Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s support for school choice and professional licensing reform is positive
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to name her running companion next week. She is allegedly considering several governors who might appeal to moderate voters in swing states, including Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, Minnesota’s Tim Walz, and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are also in the running.
Which of these candidates would be the best from a libertarian standpoint is not as evident as it was on the Republican side, when North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was clearly superior to the competition. (Unfortunately, former President Donald Trump chose Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, whose defining characteristic is his hatred for libertarian economic policy.) They can still be parsed, though.
First, consider national figures. Unlike the other names on the list, Buttigieg is a member of the present government and has been in charge of executing federal policy. Unfortunately, his time as Transportation Secretary will not be recognized as very libertarian. While he has shown an openness to removing bureaucratic “barriers” in the aftermath of transportation-related tragedies, he has made no meaningful steps to deal with the bureaucracy.
When things go wrong, he blames private corporations like Southwest Airlines and Norfolk Southern more than the antiquated and intrusive regulators who make their work more difficult.
Buttigieg comes out as a technocrat rather than a progressive: he appears to believe that intelligent, capable individuals like himself should manage the government and improve efficiency. When he ran for president in 2020, the liberal news site Vox referred to him as a “product of the meritocracy,” which was not meant as a praise. He enrages the left, but it does not make him a friend of liberty, no matter how hilarious it is. His foreign policy views appear to be slightly more hawkish than other standard-issue Democrats, which is not a good sign.
Then there is Kelly. As an astronaut and the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was severely injured after being shot in the head by a psychotic shooter, he is an inspiring figure. However, his political opinions are mostly consistent with those of his party. He has voted 95.5% in support of President Joe Biden’s authorized programs. On energy and environmental issues, he has diverged from the party’s progressive side, opposing the Green New Deal and voting in support of increasing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. On the other side, he is one of the most vocal Democrats on gun regulation.
Arizona’s US senators, such as Kyrsten Sinema, have tended to be more individualistic, nonpartisan, and independent. For those reasons, Kelly may be marginally preferred than some of the other choices.
Now for the governors. Walz and Beshear were both elected in 2018, so they have lengthier histories than Shapiro, who became governor of his state only last year. Unfortunately, their tenures were not very exciting, since both coincided with the COVID-19 epidemic, allowing a chance to impose regulations that were anti-liberty.
Walz enacted many of the same heavy-handed, liberty-infringing mitigation programs as other blue state governors; he also established a government hotline where individuals may contact and report their neighbors for breaking social distancing laws. When Republicans objected, he responded, “We’re not going to take down a phone number that people can call to keep their families safe.” This alone should be considered disqualified.
For his part, Beshear pushed to maintain lockdowns, mask regulations, and school closures throughout the pandemic. In reality, in August 2021, he reinstated masks for public school pupils, stating, “We are to the point where we cannot allow our kids to go into these buildings unprotected, unvaccinated, and face this Delta variant.” This is also disqualifying.
It’s encouraging that Walz and Beshear favor legalizing, or at least decriminalizing marijuana. But it’s difficult to ignore the entire wrestling-mask-onto-5-year-olds issue. The greatest thing to say about them is that they are not Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
That leaves Josh Shapiro, who has had far less time in government to engage in behavior that would upset libertarians. To his credit, he has backed a number of promising ventures. One of his first acts after assuming office was to remove the college degree requirement for government posts.
He also made some tiny steps toward revamping the state’s occupational licensing system. He is somewhat supportive of school choice; nonetheless, he eventually vetoed a voucher measure due to considerable pressure from teachers unions.
Given his popularity in Pennsylvania—a must-win state for Harris— Josh Shapiro has emerged as the most likely vice presidential nominee in recent days. Josh Shapiro, like Buttigieg, seemed to irritate the far left: The New Republic dubbed him “the one vice presidential pick who could ruin democratic unity.”
While it sounds fun, the biggest criticism he receives from the left is that he strongly attacked recent pro-Palestinian rallies on college campuses and is openly supportive of Israel. Libertarians who want to see the United States get less engaged in Middle Eastern matters and cease wasting American taxpayer cash on costly foreign conflicts have valid concerns.
At the same time, it’s difficult to picture Vice President Josh Shapiro taking a much different approach to foreign policy than any of the other candidates; on most other subjects, he does marginally better. All of this adds up to a very slight libertarian preference for Shapiro.
