John Fetterman’s concerns about Josh Shapiro as VP didn’t come out of thin air

Sen. John Fetterman reportedly put a word in against Gov. Josh Shapiro as a potential running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris, bringing national attention to old tensions between the two Pennsylvania officials.

Fetterman and Shapiro have distinctly different styles, and have clashed publicly in the past.

Fetterman’s concerns about Shapiro as Harris’ second-in-command, were passed on to her team through his advisers, Politico reported. The Fetterman advisers suggested that the senator views Shapiro as overly focused on his own personal ambitions, according to the report.

It’s been an open secret that the first-term governor has ambitions for higher office. But Harris’ quest for a running mate thrust him into serious consideration for national leadership on a quicker timeline than many expected.

When asked by The Inquirer last week if he ever prioritized ambition over personal relationships, Shapiro said: “I recognize that at this moment, in probably every moment in my life, folks are judging me from the outside. And that’s fine,” Shapiro said. “It’s part of the business. I’m most comfortable with every decision I made that it’s always been about service.”

The reported cross talk made it to MSNBC Monday when U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean said she is “puzzled” by Fetterman’s concerns. The Montgomery County Democrat said concern surrounding Shapiro’s ambition seems to be “falsely placed,” and that anyone running for office “must have some sense of ambition.”

“He is ambitious to serve his community no matter how big that community becomes,” she said.

Dean, who called each of the men her friend, said Shapiro has supported Fetterman “over and over again” and hopes the comments were taken out of context.

The 2022 election marked a political rise for both Fetterman and Shapiro, who shared the ticket in contested statewide races that proved victorious for Democrats. As they campaigned, they occasionally appeared at events together. The two men have since developed contrasting national political profiles with Shapiro known for his moderate positions and political diplomacy while Fetterman has emerged as a loud advocate for his sometimes idiosyncratic views, regardless of whom he may offend.

» READ MORE: What’s working for and against Shapiro in the veepstakes

State Rep. Mike Schlossberg, a Lehigh Valley Democrat who has been rooting for Shapiro, said he has “long since given up trying to figure out what Senator Fetterman is thinking,” and pointed out that Shapiro and Fetterman hold similar views on big-ticket issues.

“We’re having conversations about ideological differences within the Democratic progressive tent,” Schlossberg said. “… The best thing in the world for Pennsylvania as a state would be for our incredibly popular governor to be elected vice president. I would hope we can put ideological differences aside and advocate for our governor.”

The Fetterman advisers told Harris’ aides that one of the core disagreements between the men took place several years earlier when they served alongside one another on Pennsylvania’s Board of Pardons, Politico reported.

Shapiro, as attorney general, and Fetterman, as lieutenant governor, were the only elected officials on the five-member board, and they approached their board positions differently. Fetterman chaired the board and was a vocal advocate for broader use of clemency, and Shapiro was often seen as less lenient.

Fetterman said at the time that he would run against Shapiro in the 2022 Democratic primary for governor unless more of the cases cleared the board, as reported by The Inquirer. In particular, he wanted clemency for Lee and Dennis Horton, brothers from Philadelphia who for 27 years maintained they were innocent of murder. Fetterman told The Inquirer in 2020 that “the trajectory of my career in public service will be determined by their freedom or lack thereof.”

Shapiro initially opposed the brothers’ clemency application, expressing frustration over missing court transcripts, as The Inquirer reported. He supported their clemency when it was reconsidered, and said at the time that he wanted to interview the brothers separately and review information missing from their files.

» READ MORE: John Fetterman ran the Board of Pardons like an activist — and at times a bully

Shapiro spokesperson Will Simons defended the governor’s record on the board, according to the Politico report.

“The governor evaluates every pardons case individually and on its merits and during his time as attorney general, he approved more pardons and commutations than all of his predecessors over the last 25 years, combined,” Simons said. “He is proud of his record of delivering meaningful criminal justice reform while making Pennsylvania communities safer.”

Fetterman has not publicly commented on the idea of a Shapiro vice presidency, while other Pennsylvania elected officials have thrown their support behind the governor, like Dean and Fetterman’s counterpart Sen. Bob Casey.

Fetterman’s initial response to President Joe Biden dropping out of the race and endorsing Harris was also different than his colleagues, drilling down on his frustration over the pressure campaign for Biden to leave the race. But he quickly came onboard the Harris train the next day.

Staff writer Anna Orso contributed reporting to this article.