Josh Shapiro was a prosecutor like Harris, but his record on criminal justice is full of revealing contradictions.
In the days since Kamala Harris stepped into the role of the Democratic party’s presumptive presidential nominee, the names of several white men, some of whom hold public office in key swing states, have been floated as possibilities for the vice presidential slot. One top contender, many outlets have reported, is someone who was also a prosecutor: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. A moderate Democrat, Shapiro has earned his reputation for being politically ambitious through a swift ascent from the Pennsylvania statehouse, where he was a representative from 2005 to 2011, to the governor’s mansion.
Much of Shapiro’s political record, however, was built while he was Pennsylvania’s attorney general from 2017 to 2023, before leaving to assume the governorship. Harris was California’s attorney general before she entered the US Senate in 2017, and Shapiro noted their shared background when he endorsed her for president: “I’ve known Kamala Harris for nearly two decades—we’ve both been prosecutors, we’ve both stood up for the rule of law, we’ve both fought for the people and delivered results.”
During the 2019 presidential primary, Harris’ prosecutorial record was a liability, despite her efforts to highlight her support for reforms. Her attempt to retroactively claim the title of “progressive prosecutor” was rebuked from within the movement. This time around, Harris seems more eager to lean into a law-and-order reading of her history, particularly in contrast to Donald Trump’s recent felony convictions.
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