According to polls, Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) would not have improved 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ chances of securing the Pennsylvania vote.
The New York Times found that Shapiro would not have given Harris an advantage despite Walz governing the Keystone state. Pennsylvania is one of seven crucial states believed to determine the outcome of the 2024 election.
The polling convention claimed Harris would have secured the state’s vote with Shapiro on her side, but Harris’ campaign argued otherwise.
Polls had been conducted. Focus groups had been commissioned. Records reviewed. And the upshot, Ms. Harris was told, was this: She could win the White House with any of the three finalists by her side. For Ms. Harris, it was an instinctive reaction to an instant connection rather than a data-driven exercise that many had expected would elevate Mr. Shapiro, the popular governor of Pennsylvania, the nation’s most important battleground state. But her team’s polling did not suggest that either Mr. Shapiro or Mr. Kelly would bring a decisive advantage to their crucial home states. Via the New York Times
Shapiro was possibly on the top of Harris’ list, hoping his name on the Democratic ticket would boost the VP’s chances of winning Pennsylvania. The governor, who is broadly unknown to most Americans, is viewed quite favorably among his state’s voters, with 77 percent of Democrats and 42 percent of Republicans having positive opinions about his job performance.
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However, experts argue that Shapiro’s influence would not have impacted Harris’ presidential aspirations.
Political science professors Christopher Devine and Kyle Kopko determined that “picking a popular governor from a certain state will probably not win you many more votes from that state.”
Ultimately, Shapiro did not make the cut, and at the last minute, Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), who critics say is even more far-left extreme and progressive than Harris.
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