Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is sounding the alarm over his state's governor, Josh Shapiro, being vetted as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, Politico reports.
According to insiders, Fetterman's camp has floated concerns up the chain to the Harris team. Three people familiar with the conversations said Fetterman believes Shapiro's sole focus is his own personal ambition.
The pair have had a long-standing rivalry as their stars have risen in tandem politically in Pennsylvania.
Shapiro, along with all of Harris' speculated short list nominees, has endured intense scrutiny in recent days.
According to sources, Fetterman's camp highlighted one of the major disagreements he had with Shapiro when they served together on the state's Board of Pardons.
Fetterman supported granting second chances to some convicts; Shapiro took less of a lenient approach. The two were at loggerheads over one case in particular that involved brothers Lee and Dennis Horton, convicted of a robbery and fatal shooting in 1993 but who claimed they were innocent.
In 2019, the Board of Pardons took up their case for a vote. Their clemency applications failed 2-3: Shapiro opposed them; Fetterman favored their freedom. Their clemency was granted in 2020 after coming up for a second vote in which the board, including Shapiro, supported their freedom.
Will Simons, a spokesperson for Shapiro, defended his boss' record on the Board of Pardons.
"The governor evaluates every pardons case individually and on its merits and during his time as attorney general, he approved more pardons and commutations than all of his predecessors over the last 25 years, combined," he said. "He is proud of his record of delivering meaningful criminal justice reform while making Pennsylvania communities safer."
Shapiro told The Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this week that he's "most comfortable with every decision I made that it's always been about service."
Unlike Fetterman, many fellow Pennsylvania Democrats have come out in support of Shapiro's candidacy, including Sen. Bob Casey, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, former Rep. Bob Brady, and multiple unions.
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