Pa. Democratic treasurer candidate defends not backing Shapiro as her veep choice

Pennsylvania’s Democratic state treasurer candidate has found herself at odds with her state party for choosing North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper as her pick for a running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris.

After posting her endorsement for Cooper on X, Erin McClelland felt some backlash for not backing Gov. Josh Shapiro for the VP spot, but said on Friday she had not yet heard from party officials directly about it.

Whether she does or doesn’t is of no concern to McClelland who defeated her party’s endorsed candidate Ryan Bizzarro to win the Democratic primary in April.

McClelland takes on Republican incumbent Stacy Garrity in November general election in the treasurer’s race.

“I was not welcomed after I ran against the endorsement of my party. I was aggressively asked to step down and told I couldn’t run. Those kind of things are familiar to me,” McClelland said.

As for VP pick, she said, “My evaluation and calculation was based on what I felt was best for the party and best for her presidency and will allow her to succeed. It was not a reflection on any of the other candidates.”

She favors Cooper, saying she sees him as being someone who “could complement Harris’ good touch with young voters.” She also touted Cooper as having a strong record on education.

In her X post, McClelland said, “I want a VP that’s secure enough to be second under a woman, is content to be VP & won’t undermine the President to maneuver his own election & doesn’t sweep sexual harassment under the rug. I want someone that can speak to rural voters. That is @RoyCooperNC.”

Some assumed that her post was referencing the sexual harassment scandal that hit Shapiro’s office last year involving his former legislative affairs secretary Mike Vereb. It was resolved through a $295,000 taxpayer-funded settlement paid to the former female deputy secretary who worked with that senior staffer to Shapiro for a six weeks at the start of his administration.

However, McClelland, who touched on that payout in her primary campaign by voicing opposition to using taxpayer’s money “as a black bag to buy absolution for bigots and predators,” pointed out her social media post didn’t identify any one in particular.

She said she was speaking from her own views as a woman in politics and it could have applied to any number of people or situations.

She said, “I was very intentional at simply creating a profile that I thought would serve this nominee well. Yet, it was large swaths of my party that extrapolated a certain identity from that, very much like a Rorschach would serve. That says more about what’s going on in everybody else’s head than mine.”

A spokesman for Shapiro declined comment.

Democratic State Party Chairman Sharif Street, a state senator from Philadelphia, addressed McClelland’s tweet at a Wednesday morning news conference, saying he was “offended” by it, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Street said he intended to discuss it with her privately.

Attempts on Friday to obtain any follow-up response from Street were not successful.

McClelland’s post even got a rise out of her Republican opponent’s campaign.

“Political differences aside, you’d think having a governor from your state on a national ticket would be a big deal,” said Garrity’s campaign manager Jim Tkacik. “So to say we’re surprised at Erin McClelland’s remarks would be an understatement.”

McClelland emphasized that no matter who Harris ends up choosing as her vice presidential candidate, she will be all in for the ticket even if Shapiro’s name appears on it.

“If that is the choice that our presidential nominee picks, then I support her 1000% and will do everything in my capacity to ensure that we elect her,” she said.

On a separate topic, McClelland posted separately on X that the Pennsylvania Department of State has closed its investigation into campaign finance violations that she was accused of committing in a complaint filed by three Democratic Party officials.

Similarly, the state Office of Attorney General has concluded its investigation into accusations of campaign law violations involving McClelland resulting in no charges being filed, said its spokesman Brett Hambright.

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