HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser will not seek the Republican nomination for governor of Pennsylvania, despite having President Donald Trump's recent promise of support if he were to run.
Meuser's decision to run again for his northeastern Pennsylvania seat rather than governor leaves the Republican Party with a shorter bench of candidates to challenge Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in the 2026 election.
“My focus needs to remain on doing my job, serving my constituents, and executing the plans to strengthen our country,” Meuser said in a statement released Tuesday night.
At a rally at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh in late May, Trump singled out Meuser in the crowd, telling him that “if you run, you have my support totally, and you’ll win.”
Shapiro will lead Pennsylvania's Democratic ticket in 2026, when Republicans also must defend the seats of several members of Congress who won narrow races last year.
Two-term Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity has said she is seriously considering running for governor. In a text message Wednesday, Garrity said she will make an “announcement about the future of my career in service very soon” and that Meuser's decision not to run makes her more likely to run.
Shapiro, the former two-term attorney general of Pennsylvania, is considered a possible contender for the White House in 2028 after he made Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' shortlist for vice presidential running mates in last year's election.
Shapiro has won three statewide races and carries a reputation as a disciplined messenger and powerhouse fundraiser.
Shapiro won his 2022 contest by almost 15 percentage points, an election cycle Republicans would rather forget.
Shapiro, 52, spent more than $70 million in that two-year campaign cycle, smashing Pennsylvania's campaign finance record. Republicans now regard him as a national figure in the Democratic Party whose fundraising ability will be as strong, or stronger, in his reelection bid.
Garrity, by comparison, spent less than $3 million in her two campaigns for treasurer.
Garrity, 61, a trained accountant, was a longtime executive for a powdered metals supplier in northern Pennsylvania before she ran for treasurer. She was also an Army reservist who retired as a colonel and served in Iraq, where she ran the detention center at Camp Bucca as part of the 800th Military Police Brigade.
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Marc Levy, The Associated Press
