An ally of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said the governor stealthily boosted a Republican’s reelection bid as payback against a Democratic challenger who questioned whether Shapiro was “secure enough” to serve as Kamala Harris’ running mate during the 2024 election.

Axios reported the story on Sunday.

“Bob Brooks, a Shapiro-backed candidate for the U.S. House, made the surprising comment Wednesday to a small group of Democratic college students”  at Lehigh University, reporters Holly Otterbein and Alex Thompson wrote.

Their report included a 50-second audio clip of Brooks making his claim, after he was asked why his Pennsylvania firefighters union supported Republican Stacy Garrity over Democrat Erin McClelland in 2024; Garrity was the  the state treasurer at the time and went on to defeat McClelland in that year’s election.

“That was a request, ironically, from Gov. Josh Shapiro because Erin McClelland was running against her,” Brooks told the college students.

He added, “Josh Shapiro had requested because Stacy, er, Erin McClelland came out hard about something on Josh Shapiro, and really, the Democratic Party as a whole turned on Erin McClelland. And he said, ‘I would like you guys to endorse Stacy Garrity.'”

Brooks was referring to when McClelland publicly criticized Shapiro being floated as Harris’ pick to be her vice president.

“I want a VP pick 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,” McClelland posted on X in 2024.

Axios explained that was McClleland talking about “Shapiro’s former top aide, Mike Vereb, being accused of sexual harassment in 2023. Vereb stayed in his position for months after a complaint was filed, and Shapiro’s administration reached a settlement with Vereb’s accuser for $295,000.” Shapiro said he did not know about the complaint until months later.

Brooks later told Axios he “misspoke and made an inaccurate statement.”

Listen to the audio below:

Otterbein and Thompson wrote Shapiro going against his own party over the insult showed his “penchant for hardball political tactics.”

“It also could feed the idea — held even by some Shapiro supporters — that he can be vindictive, take critiques too personally and be willing to push aside allies to get ahead,” they wrote.

Brooks is running as a Democrat to replace Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA), who represents cities like Bethlehem and Allentown. He served as a firefighter for two decades, from 2005 to 2025, and his website proudly features a banner showing that Shapiro endorsed him.

The candidate was in the news recently for apologizing for old social media posts, after he was criticized for posting a pro-gun meme featuring Clint Eastwood and for defending cops amid the Black Lives Matter protests and riots of 2020.

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