Who would take over if Josh Shapiro is chosen as Kamala Harris’ running mate?

Now that President Joe Biden has ended his reelection campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the ballot, the big unknown is her running mate. One name that keeps rising to the top of short lists: Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro.

The Abington native began building a national profile as state attorney general, coming into the powerful seat in 2016 just as former President Donald Trump was elected to his first term. As AG, he played a big role in defending the state against Trump’s false election fraud claims in 2020.

Now the 51-year-old — the only governor to lead a state with a divided legislature — could have a chance to go face-to-face with a Trump campaign once again if he’s picked as Harris’ vice president.

Shapiro endorsed Harris in a statement posted on X Sunday evening, a few hours after President Joe Biden endorsed his VP. “The best path forward for the Democratic Party is to quickly unite behind Vice President Harris and refocus on winning the presidency,” Shapiro wrote. Shapiro spoke to Harris and Biden on Sunday afternoon after Biden withdrew his name from the presidential race.

The governor also noted his and Harris’ shared past as prosecutors and how “we’ve both stood up for the rule of law, we’ve both fought for the people and delivered results.”

Shapiro’s appeal, however, goes beyond his own identity and has a lot to do with the weight of his state’s electoral votes.

“The battleground map has expanded somewhat in the last few weeks but it begins and ends with Pennsylvania,” Alan Kessler, a Biden fundraiser, said Sunday.

Here’s what to know about Shapiro and what would happen in the governor’s residence if Harris decides to make him her running mate.

Shapiro has made a name for himself as a moderate Democrat who relishes in bipartisan support, starting from the time he served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011. Shapiro was on several key committees, including the judiciary and appropriations committees.

Shapiro moved on to serve as a Montgomery County commissioner before being elected as state attorney general, where he stepped into the national spotlight for the first time when he defended Pennsylvania against false accusations of election fraud in the 2020 election. Shapiro frequently appeared on TV news shows to make the state’s case and blocked Republican lawmakers from subpoenaing records tied to the election.

His portfolio as attorney general then gave Shapiro a launchpad to catapult himself into the state’s gubernatorial race. He cleared the field of all other Democratic candidates in the primary and won the general election by 14 points (though his opponent, State Sen. Doug Mastriano was a weak candidate, known for his extreme views).

As governor, he has gained credibility with his deft management of crises including the partial collapse of a section of I-95, and the release of toxic chemicals into Pennsylvania after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

Most recently, his leadership became visible amid the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Trump in Butler County, Pa.

Even Republican Dave McCormick, who is running against incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa) in November, voiced his appreciation for Shapiro on X.

“Grateful to [Josh Shapiro] for his strength and leadership following the tragedy in Butler on Saturday,” McCormick wrote. This perhaps shows that displaying support for Shapiro is not radioactive for the Republican Party.

Shapiro’s record in Pennsylvania shows his ability to reach across the aisle, and he may want to bring that same mindset to the national stage. Shapiro is known to have national political ambitions.

If Shapiro is selected as Harris’ running mate, Shapiro who grew up attending Jewish day school and has found many ways to embrace his faith on the campaign trail, has the opportunity to make history and become the first Jewish vice president.

Shapiro, as only the third Jewish governor of Pennsylvania, took a strong stand against antisemitism on college campuses and has been outspoken about his support for Israel on the national stage.

His support for Israel is another value he shares with a lot of Republicans. Shapiro is the most popular first-term governor the crucial battleground state has seen in more than 20 years, according to recent polls that also highlight his appeal to Republican voters.

In Pennsylvania, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis would be first in line to fill any gubernatorial vacancies resulting from a resignation, according to Ballotpedia, an American politics encyclopedia. The president pro tempore of the state Senate, in this case Rep. Kim Ward (R, Westmoreland), would then become lieutenant governor provided she wins her reelection bid in November.

Davis, 34, is the youngest and first Black lieutenant governor in Pa. history. He became involved in community organizing when gun violence shook his town of McKeesport, a former steel town in Western Pennsylvania, and he started a youth advisory council with his mayor and a young gun violence prevention program at school.

As lieutenant governor, Davis presides over the state Senate and leads the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, the Local Government Advisory Committee, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. He also serves on the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council.

Ward briefly served as lieutenant governor in early 2023 until Davis officially took office on Jan. 17, 2023. She is the first woman to hold the office of president pro tempore, the third most powerful position in the state government.

She was initially appointed to the position on an interim basis, and Ward expressed her desire to work with Shapiro and other Democrats to get things done and produce legislation to benefit their constituents. Leaders would just have to “stay off of … the edges of both parties’ ideology,” she told The Inquirer in December 2022.

Staff Writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.