Potential 2028 presidential rivals rally behind Shapiro after arson at governor’s mansion

Governors across the country who are rumored as fellow potential 2028 presidential candidates united behind Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., after an arsonist set fire to the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg early Sunday morning.

Cody Balmer, 38, was arrested after allegedly setting fire to the residence while Shapiro and his family slept inside. Shapiro, who is Jewish, said he and his family were forced to evacuate their home after celebrating the first night of Passover.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D-Ill., who is rumored to be mulling a 2028 presidential run along with Shapiro, thanked first responders and said it must have been disturbing for the governor to wake up to such a scene on the first night of Passover. 

Another potential presidential candidate, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., added that no one “should ever be targeted for doing their job or standing up for what they believe in.”

PENNSYLVANIA POLICE ARREST SUSPECT AFTER GOVERNOR’S MANSION SET ON FIRE WHILE GOV JOSH SHAPIRO, FAMILY SLEPT

Gov. Gavin Newsom, also considered a likely 2028 presidential contender, said it was “disturbing and disgusting” that someone set fire to Shapiro’s home while his family slept. 

The National Governors Association Chair, Gov. Jared Polis, D-Colo., another potential 2028 presidential candidate, condemned the attacks in a joint statement with Vice Chair Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., on Sunday, extending solidarity and support “on behalf of the nation’s governors” to Shapiro.

“We strongly condemn all acts of violence and ask our citizens to rise above these kinds of destructive actions,” the governors said in a statement. 

A 2023 Reuters study revealed the United States is experiencing the largest sustained increase in political violence since the 1970s. Exactly nine months before Shapiro’s family was targeted in their home – just across the critical presidential battleground state – an attempted assassin fired shots at President Donald Trump as he addressed a crowd of supporters, shooting Trump in the ear and killing Corey Comperatore, a Pennsylvania father and former fire chief. 

PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR’S MANSION ATTACK SUSPECT CODY BALMER ADMITTED ‘HARBORING HATRED’ TOWARD SHAPIRO: POLICE

Trump was the target of another assassination attempt two months later at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

A more recent study by the Network Contagion Research Institute released this April revealed that 38% of respondents said it was “at least somewhat justified” to murder Trump. 

The same study analyzed the surge in attacks on Tesla cars and dealerships since Elon Musk was appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency during Trump’s second term. Nearly 40% of respondents said it was “somewhat acceptable” to destroy a Tesla dealership in protest. 

“This type of violence is not okay,” Shapiro told reporters outside the damaged governor’s mansion on Sunday. “This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society, and I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another. It is not okay and it has to stop. We have to be better than this. We have a responsibility to all be better.”

“No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly and proudly,” Shapiro said, although no motive for the attack has been released by authorities beyond Balmer “harboring hatred” toward Shapiro. 

Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity and Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Penn., who have both said to expect announcements this summer on whether they will challenge Shapiro in Pennsylvania’s 2026 gubernatorial election, thanked law enforcement as Meuser condemned the violence. 

Vice President JD Vance, who could be the future of Trump’s Make America Great Again movement and could potentially face off against one of the Democratic governors in 2028, thanked God that Shapiro and his family were not harmed during the attack and called it “disgusting violence.”

Trump responded to the arson Monday, telling reporters, “Certainly, a thing like that cannot be allowed to happen.”