Josh Shapiro aims for a strong finish in a campaign with 2028 implications

POCONO RACEWAY, Pennsylvania — High up in the starting stand of a famed race track, Josh Shapiro waves a black-and-white checkered flag with an unmistakeable meaning: It’s over.The metaphor isn’t entirely accurate.“We may have a lead, but you're coming down this home stretch.

People are nipping at your heels,” the Pennsylvania governor told POLITICO.

“You’ve got to run hard.”Shapiro, the potential 2028 contender and 2024 veepstakes short-lister, does have reasons to be optimistic — and careful.He’s threatening a double-digit blowout over Stacy Garrity, a candidate backed by President Donald Trump, in the most important swing state in the nation.He’s also putting his coattails to the test.None of the other potential 2028 Democratic candidates has more at stake in their own backyard on Tuesday than Shapiro.

He doesn’t have California Gov.

Gavin Newsom’s map-breaking Proposition 50, designed to beat back the GOP redistricting, nor his platinum email list.

He doesn’t have Illinois Gov.

JB Pritzker’s billions or Arizona Sen.

Mark Kelly’s deep bench of donors or former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s large map or the red-state credentials of Kentucky Gov.

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