Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Meuser considering run for governor

Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) signaled he is seriously considering challenging Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) for his post in 2026.

“I’m considering it,” Meuser told 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 said, citing a number of issues, including artificial intelligence investment in Pennsylvania and Shapiro’s response to President Biden’s decision to block the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel.

Meuser said he would not be making a decision “for a while,” but he indicated it could 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 said.

Taking on Shapiro in a head-to-head race would be an uphill feat for any Republican. Shapiro, who is considered a rising Democratic star, defeated his Republican opponent state Sen. Doug Mastriano in 2022 with 56 percent of the vote. While Mastrano was considered a weak general election candidate, Shapiro has continued to maintain his popularity within the state while building a national profile.

An Emerson College/The Hill survey released in July showed Shapiro with a 49 percent approval rating in the state, while a Franklin & Marshall poll released in April showed him with a 54 percent approval rating.

Shapiro was a finalist in Vice President Harris’s presidential veepstakes in 2024.

Meuser has represented Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District since 2019. He previously served as the state’s secretary of revenue from 2011-15.

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