Gov. Josh Shapiro will campaign for Democratic governor hopefuls Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger this weekend
Sherrill has been amping up appearances with big-name Democrats in recent days as Election Day nears.
Gov. Josh Shapiro is hitting the campaign trail in two key states this weekend.
With less than two weeks left until Election Day, Shapiro will campaign and raise cash for U.S. Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D., N.J.) and Abigail Spanberger, (D., Va.), two Democratic hopefuls in high-stakes gubernatorial races that could preview the national mood ahead of next year’s midterms.
Shapiro will campaign with Sherrill Saturday morning in Monroe Township at an event to mark the start of early in-person voting in the Democratic-leaning state which has grown increasingly red. The pair will then attend a Souls to the Polls event at a church in New Brunswick, Shapiro For Pennsylvania spokesperson Manuel Bonder said.
The governor is also expected to hold a fundraiser for the New Jersey Democratic State Committee to benefit Sherrill’s campaign later in the day.
On Sunday, Shapiro will head to Virginia to attend events in Portsmouth and Norfolk with Spanberger.
Sherrill has amped up her campaigning in recent weeks, and she’s brought out big Democratic names to help her. In the last three weeks, she’s campaigned with New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, and with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is planning a visit to New Jersey next weekend, and Sherrill’s campaign curtain call the Saturday before Election Day will feature a rally with former President Barack Obama.
National Democrats see the Garden State governor’s race as a must-win, and despite polling showing Sherrill up in the race, nerves are high after President Donald Trump lost the state by only four points in November.
» READ MORE: Democrats have spent a record amount to win the New Jersey governor’s race. Why some insiders are still nervous.
Why Shapiro is involved in the New Jersey governor’s race
Shapiro is a big draw on the campaign trail as he continues to build a national profile, and gears up for his own reelection campaign next year. The first-term governor, who is seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, announced the 2026 release of a memoir this week.
His multi-state gubernatorial stumping follows investments in races in Pennsylvania. He donated $250,000 from his campaign fund to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party last month. And he’s appeared in ads for the judicial races in Pennsylvania, in which Democrats hope to retain three judges there.
In a September poll by Quinnipiac University, 61% of respondents said they viewed Shapiro favorably, an unprecedented figure among recent Pennsylvania governors at the same point in their terms, pollsters noted.
The poll also found that Shapiro is viewed favorably by some Republicans, an across-the-aisle appeal that appears to extend across the Delaware River.
Shapiro’s been lauded by Sherrill’s Republican opponent in the New Jersey race, Jack Ciattarelli, a trend chronicled recently by Politico.
Ciattarelli commended Shapiro’s willingness to criticize New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s past comments on Israel, and praised his handling of small businesses, energy and property taxes in Pennsylvania, contrastingly saying New Jersey faces a “crisis” in all three.
Sherrill has said frequently that she wants to mimic Pennsylvania’s success in cutting the time it takes business owners to get permits from state government.
This story has been updated to correct the location of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s first stop with U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill on the campaign trail Saturday.