Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) signaled he’s significantly contemplating difficult Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) for his submit in 2026.
“I’m considering it,” Meuser informed The Hill on Thursday. “I mean if I get in it’s because I think I can win and that means beating the incumbent, which is Josh Shapiro. So it’s no easy task.”
“But I’m very serious about it,” he continued. “I just don’t like his plan for Pennsylvania primarily because there is no plan.”
“Pennsylvania is just not where it should be,” he mentioned, citing various points, together with synthetic intelligence funding in Pennsylvania and Shapiro’s response to President Biden’s determination to dam the sale of U.S. Metal to Japan’s Nippon Metal.
Meuser mentioned he wouldn’t be making a choice “for a while,” however he indicated it may come by July.
“I’ll be doing some work towards it, gaining support and again is all of the pieces come together, it is one of those big mountains to climb. All the pieces need to come together and if they do, and that leads me to think I can win, I think like July,” he mentioned.
Taking up Shapiro in a head-to-head race could be an uphill feat for any Republican. Shapiro, who is taken into account a rising Democratic star, defeated his Republican opponent state Sen. Doug Mastriano in 2022 with 56 p.c of the vote. Whereas Mastrano was thought-about a weak normal election candidate, Shapiro has continued to keep up his recognition inside the state whereas constructing a nationwide profile.
An Emerson School/The Hill survey launched in July confirmed Shapiro with a 49 p.c approval ranking within the state, whereas a Franklin & Marshall ballot launched in April confirmed him with a 54 p.c approval ranking.
Shapiro was a finalist in Vice President Harris’s presidential veepstakes in 2024.
Meuser has represented Pennsylvania’s ninth Congressional District since 2019. He beforehand served because the state’s secretary of income from 2011-15.
