigan,” he continued, “she has flipped her legislature from red to blue, and she has made it her mission to protect reproductive rights for women all across Michigan. And she has succeeded.”

Whitmer dedicated a substantial portion of her remarks to slamming Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s recently named running mate who has come under fire in recent days for comments he made three years ago about the country being run by “childless cat ladies.”

Vance specifically named Harris as an example of the type, but has said in recent days that Democrats have taken his comments out of context.

Whitmer said Vance “really made his values clear.”

“He does not see women as equals,” she said. “He does not want everyone to have a seat at the table. He’s scared of us.”

Shapiro focused on drawing a contrast between Harris and Trump, describing Harris as “damn ready” to be president and another Trump term as a return to “chaos.” He brought up Project 2025 — a blueprint for a second Trump term developed by conservative groups — and called it “scary s—.”

And Shapiro said the Supreme Court, which recently granted Trump substantial immunity from criminal charges related to his quest to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, gives Trump more leeway to advance his agenda.

“He is dangerous. He is destructive,” Shapiro said. “And the guardrails are off.”