With less to lose and an open field, Shapiro inches toward Senate race

With his elder colleagues seemingly hesitant to jump into what is sure to be a grueling and expensive Senate contest, state Representative Josh Shapiro (D-Montgomery) is slowly but surely inching toward the race.

Most attention is focused on the competitive Republican primary, and only one Democrat, former National Constitution Center CEO Joe Torsella, has declared his intention to run. But after Shapiro has spent weeks traveling the state to gauge support, party insiders are increasingly confident he will soon declare his candidacy.

“I think Shapiro is going to jump into the race,” Abe Amoros, the state Democratic Party’s spokesman and political director, told pa2010.com recently. “He’s exploring this very seriously. He’s been the most vocal.”

In an interview, Shapiro said his decision would come soon, though he wouldn’t specify when.

“We’ve been traveling around the state and picking up political support and financial support, and we’re honored to have the broad support that we have,” he said. “We’ll continue to go through that process.”

An election to the Senate would be a major political promotion for Shapiro, long considered a rising star within the party. If he were only facing-off against Torsella, he would find himself the only Democrat in the race with experience in elected office. And while Torsella has something of a head start in fundraising specifically for the Senate race, Shapiro had almost $650,000 in campaign cash at the end of last year—an impressive amount for a state lawmaker. He has continued raising money since then.

Though Shapiro waves off such talk, party insiders say part of his calculus has been the perception that he has less to lose than his elder colleagues. Young and employed at an area law firm, a losing Senate race would hardly spell the end of his political career. At the same time, many think he has gone as far as he can, for now, in Harrisburg. His push for legislative reforms and his early stance last year that embattled—now former—House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese should step down has clearly left some Capitol elders peeved.

“He did the right thing, but I think it’s probably hurt him with some of the Old Guard in the Democratic Party, the guys who don’t like reform and were probably a little jealous of Josh’s high-profile role,” said Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, a mentor of Shapiro’s. “I’m proud of Josh. He’s stuck by his guns and stood against some of the old practices.”

Larry Ceisler, a longtime Democratic political consultant, said Shapiro’s candidacy would be more than viable.

“I think Josh is a very attractive candidate to people who consider themselves reformers,” Ceisler said. “The fact that’s he’s younger plays very well. He’s very asttute politically, and he’s shown before that he can raise money.”

Though Shapiro’s name has been in the mix for months, his more public flirtation with the Senate race began in March, when he visited the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington. He was reportedly asked to hold off on declaring his candidacy while members of Congress—Patrick Murphy, Joe Sestak and Allyson Schwartz—made their own decisions about the race. But he denies that will have any impact on his plans.

“Their decision has no bearing on my decision,” he said. “I respect all of them and anyone has the right for elected office, and that’s solely their decision.”

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