Some Democratic backers of Josh Shapiro see a missed chance for a Jewish vice president

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate disappointed fans of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was one of Harris’ finalists for the job and seen as someone who could help Democrats win a key swing state and make history by electing the first Jewish vice president.

With his history of winning three statewide elections in Pennsylvania, Shapiro was seen as someone with particular appeal to moderate voters. His state’s 19 votes in the Electoral College have long been critical for candidates trying to reach the necessary 270 to win.

But the same things about Shapiro that appealed to moderates angered some on the left in his party: his support for a private school voucher program and natural gas infrastructure as well as particularly his support for Israel’s war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

Some Democrats lamented what they said was a missed opportunity by bypassing Shapiro. Republicans, meanwhile, tried to paint Harris’ choice as a snub to Jewish voters, a traditionally Democratic constituency that former President Donald Trump has tried to court in this year’s race.

“Not only is he exceptionally smart and capable, but, in my opinion, he brought the math to the path of 270,” said Ryan Bizzarro, 38-year-old Democratic state lawmaker from Erie, Pennsylvania, said of Shapiro.

Shapiro, in a statement Tuesday after Walz was announced, said he was grateful for the opportunity to speak with Harris. He was expected to appear Tuesday night at a rally featuring the new Democratic ticket.

“Vice President Kamala Harris has my enthusiastic support – and I know that Governor Tim Walz is an exceptionally strong addition to the ticket who will help Kamala move our country forward,” Shapiro said.

Republicans try to take advantage of Shapiro not being picked

A number of high-profile Republicans sought to seize on the liberal pushback Shapiro faced over his stance on Israel, suggesting Tuesday that Shapiro was not picked as Harris’ running mate because of antisemitic attitudes in the Democratic Party.

Trump, the Republican nominee, has been sharply criticized for his record on antisemitism, notably his suggestion that there were “fine people on both sides” of an antisemitic march in Charlottesville, Virginia, and his dinner with white supremacist Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022.

The former president recently suggested Harris “doesn’t like Jewish people” even though her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, is Jewish, and seemed to agree with a radio host who called Emhoff “a crappy Jew.”

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, told reporters in Philadelphia on Tuesday that it seemed Harris didn’t pick Shapiro because Democrats feared “grassroots activists in their party wouldn’t take a Jewish nominee.”

Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, who is Jewish and had backed Shapiro for the ticket, praised Walz and criticized Republicans for framing her decision as a slight against Jewish Democrats.

“I’ve seen the discourse on the right saying that there’s clearly no room for Jews in Democratic politics,” said Moss. “I defy any one of them to name a single Jewish Republican governor or a single Jewish Republican U.S. senator. They can’t, because there are none.”

The last Jewish Republican senator was former Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, who left office in 2009. Missouri’s former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens is Jewish, but he resigned in 2018.

Arab American leaders who had publicly cautioned against picking Shapiro countered claims that the opposition was based on the governor’s Jewish background and said his positions on Israel and statements on campus protests went further than other candidates, particularly Walz.

Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, noted that the Arab American community overwhelmingly voted for Jewish politicians in the past, backing former Democratic Rep. Andy Levin and twice supporting former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermont senator.

“It’s certainly not antisemitic to critique somebody’s position on Israeli policy,” Hammoud said. “That’s just called stewardship and accountability.”

Most Jewish Americans vote Democratic and are still poised to rally around the Democratic ticket, even without Shapiro.

Only 30% of Jewish voters supported Trump in 2020, while 69% supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of the electorate. That made Jewish voters one of the religious groups where support for Biden was strongest.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America, which held an online rally for Harris last week, issued a statement in support of Walz on Tuesday, calling him “an exceptional choice” and noting he and Harris “align with the vast majority of Jewish voters on every key issue, including Israel and antisemitism.”

Shapiro remains a key Democratic asset for this year’s campaign

Shapiro is a popular first-term governor who two years ago was elected in a battleground state that is seen as critical to Democrats’ path to win the White House. The 51-year-old emerged in recent days as a finalist on Harris’ speedy search for a running mate, winning fans in the party for his speaking style that evoked former President Barack Obama.

With his background as a former state attorney general, like Harris, he also stood out for his forceful defenses of the White House and critiques of Trump.

He is a staunch proponent of abortion rights but also seen as a moderate on energy policy, a significant issue in his natural gas producing state.

Shapiro has professed solidarity with Israel in its campaign to eliminate Hamas and has aggressively confronted what he saw as antisemitism appearing at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. In recent days, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on a column he wrote for his college newspaper saying Palestinians were “too battle-minded” to coexist with Israel.

Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, said that as the opposition to Shapiro over his position on Israel became more vocal, “suddenly this decision took on new significance.”

Nathan Diament, the executive director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, an umbrella group of Orthodox Jews in the U.S., said “it’s a bit disappointing” a Jewish candidate won’t be on the ticket.

“Certainly, it would have been exciting if that had happened for a second time,” he said, referencing Joseph Lieberman’s run with Al Gore in 2000.

Diament said he had been dismayed at some of the attacks on Shapiro at a time when concerns about antisemitism have risen in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. He argued Shapiro’s statements on Israel were similar to Biden, Harris and other Democrats.

“There are obviously a lot of factors that are perfectly legitimate for Harris to consider in deciding her running mate: political factors, personal chemistry or others,” Diament said. “What was clearly not a legitimate factor was the antisemitic smear campaign that some extreme leftwing folks have been waging against Josh Shapiro.”

State Sen. Sharif Street of Philadelphia said that Walz’s values, including on abortion and gun control, align more with Philadelphians than those of Vance or Trump. And he believes his retail political skills will help carry the state, even without Shapiro on the ticket.

“Look, Gov. Shapiro’s a rockstar in this state. People love him,” said Street, Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party chair and the son of former Mayor John Street.

“But he will still be out there campaigning for this ticket. They haven’t lost Josh Shapiro.”

___

Associated Press reporters Tiffany Stanley in Washington, Peter Smith in Pittsburgh, Meg Kinnard in Philadelphia and Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.