Shapiro Is Betting Big On An Ally For A House Seat. There Are Some Risks.

Bob Brooks has amassed one of the broadest endorsement lists of any Democratic challenger on the House map. But there’s one backer the Pennsylvania firefighter holds high above the rest: His pal Josh Shapiro.

The Pennsylvania governor’s name is splashed across the top of Brooks’ campaign website and scrawled across the bottom of his handouts. His nod is featured in every pro-Brooks ad that’s hit the airwaves.

“Having him on everything for me — in the videos, the commercials, the fliers — I think it’s very important to the race,” Brooks said in a recent interview. “Because people trust him. And if he trusts me, it just trickles down.”

Shapiro is placing a big bet on Brooks, too. The May 19 primary will not only determine GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie’s opponent in a top battleground district, it will also serve as a crucial test of Shapiro’s coattails as the potential White House aspirant looks to prove his power in the nation’s biggest swing state.

The governor helped recruit Brooks, a longtime ally who leads the state’s largest firefighters union, into the race. His endorsement elevated Brooks from near-obscurity in a four-way field to the front of the pack in some polls. And it opened the floodgates for outside cash that Brooks’ opponents have struggled to match.

But Shapiro’s efforts carry political risk for the governor, who is expected to easily win reelection this year. Brooks holds only a slim lead in the most recent survey and trails in fundraising, showing potential limits to Shapiro’s sway. Shapiro’s intervention in the crowded field has irked some influential local Democrats who are publicly airing their grievances.

And his pick is a political novice who recently landed Shapiro in hot water when he said the governor asked his union to back the Republican state treasurer over her Democratic rival in 2024 due to a personal grudge. Both Brooks and Shapiro’s team said that his remarks were “inaccurate” in statements to POLITICO. But it set off a firestorm within the state’s chattering class and raised eyebrows among some operatives working for his potential 2028 opponents.

TJ Rooney, a former state Democratic Party chair who lives in the district, downplayed the gaffe, saying it only dings Shapiro among Democrats who were already “looking to have a problem with the governor in the first place.”

Still, the race remains a high-stakes gamble for the governor — particularly as some of his would-be rivals for the White House show early success in shaping midterm contests in their states.

“If he is successful … it will prove that Shapiro does have popularity that’s transferable,” said Rooney, who is backing one of Brooks’ rivals, Lamont McClure. “And that’s very, very unique.”

Shapiro’s big test

Brooks is a key piece of Shapiro’s push to help Democrats retake control of the House by flipping up to four seats in battleground Pennsylvania. The governor has already endorsed in two other races and has seeded the state Democratic Party with $925,000 to support the ticket.

“Governor Shapiro is fighting to keep getting stuff done for our Commonwealth and to put a stop to Trump’s chaos, cruelty, and corruption that is harming Pennsylvania families,” his spokesperson, Manuel Bonder, said in a statement. “That means winning this November — and the Governor is going to keep showing up, delivering his message, and working to elect leaders up and down the ballot who will actually fight for Pennsylvanians and help put an end to Washington’s corruption and disastrous policies.”

Shapiro has repeatedly dismissed talk of 2028. But delivering House seats while running up the score in his own race would cement his credibility in a must-win battleground. And it would match the muscle Gov. Gavin Newsom showed with redistricting in California and Gov. JB Pritzker flexed in handpicking Illinois’ next senator.

In backing Brooks, Shapiro has aligned himself with a powerful union that has long shaped presidential races. And in boosting a blue-collar everyman who touts “the calluses on my hands,” the well-heeled Shapiro is making clear what type of message — and messenger — he thinks Democrats should be putting forward.

“Shapiro inherently recognizes that we as a party have a lot of work to do to restore credibility and faith with working-class voters,” said Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel, who is backing McClure. “He’s making a bet here that Brooks is the right person to win back a lot of those disaffected voters.”

Shapiro helped push Brooks into the race by pledging to back his longtime ally if he ran. He formalized his endorsement in December and held a fundraiser for Brooks later that week. He’s since cut an ad promoting Brooks as the best candidate to fight Republicans who “are hurting our families.”

He cannot claim sole credit if Brooks wins. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) initially encouraged Brooks to look at the seat. Brooks boasts other big-name backers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who rallied with the firefighter in March. He has a cross-section of top Democratic operatives in his corner — including progressive consulting firm Fight Agency and a new moderate group, The Bench — and support from labor unions who’ve helped funnel over $1 million into an allied super PAC. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added Brooks to its coveted "Red to Blue" program this week, an official seal of approval from the party committee.

But Brooks is centering the governor — who he’s worked with to pass protections for firefighters and affectionately calls “Josh” even though he’ll “get in trouble because we’re in public” — in his campaign.

“[Brooks’] appeal is broad enough that he’d have a shot no matter what,” said Brooks backer and state Rep. Mike Schlossberg. But Shapiro’s support is “what puts him over the finish line.”

Brewing backlash

Shapiro’s imprimatur has given Brooks the air of a front-runner. But he is not a lock for the nomination.

The governor was unable to clear the field in the 7th District, where Brooks was a late entrant. Local leaders and labor groups are split across a field that also includes McClure, a longtime Northampton County executive, former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, and Carol Obando-Derstine, an engineer who served as an adviser to former Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

Crosswell leads in fundraising and has used that cash to join Brooks on the airwaves. A mid-April survey sponsored by the Congressional Progressive Caucus that’s backing Brooks showed him leading McClure by 7 points with 24 percent support, though more than a third of likely voters were undecided.

Shapiro’s support has prompted a torrent of attacks against Brooks. Problematic old Facebook posts, like one defending guns after a mass shooting, have surfaced. So, too, has a messy court case over a family property dispute. Brooks apologized “for offending anybody” with the Facebook posts and dismissed the negative press as “a political move to try and make me look bad.”

But Brooks is now bruising Shapiro.

The firefighter recently told local college Democrats that Shapiro “had requested” his union back Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity for reelection in 2024 after her Democratic rival, Erin McClelland, criticized the governor as a potential running mate for former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to audio of the remarks obtained by POLITICO that were first reported by Axios. Garrity is now challenging Shapiro for governor.

Brooks said in a statement to POLITICO that he “misspoke” and “The Governor did not ask my union to make any endorsements." Bonder also said in a statement that “The Governor did not ask Bob Brooks to make any endorsements in that race.” Patrick Martin, the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association secretary/treasurer, said in an email that the governor did not ask the union to endorse Garrity and that McClelland didn’t apply for consideration.

Still, the incident could become a liability for Shapiro, who some Pennsylvania Democrats believe can be vindictive and self-serving. McClelland, already a thorn in Shapiro’s side, reiterated Tuesday that she believed "Josh was tanking me" in 2024 and suggested Brooks' comments were giving her fresh ammunition in 2026 and beyond.

“I have seen extraordinary leaders who had staying power and a following that was based on embracing people,” she said. “Josh Shapiro is not that.”

Shapiro has also frustrated some local Democrats — primarily those aligned with other candidates — who say the governor should have stayed out of the primary. Jane Wells-Schooley, a former congressional candidate who’s backing Obando-Derstine, even requested his team return a $1,000 donation she made to his gubernatorial campaign over it.

Brooks’ allies say it's sour grapes. Shapiro has defended his support for Brooks as a “personal” decision rooted partly in the aftermath of the arson attack on his home last year. He’s pledged to be “100 percent in for” the eventual nominee.

But Wells-Schooley still wishes Shapiro hadn't gotten involved.

“If you know the candidate has vulnerabilities,” she said, “why would you take a risk like that?”